Planning

weeknotes

Sep 23

I’m trying out a new weeknote flow to include space for reflecting on my personal life and goals (i.e. fitness). Last week actually proved that doing something in hindsight helped make this week better, so let’s do this again more intentionally.

Day by day

Mon - theory of innovation lectures (types i.e. radical vs incremental)
Tues - guest lectures from real-world start ups/ventures (i.e. lean innovation)
Wed - design futures (i.e. Jim Dator’s 4 futures)
Thurs - lots of group work, thinking about the future of fertility through ✨contraception ✨
Fri - group presentations walking through preferable futures, concept development and prototype
Sat - boxing, bit of life admin and seeing my first live fight 😱
Sun - prepping ahead for next week’s module on behavioural change

On work

I’ve been off work but sometimes I catch myself thinking about how that blueprint is doing. I’m proud of myself for not checking my emails too much but lately I’ve been having dreams of work (not good I know), thinking about last week’s feedback, and trying to action them at school this week.

On research

We covered a module on healthcare innovation which was interesting, but also felt like an extension of previous content. The week started with a history of innovation in healthcare — from Ancient Egypt to the early 20th century — and how each type buckets into the 4 categories of radical, routine, disruptive and architectural. I liked that no type fared better than the other, but I would’ve liked to hear more about the need for specific types in the context of healthcare (particularly on a systems level).

The rest of the week covered lots of design futures stuff, which thankfully wasn’t too foreign for my brain, but it was fun to collate these concepts into our group’s chosen ‘challenge area’ on fertility. By Friday we presented our concepts of a preferred future in 2100, and proposed a ‘build your custom contraceptive’ prototype as a service, in a world where there would be no more side effects, is accessible, and tailored to a new normal of not having children (aka forever contraception). It’s always nice to be experimental and lighthearted when it comes to the a school project (designing for fun over servitude).

The feedback we got was interesting: would apps still exist in 2100? (we showed a screen prototype). Is a future where contraception still exists, the kind we prefer? (We arguably only improved the state of contraception, rather than thinking more disruptively).

Fitness bits

Monday upper day. I can’t really remember how this session went except trying to squeeze this in my morning before a week of class and upended routine.
Tried reformer pilates for the first time and to no surprise, loved it. It’s so challenging under time/tension and being supported with a machine really helped with mitigating the pain from my recent injuries and soreness.
Did a boxing class at Kensington for the first time in a while — I haven’t done bag work in so long, it felt weirdly boring. It’d also been a minute since I’ve been pushed to the limit by a trainer…
Usual Saturday morning 1-1 boxing. Really broke a sweat here, lots of pads, footwork and working around the ring which was veryyyy fun.

Looking ahead > planning my week ahead worked wonders for getting my rest days in (very important). I’m excited to incorporate more low-impact pilates next week + cardio sessions as I prepare to do a little 3-week cut.