Mental toughness to beat work-related stress

I’ve been in the workforce for more than 10 years now, but I’ve never heard the term “burnout” until I moved to Amsterdam a couple of years ago. The idea that employees are allowed to take months off work due to burnout was a new concept to me. My first thought was, wow it’s great that the labour laws here allow people to take care of their mental health. But then I thought, if I find life relaxing here… why are people around me burned out? 

Is it a cultural thing? Is it another term for “chronic stress” or “depression”? Do I have a higher tolerance for stress? 

I know everyone is different, and there are myriad reasons why someone can break down. People might already have difficult lives outside of work, and I can see how added stress at work can just tip someone over the edge. I’m not a therapist, but as someone who has lived through a rigid education system and 11 years of corporate life (5 of which are in big tech), I think I have some good tips on how to deal with day-to-day work stress.

“Just try your best”

Growing up as a Singaporean, it was drilled into us from a young age that the only way to succeed and be comfortable in life was to do well in school and then climb the corporate ladder. I vividly remember sitting in my bedroom and crying over my geography textbook because I simply couldn’t commit the different types of rocks to memory. It’s ridiculous and I can laugh about it now. But at that point in time, the educational system and society convinced me that my life depended on exams. 

Basically, I was trained from a young age to cope with doing things that I disliked. I can count myself lucky because I managed to deal with that pressure. I believe that it’s because my parents gave me a normal, loving life at home. They never pressured me to excel academically (this is not the norm as Singapore is a very competitive society) and were satisfied as long as I stayed out of trouble. 

Whenever I get anxious during the exam period, I’ll ask mum and dad, “What if I can’t remember all these facts during the exam? What if I do really badly?” They’ll always say, “It’s OK… just try your best.” Perhaps they believed in my capabilities and were trying to tell me that I was placing too much pressure on myself. Or perhaps they just wanted me to stop bothering them? Either way, it calmed me down and helped me return to focusing on doing my best.

I’m not a high-achiever who worries about not getting top grades. Most of the time in school, my goal was simply to be average (OK, maybe just slightly above average). I know what I’m capable of, and even now at work, I always take it upon myself to give my best. If it doesn’t work out, I know that there’s nothing else I could’ve done more. And if that’s really the case, I know I don’t belong there and would have to move on to something else.

Tip: Do your best, have confidence in your abilities, and see what happens.

Learn to be self-aware

I tell myself soothing narratives like that all the time to calm down. Because I know myself pretty well, I’m able to make choices that bring me joy and stay away from things that bring me down. Here’s where the cliche “be true to yourself” is, well, true.

I learn things about myself through constant introspection. I’m an introvert and I enjoy being with my own thoughts. When I’m daydreaming, my thoughts often drift into my recent experiences, and I replay scenes in my head and watch them like a movie.

Stressful events at work often weave their way into my thoughts. But this is how I start to process why I felt or reacted the way I did at that moment. I also try to figure out the thoughts and feelings of those around me at that moment.

But whenever I have a stressful day at work, my favourite way to destress is to verbalise it. Whether I rant to a work buddy, recount my frustrations to my partner when I come home, or text my close friend groups on WhatsApp, there’s nothing like having someone acknowledge my grievances. 

Besides the psychological satisfaction of venting, these conversations also allow me to gain different perspectives on the situation. My friends and family helped me learn what might’ve caused the situation, how I could prevent it from happening again, and how to move on from it. 

I also enjoy listening to people about their work troubles as it’s also a learning opportunity for me. I was chatting with a UX designer at lunch the other day, and she mentioned how she learnt to be resilient. “I used to feel like I’m not just a designer, but that I identify as a designer,” she said. “And when people criticised my work, I felt like they were criticizing me. But I soon learnt that I needed to have a life outside of work, and separating work and life helped me to cope.” 

That was really interesting to hear because the people that I often see struggling the most in a corporate environment are those who feel passionate about their work but aren’t able to do their absolute best. They often find it difficult when people aren’t as passionate about it as them and struggle to adapt to different ways of working.

Tip: Give your best until it’s time to knock off, then step away from it all and go live the life that work pays for.

Surviving big tech, or any corporate job really.

When I’m in one of my introspective moods, I think about how we got to a point where we have so much technology to help us be efficient, and yet we’re more busy than ever. This irony is wonderfully played out in big tech companies. The amount of messages, emails, meetings, and documents we go through each day is mental. And that’s just the inanimate items. Throw in colleagues with different personalities into the mix, and you get one hell of an environment to deal with. 

But it’s not all bad. And the reason for that is because I truly enjoy what I do and get paid well for it. Writing is my ikigai (the Japanese concept of one’s life purpose). A concept which I learnt about through the Netflix documentary series Live to 100: Secrets of the Blue Zones. 

Find your ikigai through the book Ikigai: The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life, which was an international bestseller that helped the rest of the world understand this concept.

