weeknotes
- I took Wednesday off to spend with Izzy after she returned from a week away
- at work I moved desks - I’m now on my third desk in 9 months
- I caught up on a few smaller projects that took a back seat while I worked on a tender document
- in my freelance time this week, I worked on tasks associated with relaunching my coaching practice and had a very fruitful supervision session
- I recovered from an annoying hip injury to play two hockey matches over the weekend, including the O35 Plate competition quarter-final which we lost on penalty shuffles
- Izzy went away again over the weekend and I subsisted on supermarket pizza and beer for three days
- I went back to try again with Picard - so far I’m enjoying the second season way more than season one
- on Sunday Aggie arrived for a few days stay
- I had my belated 6-month review at my part-time job and without fanfare passed probation
- I moved my newsletter to Buttondown and sent out an update to tell subscribers about my intended changes to the format and frequency
- I made progress on the repositioning work I’ve been doing for my coaching practice
- I caught a bug towards the end of the week and ended up having a sick day on Friday
- I recovered enough to play hockey but made a mistake that gifted the opposition a goal and, as it turned out, the victory
- I spend Sunday full of rage for no apparent reason
- finishing the set up for our next accountability group
- running a quarterly planning session
- research for an upcoming talk on the role of personal development in the transition to self-employment
- writing a brief and marketing plan for the freelancer away days I’m running later this year
- a project plan for my next group coaching programme
- watched finals day of The Hundred
- had a games and pizza night with a couple of friends
- prepped all the fruit we brought home ready for the freezer
- visited a friend in her new flat for Sunday lunch
- went for a stroll at the coast
- a second week of COVID blues
- a holiday in Scotland
- the blur of returning to work after nearly three weeks off
- hosting a half-hour mindfulness/journaling session
- joining the intention setting call with the accountability group I co-run
Weeknote 09/24
Better late than never, here are a few things from the week that was:
Weeknote 07/24
I still don’t feel that I’ve fully got into a rhythm for my freelance days. At the moment I’d say I’m only spending 1 day at most on this work. As a result I made the decision this week to bump a couple of workshops I had originally scheduled to happen in March. They’ll now take place in May.
I’m spending much of my freelance time at the moment focused on repositioning my coaching practice and working towards re-accreditation with the International Coaching Federation. This week I outlined exactly what I need to do to achieve that.
It was a subdued week in the office at my part-time job, after we got the news on Monday that a colleague had died. He had been ill for some time and recently left work. Although you could say his death was not unexpected, I think we all hoped he had more time remaining with his family.
On Wednesday, I took the afternoon off to have my induction at Northern Print. I’ve joined as a member to make use of the studio facilities. After the health and safety tour, plus a refresher on using the Albion press, I was left to do my own thing. I focused on printing a new lighthouse design I’d made for the day and with a few tweaks to the pressure of the press I was pretty happy with the results.
This week’s Monday night movie was Official Competition (before it disappeared off Netflix). I followed this up with a trip to the cinema on Tuesday after work to see All of Us Strangers.
I decided I needed a brief pause after reading The Parable of the Sower. When a book leaves such a lasting impression whatever follows it always gets a raw deal. And yet, there was still time for reading, so I picked up a crime novel to be my stop-gap. These types of book are perfect for this situation; they’re formulaic and therefore easy to read and there’s no pressure on them to live up to what came before them.
Both Izzy and I had more free time than usual over the weekend, so we went on a Saturday morning date. First pancakes for breakfast (as we were both busy on Shrove Tuesday), then on to the touring Yevonde: Life and Colour exhibition at the Laing Art Gallery.
Weeknotes 05-06/24
Week 5
After a busy weekend, I mostly took Monday off to catch up with myself I did some digital spring cleaning, got some household chores done and made a plan for the lino project I want to take to my upcoming induction at the print studio.
I watched Bottoms for Monday movie night. I really wanted to like it more than I did.
We had a dog sitting duty Tuesday to Friday which meant I worked from home for an extra day.
