# User manual




We wrote these at work so teammates know how to work with each other. Here's mine.

## ⏰ When am I at my best?

- I'm at my best in the afternoons. That's when I do my deep work.
- I prefer meetings in the morning, so I can keep my afternoons for focused work.
- I can still focus on something tricky in the morning (of course).
- I take short breaks to feed my cats, so I might be away for a few minutes now and then.

## 💬 How do I like to communicate?

- If you send me a message asking something, I usually jump straight to the answer and only then remember to reply to the "hello".
- Async Slack first. I usually reply quickly.
- Send the full question in one message, not just "hi". Then I can answer faster.
- I prefer threads and public channels over DMs, so others get the context too.
- If a thread gets long or complex, I'm happy to jump on a quick huddle.
- I like the "take notes" feature of Google Meet.

## 🎯 How do I like to receive feedback?

- Be direct and specific. A concrete example helps me most.
- Tell me in the moment, while the context is still fresh.

## 🗣️ How do I give feedback, and how should you read it?

- Usually I'm direct.
- I often give feedback as a question ("Have you considered…?", "Maybe we could…"). It's a real suggestion, not an order.

## 🧰 What do I need to do good work?

- **Autonomy:** give me the goal and trust me to find the how.
- **Fast feedback loops:** quick reviews and early check-ins on direction.
- **Clear context:** what problem we're solving and why it matters.

## ⚡ What energises me, and what drains me?

**Energises me**

- Solving hard bugs and getting to the root cause
- Shipping features

**Drains me**

- Context switching: constant interruptions and lots of small meetings
- Too much bureaucracy

## 🙃 Pet peeves

- Meetings without an agenda or purpose
- Long back-and-forth in documents
- AI slop

## 🤔 What do people sometimes misunderstand about me?

- I joke a lot and I like to make people laugh. Sometimes that can be misread. It's never meant to be at anyone's expense.

## 🌧️ How can you tell I'm stressed, and what helps?

**Signs to look out for**

- I get quieter than usual.

**What helps**

- Help me prioritise: what matters most right now, and what can wait.
- I take a few breaks to pet my cats.

## 🌟 Things you might not know about me

- I started a PhD in Biomedical Engineering before deciding academia wasn't for me and switching to software engineering.
- I've been vegan since 2024 🌱
- I can juggle 🤹
- I posted daily vlogs on YouTube from 2014 to 2015.

## 🎬 If I were a GIF

![A GIF that sums me up](https://media1.giphy.com/media/7NoNw4pMNTvgc/giphy.gif)

![Another GIF that sums me up](https://media4.giphy.com/media/NTur7XlVDUdqM/giphy.gif)