I didn’t go about intentionally finding my own ikigai, but I was lucky enough to discover through schoolwork that I liked writing a lot and was told that I did it rather well.

I’ve dabbled in a few non-writing jobs in the past, but it stressed me out so badly that I got physically ill from it. During one particular stint, I had 3 bouts of food poisoning within 1.5 years, which really alarmed me because my stomach is usually very strong. It made me realise that I had to be happy to be healthy and that I had no choice but to go back to writing. 

But even when I get hired to write, there’s so much more to the job than just writing. It takes a whole lot more than just writing skills to survive as a UX writer in big tech. The workplace is wild. You never know what kind of people you’ll be expected to work with, and there’s a limit to what you can change in your work environment. 

That’s why I always try to focus on what I can control. I always give my best, even with all the creative and time constraints that are often placed on writers. I also celebrate small wins, find opportunities to advocate for UX, and try to be a good teammate. These habits make me feel like I have autonomy and make me feel good about my own capabilities.

As for things I can’t control, like unsolicited and unhelpful feedback from colleagues, changes in business priorities, or the number of “urgent” messages I get, I just have to remind myself to observe them impassionately and try not to react to them. Of course, there are days when work gets to me, and I get pissed off. But I try not to take things too personally or think about it after 16:55! 

Tip: Focus on what you can control and learn to distance yourself from what you can’t control

Well, that was quite a therapeutic topic for me to write. If you’ve made it to the end of this lengthy post, I hope you enjoyed reading my part monologue, part self-pep-talk essay.

How I set my UX work up for approval success

UX writing is an art. And like art, it’s subjective. So it’s often not what you say, but why you said it. 

Take this treadmill for example. It was one of the many objects showcased for Ai Weiwei’s In search of humanity exhibition which I saw in Rotterdam.

Assange's Treadmill 2017. Metal, plastic, rubber, 126 x 70 x 165cm.

If I didn’t attach any meaning to the picture of the treadmill, it’ll be very easy for you to dismiss it.

What I mean to demonstrate is, when it comes to presenting UX work, it’s not about just about showing the work itself. Substantial meaning needs to be attached to the work so that others can understand it.

In a way, us UX folks need to sell our work — especially when we’re trying to get stakeholders to approve it. I’m not a sweet talker and don’t have the gift of the gab. But I approach my writing very logically, so I play that up when I present my work. I explain the logic behind why I made certain UX decisions, and make sure my audience understands my perspective.

Using the 5W1H journalism framework to prepare my work for sharing

Before sharing out any of my work, I make sure that it answers these basic questions: what, why, where, who, when, and how.

1. What problem are we trying to solve?

2. Why do we need to solve this problem?

3. Where does this sit in the user journey?

4. Who owns this work?

5. When was this created and when is it expected to go live?

6. How did we arrive at this solution? 

Key elements in my presentation

I prefer to present my work in a deck. While most of our UX work is done on Figma, not everyone is familiar with the tool. I’ve yet to meet a colleague who doesn’t know how slides work though. A figma file for a big project can be overwhelming for someone unfamiliar with the different user journeys. With slides, only 1 page is displayed at a time, so viewers can focus better. This restriction also helps me to sharpen my message by communicating a few key points at a time.

My share-out deck generally follows a problem-solution-rationale approach, and this is how I divide it into 3 main sections:

1. Project details

• Date

• UX owners

• Teams involved

• High-level project timeline

  This encourages stakeholders to adhere to given deadines as any UX delays will have a snowball effect.

2. Problem and solution description

• Problem

  Try to highlight the significance of this problem. Why are we choosing to solve this problem and not the other 283 issues in the backlog?

  If possible, I’ll justify its priority with research and data. After describing the problem, I’ll always ask myself: “so what?”. For example, instead of just saying, “When a payment takes longer than 3 seconds to process, we don’t display any differentiated messaging.”, I’ll add on the “so what?” element too: “This causes users to either prematurely close the window or make double payments. When this happens, we have to direct operational resources away from critical issues to help users.”.

• Solution
  A brief description of the high-level UX approach preps my audience for what they’re about to see in detail next. This is also a great opportunity for me to educate stakeholders on UX’s role in solving business problems.

3. UX solution and rationale

• Screenshots

  If there are many elements on the screen, I’ll highlight clearly what stakeholders should be looking at. If not, we might get stakeholders commenting on components which are not part of this new task.

  If I’m presenting just a slice of the experience, I make sure to explain where it sits within the user journey too. Adding a couple of screens that come before and after help stakeholders to imagine a bigger picture while looking at my work.

• Rationale
  Just like how I step into the users’ shoes when I’m writing for a product that they use, I step into my stakeholders’ shoes when I’m preparing a presentation for them. I try to anticipate their questions and answer them in my copy rationale. Common questions stakeholders tend to ask include:

  • How does the user arrive here? Where’s the entry point to this flow?

  • What comes before and after this?

