All about Rubber at Coach Reflection Day – Part 1

Coaching Bracelets

At the Coach Reflection Day on 1st of July in Fürth, we found colorful bracelets (like the ones you may know from Clean Code Developer) as a surprise from Martin and Fabian on our chairs in the morning.

In the afternoon, Martin did a session on the “Coach Reflection Bracelets”: how to code them in different ways e.g. for groups of people, teams or even for ourselves individually.

My first individual coding

One of the individual codings had a lasting impact on me: each bracelet stands for one project you have in progress. This means, if bracelets are out, you cannot take a new project. The bracelets visualize how many projects you currently have… e.g. in your life, at work, privately, etc. .

So I counted the major projects in my life which are currently scheduled or even already in progress:

  • my practical term in my distance studies
  • prepare my talk at Herbstcampus
  • attend & take the most out of the next seminar on systemic coaching
  • be there for two very close friends (better than the last few months)
  • jump into my new role at work
  • attend class & take the (already scheduled) requirements engineering test
  • declutter our flat (even if we won’t move in fall)
  • prepare 2nd last psychology exam

There is no priorisation for now. The really-want-to-do-list of already postponed things is even longer. And I also have an imaginary list of things that actually come (too) short because of those major projects. After having it that visually obvious, I realized that it’ll be unsustainable for me, my family and some of my projects to keep sticking to all those projects.

The outcome

So I decided to postpone my 2nd last study exam to the next semester. I do have the freedom of choice at Fernuniversität Hagen. Why not use it? Why not taking two exams at once (this will be my last chance in my distance studies ;))? And I did already some more positive reframing: this will save me the examination fee in summer, I’ll have time for one or two recommended readings from Agile Coach Camp DE #accde16. And: time for blogging & sharing more.

What’s next?

A small ‘gremlin voice’ in my head now complains and tells me that it’s a kind of failure… not taking the exam now. So I’ll work on that next. This voice deserves to be heard.

And how about you: What are your thoughts and experiences?