I am consistently working on being mindful of my work-life balance as well as managing my time/energy being online and off-line. Through doing this exercise, I am glad to see that I use less technology in my personal time than at work.

For my work life as an Instructional Designer/Educational Technologist, it is expected to know a wide range of technology and to teach it at any moment’s notice. It is like being in the technology wild west sometimes. Workshop topics such as Advanced Features of Brightspace (our Learning Management System), Adobe Rush for video creation/editing, and Zoom for remote teaching/meeting are often on the menu. We also use a ticket tracking system called Salesforce to manage all of the incoming requests and reports. Additionally, I use interactive tools such as Nearpod to present my lecture, Padlet for individual/group collaboration, and Kahoot for team building games.

Encontraire to work, I spend little time on my computer or phone in my personal life. There is a strong need for me to disconnect so I often leave my phone at home. I much prefer to read, knit, and assembling puzzles for my leisure time. Like most people, I use Facebook to stay connected with my family and friends, Netflix to stream movies and Audible to listen to audiobooks.

As I settle into my role as a student at RRU, further adjustments to how I use my time and technology are required to maintain the work, student, and life balance.