Weeknotes #8: 9th to 15th May

I’ve felt better this week than I have of late. For the most part I’ve been sleeping ok (what a difference that makes!), Ottawa has passed through hopefully it’s last winter, and my 4yo has been doing more educational/creative things that usual (I mean, we‘re talking about going from like 80% of the day being netflix/tv to ~75% so it’s a small win but still a win.)

So I decided to make this week’s note focus on the positive wins this week:

• I used research to influence some changes on the product I’m working on, both small (changing how an email is displayed) to big (re-thinking how we frame and execute a key aspect of our service to reduce risk to our users.) I know that this is, like, actually my job as a design researcher but I’ve worked on so many products and projects where research is too routine and findings get lost, forgotten and under prioritised.
• I made my first eventbrite event and my co-organiser and I nailed down some key details of a research event we’re putting together.
• This seems so obvious but I found a way to join interesting lunch-hour meetings without giving up my sacred midday outings to the park with my kiddos: Dialling in on my work phone while I push them in the double stroller. I can’t believe I didn’t think of this until now.
• I’ve been feeling so hopeless and frustrated about my tax situation, so I did something I hadn’t even considered before: I called the Canada Revenue Agency directly. I didn’t have to wait on hold! The agents were super nice! It remains to be seen whether their advice will prove helpful (they were very vague and wouldn’t commit to any specific information.) What they told me kind of goes against the information I am getting from accountants so now I feel even more confused. But I also feel less anxious about it. Why? I think because I can now associate CRA with real people who are trying to be helpful, rather than a faceless government organisation out to gauge me (though this association could bite me in the arse later on so I’m trying to be realistic.)
• I cleared my email inbox! Now for my chrome tabs.

It’s a long weekend here in Canada and I am so looking forward to shutting off and spending some time outdoors. à Bientôt!