macro
- hosting a half-hour mindfulness/journaling session
- joining the intention setting call with the accountability group I co-run
Weeknote 23/22
🌟 The first session of my group coaching pilot was on Tuesday and it couldn’t have gone better. We started with a benchmarking activity which we’ll review at the end of the programme to help judge what progress has been made. The theme of the week was values, so the rest of the time we explored how these show up in the work we do and set actions to work on before the next session.
🏗️ This week I watched my first co-working/office space get razed to the ground… and moved into a new space where I’m planning to spend a couple of days a week for the foreseeable future.
🐠 While my co-host is away I’ve been running June’s accountability Pod solo, so that’s been taking up a bit more time and energy this week.
🔮 I spent a little time this week looking ahead to map out some business goals for the next 6 months.
🤯 I’ve had contracts to read for my new co-working space and associate work, as well as a long overdue update to my website’s privacy policy. I’m still trying to get my head around a couple of clauses which are anything but clear!
👨🏼🍳 I’ve been pretty grumpy and not very nice to live with for the past few weeks. Managed to turn things around this week and cooked an apology curry for Izzy; butter chicken, onion bhaji and roti.
🏏 We visited my sister and family over the weekend. Most of this was spent playing football and cricket with my nephews.
Weeknote 22/22
📆 It’s been a funny old week. Through travel and Bank Holidays I worked three days (two full, two half). It was quiet as we’re between Pods and many people are away for the school holidays. Without my usual standing commitments I had the opportunity to zoom out a little and think about longer term plans.
🧠 One thing I’ve been trying to figure out if the connections (and gaps) between the different things I do, how I communicate that and what I can do to make it more coherent.
📋 There were still a few logistical things to set up for June’s Pod and my group coaching pilot programme that both start next week.
👑 I have mostly been avoiding anything to do with the Queen’s Jubilee. My one concession was baking some scones for Izzy to take to her church gathering.
🏏 I spent the end of the week pottering at home with the first test match between England and New Zealand on the radio.
🥃 Joined friends on Friday for a birthday celebration in the local beer cafe. Sadly they’d run out of whiskey for our final drink of the night, but they did have some coffee tequila as a back up. It was delicious — I may be a convert!
🎨 I’ve been meaning to get back into watercolour painting for some time. This weekend I finally started a Domestika course to ease me back in.
Weeknote 21/22
🗓️ Monday brought another monthly plan with me session. It was the largest group so far this year with a good mix of first timers and regulars.
🍷 We experimented with adding a social hour to the Pod. Not everyone was able to make it this time, but it went down very well with those who came.
📋 I had a catch up with the hosting team behind our daily mindfulness sessions to review developments and write prompts for the next few weeks.
📄 I’ve mostly been working on the activities for the upcoming pilot of Inner Work for Independent Workers.
🔗 I sent May’s link round-up newsletter.
🤔 I’ve done four-day weeks for the last couple and I think I’ve realised that I work more effectively this way. Definitely thinking of making this permanent.
🛋️ Our new sofa got delivered on Thursday. I spent the morning in anticipation and the afternoon faffing… very little work was done.
1️⃣ I’m giving Day One another try to start keeping a kind of log book. I’ve hooked it up to other services so other updates and activities get sent there too. Let’s see if it sticks.
🩸 I gave blood on Wednesday. The waiting room was full which is always good to see. This was donation number 33 for me, so I’m on course to reach 40 in my 40th year.
✂️ One of my favourite times of the month is going to get my hair cut. I find 30 minutes in the hairdressers chair is as good as a trip to a spa.
🧩 Visited my parents over the weekend. We chatted, walked and ate well. It also meant we got to do our weekly crossword in person.
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, 2019 - ★★
I enjoy the interplay between (and performances of) Ridley and Driver, but the rest is a bit meh.
Ocean's Eight, 2018 - ★★
I’d been waiting to see this for so long. Perhaps I built my expectations up too much. So very disappointing.
Paddington, 2014 - ★★★★
Finally got round to watching this and it was everything I expected/hoped it would be. Perfect holiday film.
David Byrne's American Utopia, 2020 - ★★★★
I had no idea what to expect from this… and I loved it! We watched it as part of our virtual weekend away to NYC during lockdown.
Weeknote 20/22
I don’t think I’ve mentioned it in a weeknote before but I start each week with two regular Monday morning commitments:
Having these two sessions to draw my focus in helps to ease me into the working week.
What else happened this week?
😵 My brain was AWOL on Monday after two days of pretty intense peopling and travel for the conference the week before. I spent the day on easy admin to give myself time to process and recover.
🌊 I took Tuesday off to spend the day with my wife. We went up to Howick Hall in Northumberland and walked a loop to take us out to the coast. I remembered my binoculars; we saw a stonechat, a flight of swallows, cuddy ducks and a heron fishing in the sea
🏑 After our day out I attended my hockey club’s AGM. We agreed a new committee structure, elected officers (I’ll be co-captaining the 2nd team next season), and had a discussion about a variety of options for a new home for the club in the near future.
🎯 I returned to work on Wednesday full of enthusiasm and focus. Both Wednesday and Thursday were super productive. I wrote daily to do lists on my desk pad and just did one thing after the other. For the first time in a while it felt easy.
🗃️ The working week ended with more admin; getting everything set up for the next month’s accountability group, sending an update to participants on my group coaching pilot, updating finances and catching up on emails.
🤸 I spent Wednesday evening on my first GoodGym Group Run. I chose to run to the meet, as well as run with the group to our task location. The task involved helping Ouseburn Trust volunteers to clear a flight of steps leading from Lime Street to St Ann’s. We finished the evening with a four-station circuit session.
🌻 On Saturday I helped a friend in her garden. My job was to dig up a field of dandelions to prepare the grass for reseeding. I was paid in quiche, cake and an endless flow of tea.
🍻 After my day of manual labour I met my wife from work and we did a test run for her 50th birthday celebrations. We needed to test out a local pub to make sure it was right for a large group.
⚽ I rounded off the week following the final day of the Premier League. I wasn’t invested in any particular outcome but still found it emotionally exhausting!