Diary of a (Not-So) Wimpy Tech Mom: From Sabbatical, To Spreadsheets, To Power BI Headaches
If you thought dealing with President Trump’s unpredictable announcements was wild, try coming back to tech after a few years of chasing toddlers and negotiating McDonalds trips. The only thing scarier than guessing what Trump will say next, at a point of time some time back was, opening Excel to refresh VLOOKUP after a long sabbatical.
Excel was always my comfort zone, the digital kitchen where numbers simmered gently like slow-cooked Dal Makhni. But once you’ve spent enough nights reconciling the school-to-do-lists against upcoming-school-birthday-parties, even VLOOKUP starts to look dull. So Mom (me) decided it was time to "upskill." It’s what Sapiens do, we survive by learning new tricks, whether it's fire-wielding or CTRL+Z-wielding. Enter Power BI: the sleek, visuals-driven cousin, ready to turn chaos into dashboards faster than a school morning goes from “just five more minutes” to “where is your left shoe?” This is what Harari might call humanity’s latest cognitive revolution. Because sharing dashboards is way easier than sharing the TV remote on the 'Family-TV-night'.
Harari claims the switch from hunting-gathering to agriculture made humanity work harder for less fun. As a mom, I get it. Homemaking feels like the original spreadsheet, Lotus 123, lots of input, not much to report. At least now, Power BI does the aggregating while I aggregate laundry from under the beds and insides of the closets- along with random packets of ‘Punjabi Tadka’ or ‘Cheetos’.
In Sapiens style, I believe all moms are heroic upskillers . And the moms returning to tech aren’t just up to date,they’re up to the challenge, balancing the learning curve with school pickups, Arabic lessons and explaining once again why a stuffed Paratha is just the same as a no-cheese-Quesadilla with its veggies stuffed inside. The secret? Never stop learning. Whether embracing the newest Excel function or uncovering the mysteries of DAX, a growth mindset and a good WiFi signal are all it takes to re-enter the workforce, often with a sharper perspective and a greater appreciation for both teamwork…and the school coffee morning(chai, in my case).
So, my fellow tech-moms wherever you are on your tech journey, remember: moms are already experts at sorting, filtering, and finding lost data (a.k.a. “the missing jutti”). So when you finally unveil that live-updating Power BI dashboard, whether at work or at the dinner table....don’t forget to filter out the noise and focus on what matters.
Harari claims the switch from hunting-gathering to agriculture made humanity work harder for less fun. As a mom, I get it. Homemaking feels like the original spreadsheet, Lotus 123, lots of input, not much to report. At least now, Power BI does the aggregating while I aggregate laundry from under the beds and insides of the closets- along with random packets of ‘Punjabi Tadka’ or ‘Cheetos’.
In Sapiens style, I believe all moms are heroic upskillers . And the moms returning to tech aren’t just up to date,they’re up to the challenge, balancing the learning curve with school pickups, Arabic lessons and explaining once again why a stuffed Paratha is just the same as a no-cheese-Quesadilla with its veggies stuffed inside. The secret? Never stop learning. Whether embracing the newest Excel function or uncovering the mysteries of DAX, a growth mindset and a good WiFi signal are all it takes to re-enter the workforce, often with a sharper perspective and a greater appreciation for both teamwork…and the school coffee morning(chai, in my case).
So, my fellow tech-moms wherever you are on your tech journey, remember: moms are already experts at sorting, filtering, and finding lost data (a.k.a. “the missing jutti”). So when you finally unveil that live-updating Power BI dashboard, whether at work or at the dinner table....don’t forget to filter out the noise and focus on what matters.
Comments