  • Why have you chosen this term/phrase? Would the user understand it?

  • Is this how we describe <topic> across the product?

  • What happens if the user does <action>?

  To answer these questions, I tend to bring in materials that have informed my writing decisions. This includes links to past research, user feedback, brand narratives, copy guidelines, and industry best practices.
  Sometimes, the most effective rationale for writing things a certain way is because it’s been recommended or cleared by a subject matter expert within the company. I’m a fan of name dropping for cases like that, as people tend to approve work that’s already been approved by someone they know or trust. A simple line like “cleared with <name> from <department>” would give stakeholders the confidence to sign off on my work quickly.

• Options

  If I have the luxury of providing more than 1 option, I’ll highlight the key difference between the options upfront, indicate my recommended option, and the reason behind my choice.

Takeaways

• When preparing UX work for review, try to anticipate and answer questions that stakeholders might ask.

• A solid presentation answers the 5W1H questions of journalism: what, why where, who, when, and how?

• Each piece of work should be accompanied by a solid rationale writeup, which includes materials that have informed the UX decisions.

3 strategies I use to collaborate better with colleagues as a UX writer

There were many instances at work where I’ve thought to myself, “This would’ve been done so much more quicker if I didn’t have to collaborate with so many people…”. That may be true, but working with people from different expertise is also one my favourite things about being a UX writer in a big tech company.

While UX writers do collaborate with product managers, designers, or developers, we must see them as individuals first, then function second. Every teammate is a unique individual. So while we have the same goals and objectives, we each have different ideas on how to go about doing it. To achieve the team’s goal, we need to lower barriers to collaboration.

Before we even start to think about writing, there has to be multiple rounds of discussions and decisions with others. Good writing skills will only get a writer to a certain level. I’ve seen many writers struggle with the role because they realise that writing is just one part of the job. To have a successful career, or simply enjoy working as a UX writer, one’s got to work well with others.

I wished there was a standard process, but collaboration is a messy, organic affair that differs from company to company, and person to person. But there are 3 broad strategies that I use to create good partnerships at the workplace.

1. Practise active listening

As an introvert, I prefer listening to speaking. I also tend to ask more questions as opposed to tell others about myself. When I’m interacting with my colleagues, I don’t just listen to what they say, but how they say it. This gives me clues about what aspects of work they enjoy, what stresses them out, and what their pet peeves are. These clues help me understand their perspective and empathise with them, which makes working and getting along with them easier.

Empathy for others is crucial, especially in high-stress environments where people may say or do things without much thought. Each one of us has a different style of communication, so what you interpret of a message may not always be what the sender intended. When someone throws out a rude comment, I try to clarify things by saying “Do you mean…”. Most of the time, it’s not as bad as it sounds. It’s better to take a step back first instead of jumping too quickly into conclusions.

Not reacting immediately to negativity is a really difficult thing to do. But while I working in a really demanding role with even more demanding people when I was younger, I picked up meditation to deal with the stress. Through hours of guided meditation (big thanks to the Calm app), I learnt that taking deep breaths and observing my thoughts and emotions rather than having knee jerk reactions to them helped me to stay calm in difficult situations.

In meetings, I try to be as present as possible even if I’m not expected to contribute to the agenda. There’s always a good reason why I chose to attend the meeting, so I tend to listen to every meeting carefully and try and suss out if whatever’s being discussed will affect the user experience. Even if I’m new to the project and might not be able to ask deeper questions, I will take notes and summarise what’s being said in order to make sure that my understanding of the topic is accurate. I will also ask general UX-related questions like what’s expected of UX, deadlines for UX deliveries, names of key stakeholders, or documentation for you to do preliminary research. This will communicate to others that I’m not only actively listening, but also ready to start collaborating.

2. Understand and adapt to your team

When I’m new to a team, I like to spend the first few weeks observing things like a fly on the wall. By actively listening in on team meetings and observing group chats, I’m able to understand the team dynamics and see how people like working with each other. In the interest of setting a good foundation for future collaboration, I position myself as a colleague who can solve issues that the team is currently facing. It’s more about ‘let’s see how we can do this together’ rather than a ‘this is how UX should to be done’ mentality for me. For example, if the team prefers to have some copy written without any research, I can either 1) kick up a fuss and lecture the team about how this is not a good UX best practice or 2) write the copy and mention that we should strive to have research in place in future. Choosing the second path shows the team that you’re a team player. 

Change scares people. So even if I’m used to working a different way, I’ll try and adapt to the company and team’s way of working before getting them to learn how to work with me. Nobody likes new joiners who come in and think they can change everything. Establishing trust is my priority for the first few months with the team. Only after trust has been established that I move on to educate them about my value.

I also enjoy sending out good vibes by calling out work that has genuingly left an impression on me. Because… who doesn’t like a compliment? It doesn’t take any effort at all to hand out praises, and it creates an open and encouraging atmosphere that can only aid collaboration.

