Jermaine Dasargo

8.00 AM

My dog jumps up onto the bed, two paws land on my face as he tries to wake me up. I had about seven to eight hours of sleep last night so he succeeded this time.

I do some light stretches, go to our kitchen to drink warm water, eat breakfast then decide to have coffee instead of tea. Iced coffee. A drink I used to enjoy with my teammates and life-long friends before the pandemic.

I go back to my room, into my private thinking space, drink my cold coffee and reflect about yesterday. I write about it so I can think more clearly and don't dwell too much as I'd like to focus more on the present.

Each day is an opportunity for me to be at least 1% better than the old me. To do that, one of my mentors suggested I do this every day: write three goals, four things I'm thankful for, and five tasks that will move me forward. Once I'm set, I commit to my goals, do some squats and take a shower.

9.00 AM

My eight-hour workday starts with checking my calendar, Skype and emails. I look at the tasks I need to do for the day and prioritize accordingly. This is also where I look for tasks that I can delegate to some of my teammates. I always make sure to do this for me not end up trying to do everything at work in a day.

10.00 AM

Meeting with a client. I maximize this time to listen to them, ask questions, and understand what they need. Since the task here is on data analysis, I need to understand the context of their data.

11.00 AM

They have given us access to their data. They have scrubbed most of it for this month but there is still scrubbing needed to be done. Once the requirements are final and the whole process is clear to me, I can then find ways to optimize the task or automate it and even suggest ways to improve their data collection.

12.00 NN

I use this hour to take a power nap, breathe and meditate, and eat lunch.

1.00 PM

I continue with scrubbing the data and achieving my flow state. Found some patterns in the data and some more questions that I need to clarify with the client.

3.00 PM

Teaching was never in my plans when I was in college. But at work, teaching is valuable. I use some of my time to prepare learning materials for new hires, university students, and my teammates. I also prepare for the lecture or knowledge transfer sessions themselves.

4.00 PM

Mentoring as a mentee and as a mentor. This is one of my favorite parts at work. Here, I talk about my career goals mainly and my mentor suggests action plans to attain my goals. I can also bring up challenges at work or in life, and my mentor can share tips, and provide guidance for me to do well.

After the session, I read about becoming a better teammate, managing my time, writing, mental models, etc. These will help me in my career and these could also help other people. I make a list of the best things that I could find and then share it with my colleagues and mentees.

Throughout the day, I usually talk with my teammates to check up on them, ask for their thoughts, and talk about anything we like.

5.00 PM

I always allot time for me to learn, relearn, and unlearn. Today, I'm reading about data management, more specifically in data handling ethics.

Next, I go back to the list I wrote earlier for my goals of the day and tick them off.

6.00 PM

Finally done with work! Now I can manage my side hustles like investing and farming and take care of myself more by jogging, boxing, reading articles and books, playing with our dogs, and connecting with my family and friends.