Weeknote 31: Sneezin season

It's Friday afternoon. I'm fresh and showered after a lunchtime BJJ class. I've got a tin of Gaza Cola, which is actually a good cola IMO! Weeknote time.

It's been a rough one this week. I got hit hard by hay fever season. A former colleague described the feeling as 'a weather system in your head'. I need to start remembering that I am a regular victim of sneezin' season and get on the antihistamine sooner.

I could feel that it took a toll on my work. In hindsight I probably should've taken a day off earlier in the week. It's a bad sign that I didn't or felt I couldn't. More on that later.

So what happened this week?

  • Finished backporting the visual component updates to the header, footer and cookie banner to GOV.UK Frontend v4. Lots of fiddling of the logo svg for the header and footer which I can't say was especially fulfilling honestly.
  • Backported the nunjucks shortcut feature to v4, minus the prototype kit plugin since, from investigating, we're confident that the user's using the kit at v13+ and Frontend v4 are slim to nill
  • Did a lot of pairing with our tech writer to refine the 4.10.0 release notes ahead of review by the tech writer community. Special shout out to the assets which have been a pain in the bum to convey, since we're doing some extra stuff for 4.10 to improve things.
  • Reviewed content Char's been writing to prompt users on v4 to think about what version they're on and point them towards the most appropriate content
  • Did some breakdown of our remaining issues and work in prep for the end of the cycle
  • Wrote up how our findings from this cycle could impact any future v4 support model assessment or 'getting users to stay up to date' type work
  • Did some IT admin as part of GDS' move from Cabinet Office to DSIT

When you try to avoid turbulence and it hits you anyway

I wasn't the only one who wasn't doing too well this week. Almost everyone on my squad got hit by some form of illness or disruption this week. There's nothing we can do about that, however it's frustrating for a couple of reasons. Firstly because we were running at a super nice, steady, fluid clip. Beginning of last week I really did think we were gonna finish all the tech work a week early.

The second reason is that the content contingent of our team has been talking about how the model of releasing in reflection week doesn't give them a lot of time to actually reflect. The work basically continues because we don't think about release notes or comms early enough. Our tech writer noted that last cycle especially was pretty rotten with the 5.10 release notes being especially complicated and having to be done at a pretty breakneck pace. I wanted to avoid that happening again here where we bring work into reflection week, but it looks like it might.

From chats with the squad the solution is to just nudge the 4.10 release so as not try and squeeze review and finishing touches into couple of days. At the very least all the tech work is done so we're super nearly ready to release. A clutch but not unsuccessful cycle.

How I'm Feeling Now

So, why am I getting so agged out about not finishing this backport work on time? I think in most cases I'd be more willing to say oh well, we didn't hit the deadline, it's legitimately not our fault, we'll do it later. This isn't most cases though because it's part of this wider brand updates project. I'm now reaching a point where I can start to see the impact of working on a high profile, high intensity and dubiously organised in some cases project on my wellbeing. The feeling of obligation to get the thing done, on time, isn't something I've had to deal with for a little while and so my tolerance is lowered and the impact is higher. Basically I think I'm on a burnout streak.

Obviously no tech job is devoid of periods of stress but those stress periods need to be tempered with more peaceful periods. I'm in need of some peace. I'm on another brand updates cycle next where I'm getting the rebrand onto our stuff like the website. I've got a week off at the start then I'm really hoping I/we can take a little break. It's not in my hands though.

Other stuff

Last weekend before the hay fever ramped up was pretty good. Went down to Horsham for my Grandad's birthday on Saturday and then to the first BBQ of the year on Sunday. I want to say I preferred the former but the host brought picanha for the latter so there's not really a contest. Sorry Grandad.

This week my in laws are in town so we're (mostly my wife) doing a lot of eating out. My mum in law wants to embrace the UK holiday and have fish and chips at a pub so tonight that's what we're doing, despite trying to explain that this isn't where the good fish and chips are.

Besides that, I've been doing some thinking about my own diet. I do a lot of snacking, in the office and at home, and I'd like to try and dial that back and generally lean more towards better nutrition for my appearance and longevity. We've moved to overnight oats for breakfast over spenny granola which is more filling and feels like a good start. Send me your toppings tips please.