It’s probably my Asian upbringing, but I’m usually also quite all right with compromising a little to maintain team harmony. Perhaps there are people in the team who don’t understand fully what a UX writer does. Or perhaps the team is about to launch a product that never had any UX inputs. As there’s always room for UX improvement for every project, I always pick my battles. If a stakeholder vehemently insists that I should use a word that I don’t 100% agree with, I’ll communicate my professional opinion as to why I’m against it, but still agree to go ahead and change it (if it’s a low priority project).

Give them an inch, but never let them take a mile. Some writers get really upset when non-writers tell them what to write, but I prefer not to sweat the small stuff and focus my energy on high-priority projects.

While it’s important to be a good team player, that doesn’t mean that I’m saying ‘yes’ all the time. There’s a fine line between being easy to work with and being a pushover. I never hesitate to speak up if someone makes me feel slighted, or if the workload gets too overwhelming. I often have to remind younger writers this, as they lack the experience and confidence to manage their work. Although people generally don’t like hearing ‘no’ for an answer, saying ‘yes’ all the time for the sake of getting along with colleagues is also not the way to go.

3. Managing stakeholder feedback

Years of presenting my work to stakeholders for copy review has definitely taught me a few things. As my work is never just about the words in itself, I make sure that any work I share out has a writeup of its context and copy rationale. By explaining how and why I’ve written something, I’m helping the stakeholders understand why the team has made certain UX decisions. This usually greatly reduces the amount of comments and copy suggestions that are made out of context.

I also never take any feedback personally, as I know that whatever I present is often a collaborative effort. So all the feedback I get on the artefact — even if it’s about the choice of words — is actually a feedback to everyone who’s worked on the project.

I value feedback because it gives me a good idea as to whether people understand my words. I’m seldom precious about my initial word choices because language can be interpreted in so many ways. I’m more keen to refine my words into something that my audience will understand.

If I don’t agree with some feedback, it’s better to dig deeper into the opposing perspective than to start defending the work immediately. I will defend my work if needed, especially when I’ve got hard facts to back my UX choices up. I will then use my UX writing expertise to explain why I disagree with a comment. For example, a professional reply like “We’ve decided not to use this term as users found it misleading during our previous usability research, .” is much better than “This term is used in other pages too”. Most of the time, stakeholders appreciate that I’ve taken the time to consider their comment, and are happy to learn more about how UX writers think and work.

The feedback process is not a platform for others to criticise my work. I see it as a necessary step to improve the product’s user experience — if people working on the project are unclear about the experience, how can you expect your end users to understand it? It’s also a great opportunity to educate colleagues on the value of what UX does and how to collaborate with UX professionals.

Main takeaways

1. Practise active listening in order to understand and empathise with your teammates.

2. By actively listening in meetings, you can suss out if whatever’s being discussed will affect the user experience.

3. Having a ‘let’s see how we can do this together’ rather than a ‘this is how UX should to be done’ mentality can create a better environment for collaboration.

4. Establish trust before trying to change any thing.

5. It’s OK to compromise a little now and then to make collaboration easier. But never be a pushover.

6. During the copy review process, having clear writeups that explain the rationale behind UX decisions does wonders. Your colleagues get some UX 101 lessons, and you'll be able to position yourself as the UX expert.

7. Be open to all feedback and if defend your work using professional UX expertise rather than emotionally-charged language.

Book review: Pitch anything

Public speaking makes me really nervous. I’m glad my livelihood doesn’t depend on pitching, but it’s one of those skills that’s good to have in your pocket. As I progress in my career as a UX writer, there’s more expectation for me to lead conversations and influence people. And to do so, I need to be able to present my ideas effectively and have people receive it well.

So when one of my good friends mentioned that Pitch Anything by Oren Klaff was one of the best books she’s read that helped her as a creative director, I decided to pick it up too. Learnings and takeaways aside, this book was a really enjoyable read. The language was direct, engaging, and approachable because there were lots of fun and memorable anecdotes. While this book teaches some theories, the author arrived at the theories through his own work experiences. Reading the book felt like learning through storytelling, which is infinitely more interesting than reading a collection of case studies with and bullet point summaries.

Always keep your pitches fun with a bit of light humour (and a touch of drama)

One good story is the one where the author, Oren, took the apple that a hedge fund manager was eating during a pitch. Oren was trying to pitch a deal to the hedge fund manager, Bill, and his associates. But from the start of the meeting, they hardly paid any attention to Oren. To try and change that, Oren asked Bill if he could take the apple that he was already munching on. Oren cut the apple in half to illustrate that he’d like the deal to be equal. There was silence in the room when he did that. But Oren had their attention for the next 20 minutes, and a hearty laugh from Bill after he finished the pitch.

Oren used this anecdote to explain a few theories. No matter how intimidating the person you’re pitching to might be, you can always use light humour to disrupt the situation. After creating a mildly shocking but not offensive scenario, you have people’s attention. You can then quickly move on to the crux of the pitch and show them why they should listen to what you’re saying.

