E is for Eskwelabs Issue 057 - The Noise of trends, tech, and time ⏳💥
In our fifty-seventh issue, we explore the theme “Dynamism” by dissecting the skill that will never go out of style, listing evergreen productivity tips, and seeing dynamism’s tension with silence.
We created this newsletter to keep our alums, partners, and anyone interested in learning skills for the future of work updated and connected to our ever-growing family. If you want to read our previous issues, you can check them out here.
“Sometimes one creates a dynamic impression by saying something, and sometimes one creates as significant an impression by remaining silent.” —Dalai Lama
Hi everyone, it’s Francine here! 👋 I’m very excited to share this issue that’s filled with fun content. In our first section, we discuss how having a data-driven mindset can begin even at the toddler stage—yes, seriously! We also share a personal data project you can do right after reading this issue. In our second section, we made a tier list that you can also interact with! To end, we recommend a new book that’s perfect for today’s issue. Happy reading!
The Noise of trends, tech, and time:
⏳ See why data literacy skills will never go out of style
⏰ Evergreen productivity tips
🍵 The beauty of the pause and of being silent every once in a while (Our book rec!)
READING TIME: 13 minutes
💥 THE NOISE OF TRENDS 💥
⏳ Data literacy as the skill that will never go out of style
Data literacy is the ability to read, write, and communicate data. This means that a person who is data literate would have a good understanding of data, and will make decisions based on what the data says. No matter how old we are and regardless of what decade we are in, there will always be decisions to make.
The data-driven toddler
Seeing this may give you a tiny laugh, but toddlers can be data-driven too! They just probably won’t know it. They are like sponges at this stage, absorbing all the information they can. It’s a fact that their brains develop faster than any other part of their body at this point in their lives. Let’s take a crying toddler as our example. For our Eskweloves with children or who are aunties and uncles, have you ever noticed how toddlers seem to frequently act out behaviors that get you to do what they want? For toddlers who cry and scream at their adult caretakers and see these adults scramble to meet their needs and wants, then that is already one data point imprinted in their toddler brains. Informally, they may be thinking, “If I cry and wave at the ice cream, mom will give me ice cream!” Every time the adult caretakers give in is one more data point that toddlers can bank on.
The data-driven child and pre-teen
Children are definitely exposed to data all throughout their formative years. Traditionally, they’ve always had access to data like their grades on homework or their report card. Nowadays, children have access to data from their social media accounts. Online influencers are getting younger and younger. And if they’re not pursuing a career in content creation, then they still have access to data either way—through seeing their followers count, friends list, and post reactions. Knowing that children are already exposed to data at a young age, how might we equip them with data literacy skills? Let’s take report cards for example. You can gently mentor your child, niece, or nephew about doing better in a certain topic of a subject in school if you see from their grades (data!) that this is what has been bringing down their overall average. We can also take social media data as an example. You can lovingly remind your child, niece, or nephew about how their worth is more than the followers/likes (data!) that they see on their social media accounts.
The data-driven teen
As people grow older, they are not only exposed to more data but they also generate more of it. At this point in their lives, your teenage children or your teenage friends will have been online for most of their lives and have already invested a lot of their time, attention, and creativity onto digital platforms. You can definitely begin talking about data ethics (using data for good) and data privacy (protecting theirs and respecting others) even before they reach this stage, but because of the stages of development from child to teen to adulthood, bigger topics such as these may be more applicable now compared to before.
The data-driven adult
Whether you are still going through school or are already part of the labor force, it’s crucial that you have data literacy skills. You will encounter business scenarios that require reporting. You will encounter school homework that requires research. You will meet managers who will also be demanding data-driven analyses. You will encounter freelancing clients who will ask you to justify your rates. These are just some basic scenarios, but there are an infinite number of instances where data skills are used in your daily personal and professional life.
☀️ Data literacy in your daily life
Speaking of applying data skills in your daily life, here’s a mini project that you can do starting today.
Personal data project: Mood tracker, Visualized!
Notes for this data project:
Seeing emotions as data can make us proactive rather than reactive in our families.
Seeing emotions as data can make you a better professional in the workplace.
Seeing emotions as data can make you more empathetic towards your friends and community.
Seeing emotions as data can make you a great pattern observer and help you break unhelpful thought patterns in your own life.
Instructions:
For this project, we’ll treat our “mood for the day” that we log at the end of the day as one data point.
Create a list of moods or emotions that you can choose from. Ex: Happy, sad, angry, tired
At the end of each day, choose one from your list to characterize how you felt overall on that day.
Place it on your spreadsheet (You can use Excel or Google Sheets for this).
Track this for a whole month (or just choose a duration you’re comfortable with).
Once you’re done tracking (given the duration you set yourself), transform it into a chart.
Give yourself 1 recommendation based on your analysis of your chart.
Variation 1: Bar chart
To Person A, I’d be concerned about all the days they were sad in March.
Relevant questions we could ask Person A would be:
On what days were you sad in March and what were the events on those days that could have triggered you to feel sad?
What can you change in your daily routine to ensure you have less sad days in April?