On Saturday, I went to Wakefield to play hockey. It was a close match, in which we spent the majority camped in our defensive half. However, we held strong, defended a slender lead and finally came away with three points.
I rounded the week off by giving blood (on a Sunday!) It was my 37th donation and keeps me on track to reach 40 within the year of my 40th birthday. It was a good donation day as there were mint Clubs on offer in the refreshment area.
Week 6
This was a week of ups and downs.
The ups
The downs
Weeknote 04/24
Monday saw the first monthly planning session of the year. We had a great turnout of 20 participants which is largely due to teaming up with Freelancer Magazine this year for some cross-promotion. Later the same day I had my first 1-1 coaching supervision. Previously I’ve done group supervision but it was great to be able to focus on my own practice for the hour. I came away with lots to think about!
Work ticked along nicely this week both from an employed and a freelance perspective. In the office we had the return of our monthly book chat where this month we talked about the brilliance of Claire Keegan - I started and finished reading Foster on Tuesday. For the Janury distance challenge I’m on course to pass 150km before the 31st, and my team is in with a shout of winning the team challenge.
Izzy and I went out for a fancy meal on Thursday at a local restaurant. I’ve been wanting to go for a while but their signature 10-course tasting menu felt a little outside our budget. For January they were offering a 5-course menu as a mid-week special so I snapped up a table. It was delicious and I’ll be saving up to go back.
After last Saturday’s hockey match was cancelled due to snow, training this week was cancelled due to high winds. All of this meant that I headed into a double-header weekend feeling like I couldn’t remember the last time I picked up a hockey stick! It was a tough weekend on and off the pitch with two 3-0 losses (despite relatively strong performances) and some rather childish behaviour from notable members of the team.
This week’s films for me were a rewatch of Caramel, an old favourite, and Wingwomen which was surprisingly entertaining. Izzy and I also finished Mare of Easttown.
Weeknote 03/24
I think I drank more tea than usual. It’s cold. We had a little snow. And mostly I’m feeling like hibernating until spring would be a good idea.
The highlight of this week was a visit from Aggie who stayed with us from Monday to Wednesday. She supervised my work from the comfort of her bed…
At the job job this week I was mostly focused on running client workshops. The first was for a site that’s about to launch giving their editors an introduction to writing for the web. Then I ran a workshop to gather information to allow me to create a site map for a new site being created from the merger of four orgnizations. The workshop itself was good overall; the clients had a lot to say and we went down a few rabbit holes, but I think we all got what we needed. And I have a better idea of what we should be doing in the follow up workshop next week.
On Wednesday I was back at virtual coworking for the first time this year. I enjoy the routine of dialling in for a few hours each week. I always meet someone new and have a good chat during the break. This week during the session I did some vital workshop admin.
Something that’s been on my to do list for months is to decide what I’m doing with my newsletter. It’s been on hiatus since I took a social media break in the summer. This week I’ve finally decided on an approach. It won’t be coming back as a regular thing. Instead I’ll focus on rediscovering the joy of writing and posting to my neglected blog. I’ll maintain my mailing list and send occasional updates about what’s going on in my world.
My movie of the week was The Lost Daughter which I really enjoyed. I’d been avoiding it for no apparent reason and I’m so glad I finally got over myself.
I was due to be travelling to Whitby on Saturday morning to play hockey. They called on Friday night to say there was still snow on the pitch. Unsurprisingly nothing had changed before we were due to set off on Saturday morning so the game was cancelled. I took myself out for a walk instead. There was still some hockey for me that day though as I got to watch GB beat Ireland and qualify for this summer’s Olympics.
I spent the rest of Saturday on the sofa reading a trashy queer romance which is about all my brain had capacity for. And yes, that means I’m no longer reading The Three Musketeers. I was finding it hard to get into so put it on hold for a while.
Izzy and I decided we weren’t really enjoying season 2 of The Tourist (after 3 episodes) so we are now finally watching Mare of Easttown, which is as good as everyone says it is.
