We took a survey at the beginning of DBC to determine our Gregorc Thinking Style. I got Abstract Random as my dominant style, which means, among other things, that I use my intuition and imagination, and that I organize information in random chunks. No wonder I got into theatre and the arts! This thinking style was really enabling for me to use my imagination and see the whole picture of a project to understand why this specific part didn't work or shouldn't be changed in this way or that way.

The hard parts of this thinking style include working in a restrictive environment, concentrating on one thing at a time, working with authoritarian personalities or with people who aren't friendly, and accepting positive criticism. Well, in a way, it's no wonder I chose DBC. This is definitely not a restrictive environment. I can follow the curriculum at my own pace and I have the freedom to complete the assignments pretty much however I like, with some guidelines. This is very freeing for me. The restrictions would be about working with others, but so far that hasn't been an issue. I've really liked my pairing sessions so far. I think I would have had issues in the past, but working in the theatre made me deal with heavier personalities than the ones at DBC for sure. In terms of concentrating on one thing, I feel like meditating daily has been REALLY helpful in keeping me on track. That and using the Pomodoro Technique and time-boxing my projects. Taking 5 minute breaks every 25 minutes REALLY helps me stay focused by letting me unfocus every now and then. I love it!

I feel overall that my training in the theatre up until this point has required me to be overly analytical of my thoughts, actions, mannerisms, etc. The result of that (besides being maddening) is that I constantly think about how I can improve. I don't like to be complacent, especially when my routine or habit isn't working for me. Heck, that was why I went into programming to begin with! What I was doing wasn't working for my lifestyle. So now, I'm taking DBC's advice and the things I have implemented so far have not disappointed. I'll see where it all takes me.

You can read more about Gregorc at his website.