Mindly

Amabella Dyandra Putri Rachmat

The Planning

For the personal project, I devised a SMART goal that will assist me in completing the project effectively and efficiently in order to receive exemplary results. There are 5 sections that make up the SMART goal, such as; Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time Bound. These sections will determine what I want to accomplish, how I will track my progress, the three steps to reaching my goal, the importance of my goal, why the goal is important to me, and when i want to reach my goal, respectively.

➤ In the Specific section, I wrote about how the personal project “ . . . will be a social media platform that promotes healthy coping mechanisms and methods for mental health issues and how it is correlated with neurological sciences. Through acquiring reliable medical facts and primary sources, I would like to reach a large audience, possibly around the ages of 12-25 years-old. I believe mental health is an issue that currently everyone is facing. Whether it may be stress, anxiety, depression, or even OCD, everyone one is facing their own battles. And as many people do not have access to seek professional help, I would like to create an opportunity for them to learn through social media”.

➤ Through the Measurable section, I aimed to track my progress “ . . . through my very own personal document and personal project timeline. I believe that the success of my project can be indicated by the response of my audience once I have published my project and action”.

➤ In the Achievable section, I wrote that I will undergo the steps of investigation, taking action, and reflection. “Each step will have its respective criteria and points in order to reach the designated goal. The investigation step will consist of researching, gathering primary sources, source evaluations, and action preparation. The second step will consist of the action in itself and the process. And lastly, the reflection step will mainly revolve around self and project reflection to assess me and my success”.

➤ Through the Realistic section, I believed that the “ . . . goal is important to me because I believe that easy access to factual information regarding mental health coping mechanisms and methods are very scarce at the moment. Despite mental health being a popular topic these days, a proper display of how to cope through them healthily is rather difficult to find”.

➤ And lastly, in the Time Bound section, I explained how I began my topic investigation 2 months before the timeline began. In fact, during this time, “. . . I researched about 3 possible topics. Now that I have narrowed down my topic into one, I will begin my personal project journey in September, as soon as I am notified of who my mentor/advisor will be. I will reach and complete my goal by mid to late December, before I must begin the personal project report preparation in early to mid-January.”

An evident and reliable indicator of my success will rely on the success criteria. The success criteria will be applied to evaluate my rate of success after the execution of my project. It will include 4 prompts and 2 sections; the student designed criteria and the test/method evaluation. The first prompt, which asks; “Form: What will it look like? What materials/ tools will I use? How will it be produced?” will be determined by the student designed criteria that answers; “The product will be a social media platform, preferably an Instagram account that will display informative and medically accurate information regarding mental health and healthy coping mechanisms. I will use a range of different design applications and create a new email designated for my platform.” This prompt regarding form will be evaluated through the amount of followers and audience interaction received, number of posts posted, quality and consistency of feed. The second prompt regarding the function asks; “What is the purpose of your project?” will be determined by the student designed criteria that answers; “The project serves as a tool to provide easy access to healthy coping mechanisms and accurate information regarding mental health.” This second prompt will be evaluated by the feedback given through a survey, post-project. The third prompt regarding user and audience that asks; “Who is it for? Age/ gender/ socioeconomic/ background” is answered through the student designed criteria that states; the product “(. . .) Will appeal exceedingly more to female teenagers, young adults, and the general public, especially those who are facing health issues.” This prompt will be evaluated by checking the social media platform’s demographic. Lastly, the fourth prompt which asks the cost of the project is answered through the student designed criteria which states; “Though the project won't be costly considering making an Instagram account and designing posts will not take a dime, it will sure be timely.” This statement will be measured and evaluated by the evidence of any receipts of proofs of cost.

The Learning

ATL Skills

As my project utilities the Identities and Relationships; Personal, physical, mental, social, and spiritual health global context, I mainly revolved my skill application and development in research, communication, and critical thinking, however, this did not limit capabilities as I continuously applied the social and self-management skills throughout my project.