Weeknote 02/24
The highlight of my week was a fleeting visit from my sister who was in town for a conference. It was novel to spend time just the two of us. And I didn’t know how much I needed it.
I ran the last of my freelancer away days on Monday. We met online for three 90-minute workshops to review what happened in 2023, set intentions for 2024 and start planning the projects that will help us reach our goals. A thoroughly rewarding day.
At the job-job I planned a couple of workshop activities to gather ideas for the new site information architecture, agreed an approach for a resource to help clients understand what they need to do to prepare their content for a site launch and delivered a presentation to the project managers on how they can talk to their clients about our content design services.
I added 33km to the distance challenge. This total included a brutal post-workshop run, an enjoyable lunchtime walk with colleagues for coffee and cake, and a solo jaunt taking the Metro a few stops east then walking home.
We were away in Leeds for this week’s hockey match. It was another frustrating day out with a scoreline that should have been closer.
I’ve started reading The Three Musketeers. Was indecisive about what film I wanted to watch and ended up binging the whole of season 2 of The Good Fight instead.
Weeknote 01/24
I love it when the month starts on a Monday. It’s even better when it’s also a new year! We met friends for a walk at the coast then spent the rest of the day sorting ourselves out for the week ahead and clinging on to the last hours of the holiday.
I went back to work on Tuesday. It took a while to warm up to it but was I back in the swing of things by lunchtime. This week I’ve been preparing a couple of discovery workshops for a new website merger project and reviewed the content and UI of a multi-stage form for an energy company. For my three days in the office I did one bus, one bike and one running commute.
My first freelance day of the year was cut short with a nasty headache.
I’m taking part in a distance challenge through work and it’s brining out my competitive nature. The goal is to see who can reach the highest combined distance for walking and running over the course of January. There are 14 of us taking part and collectively we’ve covered 384.6km in the first week. My contribution is 30.7km. My activities have included a hike in the North York Moors and a running commute.
Having a friend visiting meant I went for my first trip to my local during dry January. The guys had me covered though with a tasty alcohol free pale ale on tap.
I enjoyed my first book of the year, Emily St John Mandel’s Sea of Tranquility which I read during every quiet minute I could snatch this week.
We finally finished the fourth and final season of Sex Education. I enjoyed the closure of storylines involving the characters we know and love, but felt the new school and scenes in the US were forced. We also got up to date with University Challenge.
I wrote this while multitasking, watching the FA Cup match between Arsenal and Liverpool, and preparing our meal plan for the week ahead.
Weeknote 35/22
My week started with a couple of days off visiting family. On Monday I went to watch The Hundred at Trent Bridge with my sister and her family. My nephews (aged 3, 6 and 8) were beyond excited about their first live sport event (and getting to stay up late!) It was a great day out and our team won both matches.
On Tuesday we stopped off to visit my aunt and uncle on our way home. We raided their fruit trees, helped collect firewood and went out for lunch.
The time off over the Bank Holiday meant I had a three-day work week. Here’s what I spent my time on:
Over the weekend, I:
Weeknote 34/22
What happened this week…
📋 I took a new approach to setting my intentions for the week using three themes; things to finish, things to progress, things to think about. It turned out I had three items under each of the things (I didn’t set myself a limit, but I think that’s something to consider). When it came to review the week I found I’d checked off all the things I needed to finish and spent time working on or thinking about everything else. So I’ll keep going with this approach during September and see how it works out.
✅ A bit slow out of the blocks but we finally got everything set up for our next accountability group which starts on 2 September. We’ve switched from monthly intakes to quarterly and are going to spend the rest of this year looking at developments for a relaunch/refresh coming in 2023.
🛬 I ran the final session of my group coaching pilot on Tuesday. Now I need to collate feedback from the participants and consider how I want to develop the programme for the next group.
🤔 I spent two days in my co-working space… but was the only one in. considering what to rename it. Suggestions from mastodon: a singularity; a lair or den.