Variation 2: Pie chart
To Person B, I’d be concerned about all the days they were sad and tired in December.
Relevant questions we could ask Person B would be:
Does the month and the weather during this month (December) have anything to do with your sad and tired mood?
What can you change in your daily routine to ensure you have happier days in January?
Data is personal, and may you see that you are one of the most beautiful data projects you’ll ever work on.
💥 THE NOISE OF TECH 💥
📱 Productivity apps tier list
Do you agree with this tier list? Edit it here!
Current faves: Trello, ClickUp, Jira
Hooray for versatility: Notion
We like your multi-purpose-ness: Evernote
We might see you again someday: Todoist
Thank you for being part of our journey: Asana
This tier list is actually some fun facts or behind the scenes info about how we work at Eskwelabs! Our current faves at #1 are the main productivity and project management apps we use. Apps from #2-#4 like Notion, Evernote, and Todoist are used by a variety of team members (past and present), too! Lastly, we have Asana at #5. This brings us so much Nostalgia since this was the project management tool we used pre-pandemic when we would still go to our physical office daily in Makati, a city inside Metro Manila, Philippines.
⏰ Productivity tips for data professionals or professionals in general
Tip #1: Understand yourself better
You can get to know:
The best time you work (morning, afternoon, or night).
If you’re a plodder or a burster.
If you’re the type who enjoys co-working spaces.
If you’re the type who likes the silence while working.
Getting to know yourself is already one way to overcome common productivity barriers like mood swings, low energy levels, or concentration issues.
Tip #2: Don’t be a slave to the tool, make it work for you
Generally, there are 4 kinds of tools for productivity:
To-do lists
Calendars
Notes
Project management
Understanding what you need—whether it’s just one, a combo of two, or all of them—saves you time from tools switching later on.
Tip #3: Be kind to yourself
There is nothing more demotivating than hearing your inner critic blame and hurt yourself. We hope that you lead with more self-compassion, since the world around you is not going to be slowing down. At least you can stay kind and loving to yourself.
📚 Having proper time management allows you to attend these events and programs coming up
🖥️ Data Science Fellowship
2 words. 7 letters. But an INFINITE amount of feelings! Yes, Demo Day is back! Our Cohort 9 Data Science Fellowship Fellows will be having their Demo Day this August 26, 2022 from 7:00 - 9:00 PM.
RECAP: What is Demo Day? 🚀
💯 It's the culmination event of our Fellowship that aims to celebrate the capstone projects done by our students.
💼 These capstone projects differ from the 4 data sprint projects they've been doing. The capstones are proposed, designed, and executed by the students themselves!
💬 Our students present before a panel of industry professionals and must conquer their own Q&A session.
Register for FREE to watch this upcoming event.
🖥️ Cohort 10 of the Data Science Fellowship starts on September 12, 2022
Assessment exam coverage: View here
Deadline of assessment exam: August 26, 2022 (Multiple choice)
📊 Data Analytics Bootcamp
📊 Cohort 8 of the Data Analytics Bootcamp starts on October 10, 2022
Assessment exam coverage: View here
Deadline of assessment exam: September 21, 2022 (Multiple choice)
Review Session 1: September 1 (Thursday) | 7:00 - 8:00 PM
Review Session 2: September 13 (Tuesday) | 7:00 - 8:00 PM
💥 THE NOISE OF TIME 💥
🍵 The beauty of the pause and of being silent every once in a while
There’s this concept called “scarcity mindset” and it can definitely be applied to how we think about time. Maybe you’ve caught yourself thinking about how you lack time for this activity or that. But when you think about it, there is time to pause. And with this pause comes a beautiful silence that’s perfect for listening—to yourself and your life journey so far, to the people you love and what they’re really telling you, and to the world around you and what it really needs from you.
Here’s a book we want to share with you! As of writing, there are 2 in stock in Fully Booked!
Eskwelabs Book Recommendation
📖 You're Not Listening: What You're Missing and Why It Matters by Kate Murphy 📖
Book summary from Amazon (shortened):
“Despite living in a world where technology allows constant digital communication and opportunities to connect, it seems no one is really listening or even knows how. And it’s making us lonelier, more isolated, and less tolerant than ever before. … [Author Kate] Murphy explains why we’re not listening, what it’s doing to us, and how we can reverse the trend. She makes accessible the psychology, neuroscience, and sociology of listening while also introducing us to some of the best listeners out there (including a CIA agent, focus group moderator, bartender, radio producer, and top furniture salesman).”
Fun fact: Chapter 8 is called “Focusing on What’s Important: Listening in the Age of Big Data”
Book club questions for all of us:
Why is listening an important skill to develop as a data professional?
When was the last time you felt like someone really listened to you?
Would you consider yourself a good listener? If yes, explain how. If not, think of ways that will allow you to be a better one.
That’s it for our fifty-seventh issue of the newsletter! We hope you enjoyed it. 💖
What did you think of this format? Let us know here. We appreciate you so much for reading!
💌 Cheering you on always,
Francine
Learning Community Manager at Eskwelabs