Expert Interviews

Ms. Conita Lutfiyah, S.Psi

On the 29th of October 2021, I contacted Ms. Conita Lutfiyah, a respected Koran teacher, Therapist for neurodivergent children in a non-governmental organization, and a psychology graduate from Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University Jakarta. During my preparation for the interview, I constructed 3 openended questions in two languages; English and Indonesian, to be used as guiding questions for the interview on the allocated time. During this process I heavily used my public speaking and writing skills to create a respectful and open minded impression in order to request the interview. Ms. Conita Lutfiyah and I eventually opted for the 5th of November, 2021 for the interview and we both collectively agreed that it will be consensually recorded by strictly audio. After the interview, I noticed the passion within Ms. Conita Lutfiyah’s words. She was deeply cooperative throughout the whole duration of the 8 minute interview. In fact, I continued speaking to her after the interview regarding her job as a therapist. She had to endure a multitude of emotional outbursts, physical altercations, etc from her students. Despite it all, she was proud of her job, thus, proving her dedication and devotion to her career.

Pak Agung Rachmadi, M.Psi

On the 18th of November 2021, I conducted an interview with Mr. Agung Rachmadi through Zoom. With this interview, I mainly centered my attention on his remarks regarding self-care; the process of taking care of one’s well being through healthy behaviors and active management. My critical thinking skill was especially active during the interview to grasp numerous approaches effectively. This interview with Mr. Agung Rachmadi made me see self-care and mental health in an all new light and perspective. Mr. Agung Rachmadi altered my perception on how mental health is truly much more than what scratches the surface.

Sri Wulandari, M.Sc, M.Psi

As I planned to acquire more than 2 distinguished and acclaimed interviewees for my project, Mr. Agung Rachmadi referred me to his friend, Ms. Sri Wulandari, M.Sc, M.Psi, a clinical psychologist with a master’s degree in Genes, Environment & Development from King’s College London. This is where my critical thinking, communication, and social skills came to play. As I will be interviewing an established professional with a background in neuropsychology, it was necessary for me to host the interview as professional as possible. Thus, I constructed 7 questions to be asked during the interview. Aside from the questions regarding Ms. Sri Wulandari’s job as a psychologist, I mainly asked her regarding the definition of neuropsychology, the brain’s role in mental health and how it may affect a person’s mental health, how the brain responds to mental illnesses or a decline in mental health, what is considered to be a healthy coping mechanism, what is considered to be an unhealthy coping mechanism, and what Ms. Sri Wulandari would recommend to the general public in terms of healthy coping mechanisms. All things considered, Ms. Sri Wulandari and I agreed to meet on Zoom for the interview on the 23rd of November 2021.

Research Results

For research, I would go through tens of medical journals, hospital websites, Doctor’s interviews, and factual blogs in order to complete my research. I would often reference my interviewees in my products to be used as a primary source. During this process, I was constantly reflecting, interpreting, and organizing both data and information to be written on my product. This is to achieve my goal in creating an informational and medically accurate product that serves as a conventional tool to learn about mental health. Through my research, I can conclude how food plays a large role in contributing to our brain’s overall health. Certain vitamin deficiencies may be detrimental to certain mental health diagnoses, such as deficiencies in vitamin B, zinc, vitamin D, amino acids, and many more may be the prolonged diagnosis of depression. Each of my products requires a different form of research as I explore a different topic each post. Thus, I would engulf myself in a different perspective to display an appropriate set of information each time.

Road to Mindly

The Process

With regards to my self-management skills, as December was approaching, I created an organized and manageable calendar for me to be well reminded in uploading and creating my project. I gave myself the freedom to be creative in uploading dates so I can manage my school assignments alongside the personal project.

In accordance with my timeline and calendar, I began designing and researching for my product. I mainly used 2 applications for my product’s design; Procreate and Canva. I will use Procreate to digitally draw the majority of my product, such as; the imagery, text, and accents. Then, I will transfer the file to Canva to be aligned accordingly as Procreate’s features are not equipped for layer alignments. I aim to select a colorful and youthful color pallete to reach my designated young demographic. I have gathered a number of inspirations for my project and to analyze and observe.

First Post!

On the 3rd of December, I executed my long awaited project. As it was a Monday, I chose to upload at 11am as it is the hour that Instagram has their highest engagement for the day. However, it was quickly halted by 17 minutes due to the violation of Community Guidelines. After 4 respective tries, I have finally accomplished my goal of uploading. My product’s title was Mindly or Mindly Education. The word means relating to the mind. Through this project title, Mindly wishes to create a bridge between the psychological and neurological perspective of mental health.

