Dashboard Week is tough. Why? That’s because we have five datasets (not all were clean), one per day, and we were required to build a dashboard and present it the next morning. On top of that, there is a blog that needs to be done for each day as well. We have between 9am to 5pm to develop our dashboard, but let’s be honest, most people push way past dinner time. At some point, stress and fatigue become part of the routine.
But, for some magical reason, I survived without pulling any all-nighters. For Dashboard Week, I made a rule: all data transformation and analysis must be done by 5pm, leaving the evening for refinement and formatting (well, life is not perfect and I broke this rule twice).
How I Dealt with Weird Topics
For the first day, we had Broadway data. I’ve never watched a show; I picked one with a fun name (Smash) and moved on. Onto the second day, it was NCAA basketball with Google Big Query. I barely watch the sport, just got curious about Asian representation in NCAA players. Then, trampoline injuries for the third day. Yes, somehow, that became my theme for Day 3. The fourth day came with crossword puzzles data. Again, I have not solved a crossword puzzle once in my life, but apparently “Girl’s name” was the author/editor’s favorite clue. The last day was a bit of a blessing and curse—a blessing because we had a pretty clean and interesting dataset (IMDB), a curse because we had less time than usual.
Exploring, filtering, and asking a big question as a starting point, and letting one thing lead to another. The real lesson here is: it doesn’t matter what dataset you receive, there is always something to drill into.
How I Kept “Cool”
I stuck by my rule as best as I could—that is, get things done by 5pm and leave evening time for creative work. By Day 3, however, I failed, but didn’t burn out. The key?
- Stick to a single focus (one big question is enough).
- Don’t overthink. Build as you go.
- Make fast decisions and commit to them.
- Give yourself boundaries (time, complexity, scope).
What I Learned
First and foremost, I had no idea I could build a dashboard within a day. Dashboard Week really pushed my limit. Sure, I may not have gotten better at dashboards (and I doubt that anyone could in such a short amount of time), but that is not the biggest takeaway.
- Lost? Doesn’t matter, keep going.
- “Perfect idea” is a waste of time.
- Discipline > burnout.
- Action brings clarity, not the other way around.
Dashboard Week was definitely rough, but it was also one of the most productive weeks I have had in a long time.
Final Thought
No, Dashboard Week didn’t break me, fortunately.
No, I did not stay up until 3am.
Yes, I was in a bit of stress.
And yes, I did enjoy Dashboard Week—surprisingly.
