Emma Cragg

🗓️ 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.

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.

🙋🏼 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.

🏆 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.

🌟 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.