Reflective practice is basically looking at an event or experience, evaluating it, and learning from it. This was an especially appropriate, and especially difficult, week for this because it was my first week at a new job. I have a lot of responsibilities, and a lot to learn. Right now I don’t have an immediate supervisor (that position is open) so there is nobody to direct my training. I’m happy to oversee it myself as I have a pretty good idea of what I need to know and who I need to help me. But I do have to keep myself in check and make sure I’m not focusing completely on the more appealing job tasks at the expense of the others. My hope is that every day I will take a few minutes to reflect on what I’ve done and what I need to do, so I can continue to make sure my priorities are in order and I’m learning and getting better at my job.
Of course this is a good practice in real life as well as at work. Learning from and building on our experiences can lead to a happier, more fulfilling life. Writing is a good tool for reflection, and many people keep journals for this reason. I don’t, and I wish I did, but I haven’t yet been able to work that practice into my day. Hopefully I’ll reap some of the same benefits just by thinking, evaluating and learning from my experiences even if I’m not writing it all down.
Do you consciously build time into your day for reflective practice? Do you have any tools to help you?
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