Basic theories

Oren starts the book off by explaining that because of the way our brain has developed to receive messages, we can’t present complicated ideas to people and expect them to be interested right away.

While we use our highly evolved neocortex to formulate the pitch, it’s the audience’s more primitive crocodile brain that will interpret the pitch.

The book is about using a “STRONG” formula to win the audience over. This is how to get your big idea from their simpler crocodile brain up to their smarter neocortex:

• Set the frame: own the power dynamic, seize situational status, and control the agenda

• Tell the story: place the big idea into a context that’s easily understood

• Reveal the intrigue: use a relatable human story to get the audience emotionally invested

• Offer the prize: tell the audience what they can benefit from working with you

• Nail the hookpoint: Make the audience want you before they know all the details

• Get the deal

How to structure your pitch

Apparently, when molecular biologists introduced their discovery of the double-helix DNA structure to the world, their presentation was done in 5 minutes. And since the limit of most people’s attention is 20 minutes, Oren recommends this structure:

1. Introduce yourself and the big idea (5 minutes)

   • Highlight the biggest success of your career

   • Explain why your idea is relevant now — position it according to current economic, social, and technological forces

2. Explain the budget and secret sauce (10 minutes)

   • Demonstrate your budgeting skills as opposed to how well you can forecast revenue

   • Highlight the idea’s competitive advantage

3. Offer the deal (2 minutes)

• Tell the audience what, when, and how you will deliver the work

4. Make the audience want you (3 minutes)

• Remind the audience that even though you’re pitching to them, you are the prize

• Let the audience know that even though no one likes being pressured into making decisions, there are reasons why they should give you an answer within a reasonable time frame

• Use moral authority and give the audience reasons why choosing you would be the “right” thing to do

• Make it known that you’re not needy and have other things lined up. Make the audience chase you.

A few other lessons from the book

• Establish a dominant status quickly when interacting with your audience. You don’t earn status by being nice or trying to show your charisma through small talk. You earn it by being the subject matter expert and getting the audience to like you.

• Never say things like “What do you think so far?”. This portrays neediness and weakness, which creates fear and anxiety in the audience’s mind.

• Don’t start a meeting with “Thanks for taking the time to meet with me.”, as it reinforces the audience’s power over you. Find opportunities to mention that you have other things on your plate. Use phrases like “I’m glad I can find time for you.”.

• Use people-centric stories to hold the audience’s attention and prevent them from mentally checking out during your pitch. When you see that attention is waning, tie in a story that’s related to the subject matter, but with this plot: you once knew someone, who was faced with a tough situation that they needed to overcome. Draw the audience in by creating intrigue around this character. How did they react? What did they do? How did they overcome and draw the obstacle? Everyone loves a good anecdote like that.

My task management and note-taking system

Things can get pretty chaotic at tech companies. UX writers are often attached to multiple product teams, each with its own timeline, objectives, and workflow. Combine all that and top it off with tight deadlines, and you’ll get one overwhelming mess. 

But practice makes perfect. The reason why I haven’t lost my mind after years of being put under that kind of pressure is because I managed to stay organised on an individual level. 

I’ve worked out a system that helps me to: 

• Stay on top of day-to-day tasks 

• Keep high-level goals in view

• Track and search milestones for performance reviews

Since every company has their own set of planning tools, the most practical thing to do is use the most basic (a.k.a. free) ones so you can continue using this system even if you change jobs. 

Tools I use for this system include:

1. A spreadsheet for daily tasks 

2. A document for note-taking 

I currently use Google Workspace on a Chrome browser, and on a Macbook. So most examples are based on this specific experience. But other similar tools will work too. I use many other tools such as Jira, Miro, and Figma, but they’re more suitable for managing projects rather than individual tasks.

I also exclusively do my task management and note-taking digitally so everything is searchable and accessible. I love scribbling on paper, but I’d rather not carry a notebook around since we’re hot desking now. 

Spreadsheet for daily tasks

As change is constant—and quick—in tech companies, I needed a task management system that is equally nimble. 

View and make a copy of the Google Sheets template

This is how I use the sheet… 

Limit to 5 tasks a day 

A hypothetical to-do list for a Monday on the second week of September

There’s no magic number, but 5 is usually the maximum number of tasks I can handle. Any more tasks that come my way will be placed under the upcoming days’ list. This prevents me from taking in more work than I can deliver. 

But if an urgent task needs my immediate attention, I will make space for it that day by moving any low-priority tasks to the next day. Similarly, if a deadline gets extended, I will move it out of the current day’s list. 

Move tasks to plan upcoming days

A monthly spreadsheet allows this fluidity as I’m able to copy and paste individual tasks easily and plan my days according to weeks. 