🔌 We had no Internet at home for most of the day on Friday which threw the end of my working week off course. I’ve done a little bit of catch up this morning (Saturday) to make sure I’m ready for next week as I’ll only be working three days.
🍻 I’ve found myself drawn into over socialising this summer. This week I’ve been grateful that I’ve rediscovered my ability to politely decline when invited out. I’ve learned my capacity is having things booked for a maximum of two evenings during the week and once at the weekend. There are a couple of exceptions to this rule; hanging out with my buddy and dates with my wife.
🏑 There’s been a lot of hockey admin this week ahead of the new season. Some people stuff too as we start to consider who will be in what squad.
🚘 I’m early with my weeknote because this evening we’re hopping in the car to head south and spend the rest of the Bank Holiday weekend with my sister and family.
Weeknote 33/22
It’s been a few weeks since I posted a weeknote. You missed out on:
I’m ready to write again now! Here’s the week that was…
💻 On Monday I got up and hosted/joined my weekly calls to start the week. All was well. Afterwards I hopped on the bus to go into my co-working space. It was the first day in a long time when I felt full of energy and looking forward to getting stuck in to my work. My laptop felt different and when I arrived at my desk it refused to turn on. So I immediately turned around and headed home. The rest of the day was a right off.
💰 With the help of an IT guy I know, I managed to get the laptop fixed pretty quickly and without breaking the bank. He has recommended that I think about making plans to replace it. Any recommendations welcome!
✅ Without my laptop I didn’t get a huge amount done, choosing to focus only on the essentials — calls with potential clients and coaching sessions.
💡 Spending less time at a screen gave me some space to think about some projects I’ve got on the horizon for freelancer strategy days and a full launch of my group coaching programme.
📋 I caught up with my co-host of the accountability group to run through our plans for the rest of the year and any potential changes to how we run things. We’re also in talks to develop something similar for another community.
🏑 On Wednesday I went to my first pre-season hockey training. I’m captaining a side this season and with that comes a lot of behind the scenes work. This week that involved coming up with a solution for pre-season trial games that suited all teams and coaches, and worked with the pitches we have available.
⚽️ I played my first wildcard to reset my fantasy football team. While that hasn’t proved successful for this gameweek, I am in a much better place going forward.
🍻 Now that I’m over covid and my pal is back from her holidays we spent Friday afternoon/evening trying out a couple of nearby taprooms and playing darts (badly).
🤞 I’m keeping my finger’s crossed that the week ahead holds no surprises or set backs!
Weeknotes 28-29/22
✅ With a grand total of two working days over the past two weeks my focus has been on the absolute essentials; planning activities for my next group coaching sessions, creating worksheets for said activities and preparing to launch my next group programme.
⚽ We took a trip to London to see Germany v Spain at the Women’s Euros. While in London we caught up with friends and dropped in to see the Cornelia Parker exhibition at Tate Britain.
🧟 Izzy came back from a big church event (~400 people on a university campus for four days) and tested positive for Covid. I followed suit a couple of days later. We’ve both had pretty bad cold and flu symptoms and been like zombies for a full seven days. I’m feeling much better (though lacking energy) as we start a new week.
☀️ What’s worse than 48 hours of unbearable heat? 48 hours of unbearable heat when you’ve got Covid! Somehow we got through it.
🎂 We celebrated Izzy’s big birthday in a very low key style — doing our weekly crossword on FaceTime with my parents and eating cake. All other celebrations postponed until we’re feeling better.
📺 While I’ve been ill I’ve struggled to read for any length of time so have watched a lot of not very taxing series on Netflix; two seasons of Chicago Fire and the first season of Heartstopper.
🛒 With plenty of friends on our doorstep we’ve had regular food deliveries but haven’t wanted to cook or eat much. Pretty sure I’ve survived on toast, biscuits, ice cream and lemonade.
Weeknote 27/22
🗓️ I’ve been feeling slightly apprehensive about the amount of work I have on and the limited days I have available in July. So I was pleased to hear a content migration job I’ve been waiting to get scheduled has been pushed back again. It gives me a bit of breathing room.
