I am going to do my second ever batch at the Recurse Center - yay 😁 ! I will attend the Mini 6 2020 batch from August 10 to 14. I didn’t think this would ever happen, I am able to do this only because right now it is possible to attend remotely.

My first ever batch was Mini 5 2018, and I started this blog at that time (I had a few blogspot.com blogs prior to that). It was mind-blowing, and also very short. This time I am going to get more time - because I don’t need to leave my home, arrive at New York City, get myself accustomed to a new accommodation etc. So I want to plan it out.

Goals

The first time around my goal was to experience RC and also to do a specific project in Clojure/ClojureScript, since that would help me learn the language. At the end of the week I did complete my planned project, but I realized how little I had interacted with other Recursers. This time I want to rectify that. I do want to make meaningful progress on any one of my existing side projects, but my main focus is interaction with other Recursers. Also I want to feel happier at the end of the week than before.

Constraints

The biggest constraint is being a remote attendee. The RC community has adpated to remote functioning wonderfully well. But I don’t know how much energy and enthusiasm I will have attending from my own home. I have always felt that the physical space of RC is very powerful - I get much more done in much less time when I am there. The other constraint is my limited time and energy, being the father of a two-and-a-half-year-old. I can rarely stay up at night, and have a very bad day following that if I do. So I will need to focus on doing as much as I can in the regular 10am-5pm day.

My routine from the previous time

I still miss my routine which I followed in the previous batch. It was sort of like

• 6:30-7:00 Wake up
• 7:30 On my way
• 8:00 Breakfast on the way
• 8:30 Inside RC
• 8:30-9:30 Read books in the RC library
• 9:30-19:30 Normal day at RC!
• 19:30 Dinner
• 21:00 Back to my accommodation
• 22:30 Sleep

As I write this, I miss the coffee shops of New York City, the awesome eateries of SoHo, and the RC physical space. How will I recreate all of this at home, or should I even try?

A possible plan

Here’s what I am thinking of doing

• Make sure groceries and other errands are done beforehand
• Have nice coffee ready at hand
• Take a walk in the morning
• Get some books I want to read - these will have to be digital copies
• Hang out in virtual RC
• Stick to the goal of making meaningful progress on existing projects

I have twelve days to go before my batch starts - let’s hope I can make it a good one