Uploading... and uploading

For the following 4 product uploads, I encountered the same violation with Instagram’s Community Guidelines, however, thankfully, for the next 8 consecutive uploads they all went smoothly as I continuously strived to find a resolution through constant retries with uploading, alongside my persistent use of my critical thinking skills. Precisely as I did with the first uploaded, I uploaded each post in accordance with Instagram’s highest engagement times. This is to ensure that the maximum effort has been given in terms of reaching the appropriate audience and product success.

After each product upload, I would promote and announce the product through a number of platforms; Instagram—with numerous accounts, Whatsapp to family and friends, and Pinterest. After countless observations and research, Pinterest, an image sharing and social media platform with over 431 million monthly active users worldwide is a very prominent and accessible platform that is especially popular with today’s youth. Thus, as my project mainly targets the young audience—as listed on the success criteria, I uploaded my project on Pinterest in order to expand my target audience.

✿ Mindly ✿

The Reflection

Obstacles

╰┈➤ As December 1st was near, I decided to create the social media platform and independent email early in late November. The development and creation of the email went smoothly, however, I suffered a discouraging conundrum during the process of creating the Instagram account, the main platform of publication for my project. I was stunned to discover that I was unable to launch the platform despite my efforts. In fact, I went so far as to attempt creating the account of 4 different devices; 2 smartphones, 1 iPad, and 1 laptop. Apparently, after great deal of observation, it was concluded that my IP address and devices were blocked from creating an Instagram account as a consequence for my innumerable creations of Instagram accounts in the past. This conundrum hindered my timeline by 3 days, as it was finally resolved as a classmate offered to log in into the account from her house—a location where the IP address is not blocked.

╰┈➤ I created a test post in order to assure the product upload goes smoothly the following day. However, Within less than 30 seconds of the given uploaded, I stummbled upon yet another technical issue. My product was deemed innapropriate by Instagram’s Community Guidelines, in which they stated; “We want to keep Instagram a safe place for everyone. We don’t allow certain things, including:

Graphic Violence
Hate speech, harassment and bullying
Nudity and sexual activity”

My product did not involve any of the aforementioned claims. In fact, it was simply an image promoting healthy breaks with a drawing of a ghost wearing a face mask, a frog, a carrot cupcake, monitor, and sleeping emojis to accompany the text.

Personal Impact

╰┈➤ I believe that my product has given me a new perspective regarding life altogether. Through my research, it made me realize how a certain aspect in life may be intertwined or simply correspond with other elements in our life. Furthermore, it made me realize that mental health is not a simple concept to classify because the human understanding of psychology and the brain barely scratches the surface. Thus, it made me look at life in a whole new light.

Mindly's Impact

During the peak of Mindly’s action period, according to Mindly’s Instagram Insight Overview, Mindly has acquired a total of 135+ followers in the span of 31 days. With over 222+ accounts engaged and 571+ accounts reached, Mindly has touched the hearts of hundreds. With its top audience being from cities such as Jakarta, Indonesia (25.2%), Jayapura, Indonesia (4.5%), Boston, Massachusetts (4.2%), and Pandampur, India (3.6%). And its countries from Indonesia with a whopping 39.9%, 19.1% from the United States of America, 12.8% from India, and 2.7% from the United Kingdom. It can be concluded that Mindly has become a worldly project. The impacts of each product’s content has also been perceived positively and effectively. With many comments and remarks under the posts stating how they agree and should be applying the given healthy coping mechanisms into their own lives. Many comments even involved mentioning another individual’s name to urge them to apply the healthy coping mechanism. Mindly’s project has also been a conversation starter in certain posts. Such as one user writing; “do this most of the timeee” and another came to respond with “same gurl”. Furthermore, as the project was launched at a time where students were completing their final works for the semester, many have expressed their personal correlation to the product. Simple positive responses like these are what helps sail the awareness of mental health.

On the 12th of December, after Mindly’s “Coping with Grief” post regarding how to healthily cope with the feelings and emotions of grief, Mindly was offered to become the brand representative of a mental health civil activist organization titled Mental Health Value with over 21.3 thousand followers on Instagram. This organization focuses on spreading awareness of mental health through clothing and they proudly donate their sales to The National Alliance on Mental Illness. It was a thrill to comprehend that Mindly was much more than a personal project, it was becoming a beacon of mental health awareness.

What's next?

I’ve always planned to continue Mindly. I see immense potential in the project, thus, I believe the door is always open for me to create more content. I plan to rebrand Mindly and achieve what I couldnt reach in Mindly’s near future. I aim to expand Mindly in the summer of 2022.

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