Voice of the DBA

Tag: life

  • Daily Coping 15 Jul 2020

    I’ve started to add a daily coping tip to the SQLServerCentral newsletter and to the Community Circle, which is helping me deal with the issues in the world. I’m adding my responses for each day here.

    Today’s tip is to find an action you can take to overcome a problem or worry.

    I have plenty of small problems, and mostly small worries. However, I recognize and appreciate how lucky I am with family, health, security, especially compared with many in life.

    As a result, I try to keep things in perspective. One of the concerns I do have is contributing to a growing number of cases in the US. I have started coaching again as Colorado looks to open up, but I’m still worried.

    I’ve tried to think about how to be more careful, avoiding talking directly at someone, wearing a mask more often, keeping my hands and equipment clean. It’s not perfect, but there are things I can do in my control to try and be more careful.

  • Daily Coping 14 Jul 2020

    I’ve started to add a daily coping tip to the SQLServerCentral newsletter and to the Community Circle, which is helping me deal with the issues in the world. I’m adding my responses for each day here.

    Today I’m asking you to adopt a growth mindset. Change “I can’t” into “I can’t… yet””.”

    This might seem silly and simple, but changing your attitude often results in a big change in the way you approach something and it can increase your mental health.

    I can’t fly internationally or go to an office, yet.

    That’s hopeful. It helps me realize this isn’t a permanent situation, but one that will change. I’ll get to go visit my Redgate colleagues, and I’ll get to go present at a conference in front of a live audience.

    Just not yet.

  • Daily Coping 13 Jul 2020

    I’ve started to add a daily coping tip to the SQLServerCentral newsletter and to the Community Circle, which is helping me deal with the issues in the world. I’m adding my responses for each day here.

    Today’s tip is to  make a list of things you’re looking forward to doing during a break from work.

    When you’re working at home, it’s important to take breaks. I’ve gotten pretty good at not sitting at my desk all day, but it’s easy for me since I don’t work with others too often. As a result, I can flex work.

    My short list during workdays is:

    • exercise
    • cooking

    I will often take a few minutes after finishing some task to tackle a chore, or take a slightly longer break to set up lunch or dinner or exercise. My gym is open, and I go 2-3 times a week, but mostly continue to work out at home.

    A better list might be what I will do on a vacation day. For those, I have another camping trip booked, taking a few days off. I’m also looking forward to skiing, which looks possible this winter.

  • Social: Thinking about those that have less of a voice

    I saw a few things posted this this week that got me to think. One was a note about the end of pride month, where I realize I hadn’t said or done anything to promote inclusiveness. I don’t think that LGBTQ people are any different than me in most ways. They chose to live a portion of their life in a different way than me, but lots of people do this, just in other different ways.

    There was no Pride 5k this year, and few other events in the real world. However, I should have made some effort to promote this event, along with Black Lives Matter, and other things in the world that I’m thinking about.

    We have LGBTQ people in the #sqlfamily. Andy Mallon has run an event at the PASS Summit, but I don’t see much else talked about. There are people that feel ashamed, second class, angry, and many other things about their lifestyle because many in society don’t openly welcome them. It’s not enough to

    Kendra wrote that she’s sharing pronouns, which I think is a simple, easy thing to do that promotes inclusiveness and helps anyone that wants to share something different than my “he/him”, to do so. I’ve seen some people share “they/them”, but it takes some bravery to do this when most people don’t think about it and a few openly mock the choices.

    I just updated my base Powerpoint deck and bio that I keep around on my site and machines to include pronouns. It’s an easy thing to do, and hopefully it makes others more comfortable expressing their own thoughts.

    I also need to go out of my way to encourage and support others. I have tried to promote the WIT groups and spoken at a few of their events. I hope that others build groups to support their own underrepresented causes, because there is strength in numbers. However, I also hope that more people that are parts of less mainstream groups find a voice and promote themselves at other events.

    That also means I need to make more of an effort to actively include those people when I can and go looking for them.

    If anyone feels they are a minority and needs some mentoring, coaching, or wants an opportunity to write/speak, please feel free to reach out to me. I will do my best to include you in our community.