Week 3. Fun and exhaustion

Today's week was all about practicing the Pomodoro Technique. I was trying to follow the advice on maximizing your work efficiency. Switching from the focus mode into the diffuse one works best for me when it comes to reading 5 articles 25 pages each. It keeps me from getting angry and frustrated because of the time and effort reading this much takes. It doesn't make a grown-up professional though:) Whining about having to read a lot is not mature at all. However, I suspect that the problem here is not about having to read a lot but in this hyper perfectionism which downplays the importance of any effort if not every word is read and considered, or not every piece of information is retained and can easily be accessed when it comes to reflection. I should really stop torturing myself and find time for going for a walk and seeing my friends. So there are two things I learned about myself today: getting rid of perfectionism is absolutely necessary, and the Pomodoro Technique really is effective for boring and monotonous tasks.

However, the things that are really interesting and meaningful for you motivate you and make you feel passionate about the job you are doing as a teacher and an instructor. I really enjoy thinking about how I can engage my students' "elephants" and turn boring tasks into some kind of adventures with stories, heroes, interesting dilemmas, urgency, constraints, and consequences. This matter is worth testing and researching. The same tasks - different instructions - drastic differences in the level of interest. Hmmm, sounds exciting!

The three things I am grateful for this week:

• I am grateful for having a really good time with my girlfriends and letting out something that was bothering me a lot.

• I am grateful for remembering (or learning?) what it feels like to play. One of the projects I am working on at the moment gave me the o opportunity to play with dolls, a tripod, and play the piano. I enjoyed it a lot!

• I am grateful for being able to contribute and buy some cookies from girl scouts:) Well I also enjoyed hanging out with the cutest little ones!

Viva La Vida!