New ideas have to start somewhere, and for me that’s always a messy process. Sometimes it goes nowhere and sometimes there’s a nugget of inspiration that can be spun into something extraordinary. This is why I have set myself up a new space, my percolator, which opens up somewhere for me to think out loud, and create ideas in the open. Some of these ideas will never go further, and some may be terrible, but…
Category: things I like
I set out to change my working life about 18 months ago, starting my own micro business, and it’s been a while since I checked in with progress. I’ve previously blogged about my efforts to re-invent Mondays, but time flies when you are having fun, so let’s jump into the update. A bit like in a romantic comedy, career change narratives often focus on making a decision or leading up to a big change. Then,…
Since I first published this list of 25 obvious, yet effective, ways to improve your working environment, all the way back in 2022, it’s become one of the most read posts on my blog. Many of my coaching clients and course participants come back to this again and again, to find new ways to tweak their set up and improve their working environment. Given that we are once again in January, and given that this…
Over the last couple of years I have started to round up the year with a final post of blogging about blogging. Last year’s post told the story of the 72 posts I wrote in 2023, and this year I am sitting pretty on… well, read on to find out. Back in June I took stock halfway through the year, and found that I had I published 35 blog posts in the first six months…
This is a seasonal blog post I am sharing in the spirit of a bit of festive fun. Before you read the story, find out more about Christmas Jumper Day, which in the UK we celebrate on Thursday, 12th December this year, and which raises funds for Save the Children. The story was inspired by my dog Posey ‘trying on’ a jumper recently, which gave me a welcome excuse to write a story and then…
Every now and then I take a month and celebrate a small win every day. When I blogged about this a couple of years ago, the motivation came from a time of being overstretched, a period during which it felt like no matter how much I did I never achieved enough. This time round my motivation is different, and more aligned to my desire to practice gratitude and to make the most of a busy,…
This week took an unexpected turn: first, I decided at the weekend to (finally) dive into building a book nook. I received the kit (Sunshine Town) to create this a while ago and loved the idea, but until now it didn’t feel like a good moment to get started. But thanks to my new enormous sit stand desk, I felt in the right place to start unboxing and get building. Plus, I also had amazing…
At the moment I am working on a new short bio to put on my social profiles. It’s not a task I relish because I do a lot of different things and work with a number of communities, so whatever I put will alienate some and attract others. It’s one thing I miss about being a CEO, as at least those three letters took up very little of the character count 
. Now that…
A few years ago the OERxDomains21 Conference, a conference of firsts in 2021, fired up the world of online conferencing against the dark backdrop of the pandemic. It was an amazing event, and, as I wrote at the time: …it’s been a career highlight for me, to lead my team on a rollercoaster ride which ended in an event we are all proud of. WE WILL DO IT AGAIN. I wrote that in April 2021…
Hi, welcome to this blog post which I am not typing but dictating. It is now mid-morning and I have plans to be getting on with before I have to be at my desk. So I wanted to try and write this blog post as I’m doing things… I’m making some coffee just now and I’ve just come back from walking the dogs. So it is a good time to blog but not a good…