This system also makes me aware of certain back-burner tasks that I’m constantly moving from day to day, or week to week. If it’s been floating around for too long, I’ll either make it a top priority on a slow day or delete it forever.

Add reminders for future tasks

I’m also very bad with dates, and because turnaround times for tasks are short it’s easier for me to indicate in the sheet (and in my mind) if a task is due “next Tuesday” rather than “Sept 20”. 

As weekly recurring meetings are commonplace, I use this sheet to include reminders for things I need to do before the next meeting.

Let’s say it’s Tuesday and I’m in a 1:1 meeting with my manager, and I note down a few action points I need to take. After the meeting, I’d quickly add a task called something like “Complete 1:1 actions” to next Monday’s list to remind me of the actions I need to complete before the next meeting on Tuesday. 

Set priorities

When it’s a busy day, I like highlighting high-priority tasks too. This visual prompt helps me to focus and feel less anxious when I see that the day is filled to the brim.

Insert related links

The amount of links flying around at the workplace now is insane to say the least. So I always throw in the task’s related links into this sheet whenever I can. This saves me some time to look for it when I get to that task. 

I use the “Cmd + k” shortcut to hyperlink texts so that I don’t end up with annoyingly long URL addresses in each cell. 

View the entire year in 1 sheet 

By duplicating the blank template and creating a new tab for each month, I will end up with a year’s worth of tasks in a single file. This makes it really easy to flip through the months and spot key events. This is especially useful when putting together materials for performance reviews. 

Based on my tasks, I can roughly see when things actually happened. For example, I can see when I started early concept discussions with the team, when the copy was reviewed, and how long it took to have changes approved. It’s always more accurate than the fancy project timelines shown at kickoffs which are seldom updated as the project rolls along.  

Document for note-taking 

The most important thing about note-taking for me is that all my notes need to be easily searched. I’m not good at retaining information – I just have fuzzy memories of vague pieces of information.

But with this note-taking system, which I mainly use to keep track of meeting discussions, I’m able to get the full picture quickly via a few clicks or a keyword search. 

View and make a copy of the Google Docs template

Project-based structure 

For the longest time, I categorised my notes according to dates rather than projects. While everything was still searchable, the older notes tend to get buried and forgotten. 

I found it much better to cluster notes according to projects or topics. I do this by creating a document outline, which is also an efficient way to navigate between projects within the long page (I use the same doc for the whole month).

This is what a hypothetical outline would look like…

Just 2 levels of hierarchy are sufficient. 

Level 1 

• Name of overarching project or topic 

• Apply heading 1 formatting (⌘ + Option + 1) so it immediately appears in the document’s outline 

Level 2 

• Name of subtopic 

• I often use meeting names (copied from calendar invite) for these sections as it helps me refer to the last meeting’s notes easily before the next meeting

• Apply heading 3 formatting (⌘ + Option + 3). The difference between H1 and H3 is more obvious, which makes it more visually organised. 

A pinned section for reminders 

Notes I take during discussions often contain lots of specific details. To make the most important pending items or interesting ideas more visible, I copy and paste them to a separate section at the top. 

Like a pinned post on Instagram, this section is the first thing I see whenever I navigate to this project. And when I navigate to this project’s notes, it’s usually because I’m about to have another meeting. So this pinned section is a great reminder of things we need to cover in the meeting. 

It’s a great way to appear really prepared. It’s like having a second conversation with an acquaintance and bringing up something they’ve said before – everyone loves a good listener. 

Quick shortcuts

I separate each day’s notes by dates, and I love using the keyboard shortcut. Simply type “@today” to insert today’s date. Such a quick and elegant solution! I also like how the date’s label formatting visually breaks up notes taken on different days. 

Another shortcut I always use is “⌘ + Shift + 8” to insert a bullet point. It’s an easy one to remember because the 8 key is also used for an asterisk, which looks like a dot!

How I got my dream job

I’m so proud and happy to be able to say that I’m a Senior UX Writer at Booking.com, based abroad in Amsterdam where I’m living the life I’ve always dreamed of living. It took a lot for me to get here, so this is not a Get your dream job in 2 years guide. It’s a lengthy and personal story about a series of fortunate events that led me to where I want to be.

The Booking.com headquarters in Amsterdam

20 years ago

It all started with a childish wish to be on the same continent as some of my favourite bands. I loved the music, movies, and books that came out of UK and Europe, so I yearned to be part of that. To be at the summer festivals which were advertised to me in SPIN and NME magazines, hang with alt kids, and live that hedonistic lifestyle that sounded pretty cool to me then. That, along with Singapore’s tininess, was really what lit my desire to live abroad.

14 years ago

I discovered pretty early on that I enjoyed writing. I was also stubborn enough to make academic decisions that enabled me to hone my interest. And I say “stubborn enough” because it was general knowledge amongst average Singaporeans that creative pursuits never led to material success.