📑 Had a good meeting with a collaborator about pitching a project similar to the accountability groups we already run to another community.
💭 Ran session three of the group coaching pilot this week on the theme of boundaries. We’re now half way through the programme and I’m starting to think ahead to opening bookings for the next group starting in the autumn.
☕ One of the coaching group had to miss a recent session and as she lives nearby we met for coffee and a recap. Made me realise although there are great benefits to being able to run events online it is good to sit alongside someone.
📋 My main tasks outside of coaching this week have been making sure I’m prepared for the next few weeks where I’ve only got a maximum of two working days per week. I got my newsletter scheduled as well as completing some prep work for other up coming events.
🦋 I finished reading Barbara Kingsolver’s Flight Behaviour.
👀 I watched a lot of sport this week (aided by arriving at my parents who have both Sky and BT); most Wimbledon matches, most Women’s Euros matches, England v India T20s and the home nations southern hemisphere rugby tour matches.
🏏 While I’ve been home, we also went for a day trip to Nottingham to watch my eldest nephew play cricket and I’ve been helping my Dad with various labour intensive two-person jobs in the garden.
Weeknote 26/22
It’s Sunday afternoon and by some small miracle I’m here posting my weeknote!
🪞 On Monday I had a great conversation with Kerry Bertram of Brilliant Thing via LinkedIn Live on the broad theme of reflection. We talked about the power of pausing, creative ways to reflect and the importance of reflection for teams as well as individuals.
🧈 I spent most of Wednesday livid because the video call software we use for our accountability group had released a pretty major update without telling anyone. I found out about 30 seconds before I was due to host a session that I no longer had permissions to open the room. Thankfully my co-host was on hand to step in.
📄 Most of my time outside calls this week was spent working on the last few weeks of activities for my group coaching programme. I’ve also been researching launch plans for marketing the next run of the programme.
🛍️ A recurring theme of my weeks lately has been working in the background on small shifts to my positioning and offer. It’s slow progress but I’m getting there.
🔗 In the latest issue of my newsletter I shared what I’ve been reading in June in my end of the month link round-up.
🥗 Izzy and I are giving Weight Watchers a try for a month. So far, I’m enjoying cooking from their recipes (it’s not vastly different from what we’d usually eat, just more moderate portion sizes!)
👂🏼 I spent most of the week with a blocked left ear which made me disoriented and cranky. I also realised too late that it was really effecting my concentration.
🐶 We had Aggie staying with us until Wednesday evening. She’s such a treasure it really makes me rethink my hard stance on not having a dog while we’re in the flat.
📽️ On Saturday night we attended BALTIC is Curious as part of the month-long Curious Arts festival. We saw three excellent short films by women and non-binary people of colour.
🎾 Most of the weekend I’ve had tennis on in the background while I’ve either been reading or doing stuff around the flat. Watson and Norrie’s runs have been a highlight.
Weeknote 25/22
🙋🏼 Ran the second session of my group coaching programme on the theme of identity. I also got a head start on planning activities and creating materials for the remaining sessions.
🤔 Spent a good chunk of time thinking about how I position my business and talk about what I do.
💡 I’ve been thinking about my business model and how it may be affected by the rise in cost of living. Less disposable income for individuals could mean less investment in personal development activities like coaching. I’ve had a couple of ideas this week for how I can expand and offer my services for small businesses locally.
☕ Met all the other folk at my new co-working space for our first members’ coffee morning. Another sign that I’ve made the right choice.
🗃️ Tidied up my weekly and monthly planning templates in Notion. The main aim for doing this was to add sections to keep my monthly and quarterly goals visible.
🐶 Aggie arrived for a mini-break on Friday. She comes regularly enough that we all know the daily routine and she settles in well. I’m really enjoying it being light enough to take her round the park for our last walk of the day.
🍳 Cooked steak and proper homemade chips for a friend’s birthday meal over the weekend.
