Much of the past year has been pretty full for me. I'm still attempting to find full-time work. I decided to make a run at becoming a data analyst and spent 4 months in a bootcamp. I knew the bootcamp alone wouldn't get me a job. But I hoped that it would leave me with enough skills to create an online portfolio. That didn't quite work out. I'm still trying, though.
I learned the basics of Tableau, R, Python, and SQL as they apply to data work. But I was too slow at picking up information to actually complete projects during the course. The speed of the bootcamp worked against my learning pace, and the amount of information overloaded my brain. (Inattentive ADHD enhancing my learning experience again.)
I finished the bootcamp a couple of months ago, and since then, I've continued working on the Tableau project that was originally supposed to be my capstone. I was only able to complete a Canva presentation with basic charts by the presentation deadline. Now I've been working on dashboards. I hope to use the project as the basis of an online portfolio.
I expect that I won't be able to find data work until early next year at this point. I don't have enough of an online presence to “sell” myself as a job candidate. And I don't have enough professional contacts to get job leads. I'll need to find alternate work to gain some sort of income.
Meanwhile, I'm also helping my mother more and more, since her memory has become weaker over the past couple of years. She's still “functional” and independent. She drives, attends her yoga tasks, goes to appointments, and socializes at church. But she's unable to organize herself to complete tasks. And she's been late in paying some of her bills. So I've been acting as her second brain and helping her with some household chores and online tasks.
Being a second brain is hard when I struggle to be my primary brain. I haven't figured out how to map out a routine for myself. I'm not able to follow a regular daily schedule. I snatch time to work on my Tableau project or job searching late in the evening or during the times that I'm not with my mother. I live with her to save money, which doesn't help on the personal work front.
So this is a brain dump on what I'm doing now.