It’s so bizarre to think back on how I was ready to accepted a lifetime of struggle when I decided to take the arts route. When in reality everything I was told at school about achieving a successful life and career was a load of rubbish. Taking the alternative path of vocational school, pursuing a diploma in Mass Communication, and then a degree in Bachelor of Communication Studies taught me how to make a living doing something I loved.

12 years ago

Studying abroad was always out of the question as my family could not afford it. But that changed when my parents took up some insurance savings plans and amassed enough money for me to go on an exchange semester in University of Hertfordshire (UK).

For the first time ever, I could live independently and do whatever I wanted. I tasted freedom and I loved every minute of it. Living in UK also confirmed everything I knew all along… that I’d love living in Europe.

7 years ago

I never stopped thinking about getting a job in Europe. I never stopped applying for jobs there, but got rejected every single time. So I thought, why not get myself to Europe first? Perhaps being available for face-to-face interviews would help.

So after 3 years as a Writer at Home & Décor magazine, I decided to quit and become a freelance writer based out of Europe. It was extremely stressful in the beginning, but I actually managed to earn a decent income thanks to the contacts I’ve gathered throughout my time with the magazine.

As I only had 90 days as a tourist in the Schengen region, I frantically applied for every writing-related job I found. Most of my applications were ignored, and the few companies that replied rejected me once they realised I didn’t have a work visa. When my 90 days ran out, I cried my eyes out and dragged my ass back to Singapore.

4 years ago

Seemingly from out of nowhere, I got a message in my LinkedIn inbox from a Content Strategist manager at Alibaba about a job opportunity in China. It wasn’t Europe, but it gave me the crucial kickstart to living and working abroad. I will always be grateful to Kyle for helping me leave Singapore.

So despite a less-than-favourable and non-negotiable contract – my biggest concern was that there was only 7 days of annual leave — I decided to take a leap of faith and accept the offer. I knew that if I hated it, I could always just quit and return home.

It turned out to be a smart career move. As a Senior Content Strategist at AliExpress in Hangzhou, I successfully transitioned from journalism (low pay; dying trade) into content strategy (better pay; promising job prospects). And I got my foot in the door of the growing tech world.

I was involved in fast-paced projects that required me to collaborate with product managers, engineers, designers, and language specialists. The learning curve was steep, but it trained me well to thrive as a writer in a big tech company. 

Some of the most valuable work skills I picked up include:

• Stakeholder management

• Localisation and writing for an international audience

• Crafting data-focused case studies

• Seeking opportunities for content-driven business solutions

2 years ago

While my love for writing as a craft never waivered, I always struggled to find a niche that I was passionate about. It was only after I did an internal transfer to Ant Group (Alibaba’s affiliate finance company), that I slowly come to discover my place in this big world of writers.

I had my first taste of working in Fintech as a Senior Content Strategist at Ant Group in Shanghai, and as I dug deeper into the payments industry, I started to find its complexity both challenging and fascinating.

Another thing I got to delve deeper into was UX writing. As our content team sat within a newly-established department, it meant taking on content requests in every shape and form. While that’s hardly a best practice, it gave me the opportunity to lead UX projects for the first time. That made me realise that UX was actually great fun!

And just like that, I finally found my sweet spot – I’m a writer who’s genuinely passionate about Fintech and UX writing.

1 year ago

Now that my positioning was in place, I was better equipped and more confident in pursuing the next phase of my career. With my sights still focused on Europe, I set out a plan. I gave myself an exit deadline and worked backwards.

It took many weekends sitting at cafes agonising over the contents of this portfolio, which took me 5 painful months to put together. Once I was satisfied with how it presented my story, skills, and strengths as a writer, I started applying for UX writing roles at all the notable payments companies in Europe (as well as in Asia and the USA to cast the net wider).

6 months ago

When I got my first positive reply to an application, I could hardly believe it. For the first time in my life, working and living in Europe was within my grasp. And the positive replies kept on pouring in… for roles in Amsterdam, London, New York, Stockholm, and Shanghai.

During my interviews with these companies, I was surprised to learn that many design teams in tech companies face the same challenges I faced during my time in Alibaba and Ant Group. This put me in a great position to solve similar issues in most tech companies, regardless of where they’re based. I also made the effort to convey my enthusiasm for B2B content, UX writing, and payments.

When I got the offer for the Senior UX Writer role with Booking.com in Amsterdam, I was over the moon. I finally achieved what I’ve always wanted, and it felt incredible.

Today

I spent the day at the office collaborating with UX designers and frontend developers to build compliance and finance tools. After work, I strolled along the pretty streets of central Amsterdam and bought myself the latest issue of Apartamento magazine and a book titled Weird Things Customers Say in Bookshops. Then I cycled home and published this article. And I’m happier than ever (quoting Billie Eilish because I really enjoyed her recent Glastonbury set).