☂️ Finished Russian Doll and started watching the new season of The Umbrella Academy.
🎶 Enjoyed having coverage of Glastonbury on in the background the whole weekend while I pottered around the flat. Favourite sets include: First Aid Kit, Gabriels and, Skunk Anansie.
Weeknote 24/22
🏆 My Pod co-host and I have been shortlisted in the Freelance Impact category at YunoJuno’s Freelancer Awards. Voting is now open!
🖐 Finalised materials for next week’s group coaching session on identity to send out to participants.
📅 Added details of the regular events I run to my homepage (a job that’s been on the to do list for too long).
📰 Sent my newsletter which includes a new article on metaphors for goal setting.
🔮 Gave myself some time to zoom out and think ahead to what I want to work towards the rest of the year.
📢 I’ve committed to spending a block of time each week on marketing as it’s something I typically avoid doing. I’m about three weeks in now and slowly building a habit.
☕ Had a virtual coffee with a fellow facilitator to chat about what we’re both working on and agreed to do a LinkedIn live conversation about reflection.
📷 Revisited my Flickr account to find some images for a coaching activity. Had a tidy up and started planning an inspiration jaunt while we’re on holiday to get out exploring with my camera again.
👀 Went to the cinema to see Everything Everywhere All At Once.
🌳 Saw Hockney’s A Year in Normandie exhibition at Salts Mill. Spent considerable time with one tree. Bought a poster of wildflowers from the Arrival of Spring exhibition and a few postcards from the Normandy series.
🐯 By some miracle I was able to avoid hearing the outcome from Saturdays Gallagher Premiership Final so I could watch it on catch-up on Sunday night. As a Leicester supporter I was on the edge of my seat for much of the second half and practically holding my breath for the final 5 minutes.
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.
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!
Weeknote 19/22
Late again but I’m happy with my reasons… Last week I attended a 2-day conference (Friday/Saturday). It was my first in person experience for around 3 years and I’ve needed a faffing day and a full day off to recover. So I’m just starting my working week proper today (Wednesday).
☎️ Had a catch up call (refreshingly over the phone, not video) with a colleague about sponsorship and bursaries to support making coaching accessible to everyone who wants it not just those who can pay.
🛋️ Visited a new co-working space for a tour to see if it could work for me. I’m interested in how they’re approaching building a community rather than just renting space… but I’m not so sure about the physical environment of the office itself. I’ll need to trial it to know for sure.
💡 Met with another freelancers to share our Notion setups and swap ideas. Got some tweaks to make to my ‘Control Deck’ and weekly overview template.
💻 Hosted my usual mid-week co-working session for the accountability group.
✍️ Other work this week consisted of a lot of writing, including a longer than usual blog post about my new group coaching programme and the article edition of my fortnightly newsletter.
📚 Finished reading Spring Cannot Be Cancelled. It’s had a huge impact on me and I keep referring to it in conversation. Need to write-up those thoughts before they leave me!
🩳 Major breakthrough in mindset around wearing shorts to ‘professional’ events. I wear shorts fairly constantly for around 8 months of the year (usually between the clocks changing) but have had a mental block around wearing them to meetings and events. I realised this week that if I were a person who wears skirts it would never cross my mind not to wear one on these occasions, so why worry about rocking up in shorts?!
☕ Attended the International Association of Facilitators (England & Wales branch) conference in Birmingham; a hybrid conference with options to join in person or via Zoom. Attendance was roughly 50/50. What I really valued from the in person side was those chance conversations over coffee. It was also great to be off screen for two full days — I didn’t even take any notes! I’m still processing everything that happened and a full write-up is coming soon. And yes, I did wear shorts!
🌳 Stayed with friends while at the conference and enjoyed the down time. Also caught up with other friends locally on the Sunday for a walk in the woods before traveling home.
⚽ Played my second free hit (and final chip) in the penultimate gameweek of Fantasy Premier League. It could be worse, it could be better. And there’s still half the matches to be played. But let’s just say I should have trusted my gut!