12 lessons from 12 months in Alibaba

Alibaba is unlike any other company I’ve worked for. I had no experience in e-commerce before this, and had never joined a Chinese company. That made working in the company’s headquarters in Hangzhou equal parts challenging, chaotic, and candid. It has taken me 12 months to feel relatively settled in, and these are 12 lessons I’ve learnt along the way while working in AliExpress, Alibaba’s international shopping site.

At Alibaba’s headquaters in Hangzhou, China

1. Be shameless to learn fast

Work moves at a breakneck speed here. There is no time for hand-holding, and foreign newbies must learn things from ground up. 

In order to get a quicker grip on things, I was shameless about asking silly questions. I didn’t spend too much time worrying if asking basic questions would make me look stupid. I probably did, to those who were already fluent in Chinese e-commerce terms. But understanding the task was more important than saving my “face”, so I continued annoying my colleagues with daft questions. 

Being a newbie meant a little more room for mistakes. So I took the initiative to do smaller tasks independently despite not knowing the ropes, as busy teammates always appreciate the help to clear daily tasks. And if something goes wrong (which happens at times given the quick turnaround time), be shameless enough to pick yourself right back up after learning from the experience.

2. Be the friendly stranger

Foreigners are a minority here in the Hangzhou office. And as an outsider fully immersed in a Chinese work environment, it is important to make the extra effort to be approachable. 

Smile. Even when you only understand half of what’s being discussed in a big meeting. 

Be polite. Especially when communicating via instant messaging as it’s an important channel for forming good relationships in a workplace where many work remotely. 

Show interest in the Chinese culture. Use Mandarin as much as you can, however limited it may be, as it’s always appreciated.

Work becomes much smoother once colleagues feel more comfortable with you, and every bit of 关系 (good relationship) helps.

3. Projects are like stories to a journalist 

While there are approximately 15,000 employees here at the headquarters, Alibaba hardly functions like a corporation of the same size. It takes pride in its startup culture, so instead of clear-cut team functions, every employee has to juggle multiple cross-disciplinary projects at a time.

It's chaotic and confusing at first, but my background as a magazine writer enabled me to see every project like a working article. I need to pitch it well to different stakeholders to convince them that it’s to their benefit to help me with it, and then find experts in different fields to support me in executing it well. 

4. Speed is king

But unlike a magazine, the e-commerce environment values speed over perfection. It’s better to launch a ready product quickly than to spend more time ensuring it’s absolutely flawless.

5. Uncertainty is the norm

Staying agile under the pressure of speed means working with a certain level of uncertainty. For newer projects, the emphasis is often placed on executing and experimenting rather than careful planning. 

6. Embrace change, and learn to love it

But what happens when you have to work fast under ambiguous circumstances? Plans change. While it can be frustrating at first, the best way to stay afloat is to go with the flow. It’s no wonder that “embrace change”, one of Alibaba’s famous 土话 (sayings), is uttered time and time again by its employees.

7. There's no time for grudges

As everyone here understands the nature of the environment, mistakes are not dwelled upon. It is, rather, seen as an opportunity for everyone to learn from.

8. Learn to share and care

Employees are encouraged to do presentations at internal sessions. This enables us to sharpen our presentation and storytelling skills, and learn from each other’s experiences. Whether it’s to garner support for a new project, get colleagues up to speed with industry trends, or hold a quick tutorial on how to use a new internal content management tool, anyone can get their 15 minutes of fame here. 

9. Emails aren’t everything

Much of our day-to-day work communication is done via instant messages on DingTalk. It took me a while to get used to the deluge of Mandarin messages I’d receive every day, and I’m still learning how to decipher important messages from the constant flow of information within chat groups. Working with numerous remote 外包 (outsource) partners also taught me the value of a phone call ⁠— having good old conversations from time to time does wonders to build better working relationships.

10. Prioritization is paramount 

Ensuring productivity in an environment where a high volume of tasks are urgent requires strict priority setting. I’ve learnt that not every instant message needs to be dealt with instantly, and it’s perfectly fine to negotiate deadlines and responsibilities when it’s justified. By respecting my own time, I’m able to get more done each day. 

11. Internationalization doesn’t happen overnight

As AliExpress broadens its reach into new markets, we’re constantly trying to find the right balance between emulating what Taobao (the Chinese online shopping site that's also the world's biggest e-commerce website) has done well for China, and adapting to local preferences abroad. It takes time to find the right balance, and we’re still working towards an ideal formula. Frictions arise due to cultural differences, but it’s all part of the learning process. Patience, empathy, and professionalism are important qualities for any one working in an international environment.

12. Appreciate the bigger picture

While some days are more trying than others, it’s still a huge privilege to be amongst it all. There are many valuable lessons to be learnt, life skills to pick up, and stories to be told because I got to work in Alibaba. It’s a pretty sweet deal to be part of a tech giant’s global ambitions, and witness it in its early stages of internationalization.

As Jack Ma once said, “此时此刻 非我莫属” (“If not now, when? If not me, who?”).