Maren Deepwell

Category: things I like

  • Turning over a new leaf

    Turning over a new leaf

    It’s Monday, it’s October 6th, and I am turning over a new leaf. Today is my first proper day back at my desk after a few weeks focusing on happy wedding celebrations with family and friends and a lovely honeymoon trip to Crete. The photo featured at the top of this post shows one of my favourite places we visited, the Minoan Palace at Malia.

    So today is the start of a new chapter in more ways than one, and I feel happy that one of the priorities I set myself two years ago, namely focusing more on my life outside of work and finding balance, has been achieved.

    There’ll also be some new developments on a professional front in the coming months, but more of that in a future post. For now, I’m focusing on getting my head back in the right mindset for work. As I’m also making the switch from late summer in Crete to autumn in Wales, I’m using the seasonal changeover as a way to help me gain focus. I find it really helps to change some things around to mark a new season or a new chapter, and in this post I share some examples of how I do that.

    Exercise and healthy habits

    Over the summer, I switched back to journalling in a paper notebook and it’s really helped me to invigorate my morning journalling. I don’t always follow the Morning Pages approach, as some days I feel the need to think and reflect and pause rather than keeping going no matter what, but I do aim for three pages of handwritten reflections each day. Most days it happens, some days I skip or write much less. All together, it’s been a fantastic tool for me over the past few months to navigate some choppy waters. So when my current notebook is full, which is nearly is, I’ll be sticking with this habit and opening a new one to continue my writing.

    As an aside, I really enjoyed working on the topic of journalling in a professional context as part of my Long Distance Leadership Postcards. As the September topic I got to think a lot more deeply about how and why journalling can be such a powerful practice, which was really fun!

    Alongside reflective habits my exercise and training schedule has been pretty good, and my year of 10k races continues in just over a month with the next race. I much prefer to run outside, but with the weather turning cooler and wetter, and the days growing shorter, I am incorporating more indoor activities into my routine, both in terms of running and strength training. Setting up a dedicated nook to store all my exercise equipment ready to use has been another little change that’s helped me get ready for the new season.

    Summer/winter wardrobe

    Coming back from a few weeks away means that there is a lot of laundry to catch up on. And that is good timing as I am using it as an opportunity to pack away all the shorts and summer dresses, and bring out my big wooly jumpers, scarves and wooly hats. I started a few years ago packing away and rotating clothes and I’ve come to find this a great habit that helps with more than just freeing up storage.

    I use a big storage bag that sits atop my wardrobe and every six months or so I bring it down and swap clothes in and out. It helps we tidy up and sort through things I don’t currently like or have forgotten I have, and it also feels like a nice refresh, as I discover something afresh every time. It feels like getting a new selection of clothes without buying anything new.

    It also means that I refresh what I wear day to day, and a welcome prompt to check in with what I feel best in and which items bring a smile to my face. Years ago my mentor Margaret got me into wearing things that make me happy, and I’ve found it a good maxim to shop by.

    Plants and pumpkins

    One of the most fun things for me each year is to move my plants to their winter places. Some of my houseplants don’t like being near the heating or the wood burner, and so they move to spots that are cooler and less dry. Similarly, with a lot less sun some post are moving closer to windows to catch the precious light. Then I have a couple of plants that hibernate and prefer a cooler room, so they move to the winter quarters, too.

    Other than a last tidy to collect seeds for next year and keep things ready for the colder months I don’t have a huge amount to do in the garden when it comes to plants, but I do have a couple of ceramic pumpkins that come out around this time each year, taking their place amidst the pots ready for spooky season.

    All these small changes help me adjust mentally and prepare physically for the next few months, and by the time I am done I am ready to get stuck into this new chapter.

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  • Read, Run, Write. Repeat.

    Read, Run, Write. Repeat.

    After a week away I have returned to my desk to write (freshly inspired thanks to the museums of Amsterdam). Progress on the book this month has been better, and I have found a new rhythm: read, run, write. Repeat.

    It helps me to read more to feed my creativity and find inspiration, and I am lucky that my recent haul of books from the library has been plentiful in both. The running gives me space and time to think about things, and although I rarely manage to actually record anything whilst I jog along river paths (I need the breath for running), by the time I return home I am usually ready to get writing.

    In my writing journal I keep a record of the days I write, and how long I have worked for. At the moment, I have started with 90 minutes, then step away. My concentration doesn’t last much long yet, as I am finding my way into the book. Flow is patchy, but there is a vague shape of things now. I am getting words down on the page.

    This month was the first in my new writing regime, and it feels good.

  • Coaching tips from my year of 10k races

    Coaching tips from my year of 10k races

    This year I got back into running, and regular readers will know that this comeback has been years in the making. I started blogging about it in 2022.. and in 2023. So I am pleased to report that I have finally managed to get there! From a personal perspective starting the day with a morning run is a joy for me, and the photo at the start of this post is a snap shot from earlier this morning, as I was jogging down the river near my house and passed my favourite river oak tree. It’s a majestic sight and today the water was clear and still, reflecting the beauty of this glorious sunny morning.

    So it’s a personal win, and it’s also professionally interesting because the coach in me is reflecting on what’s changed this time round? Why did I succeed this time when I have failed to do the same thing since 2021? Plenty of us struggle to stick to habits or achieve goals, and so I want to use my example to share some coaching tips that have helped me along the way.

    Picking the right place to start

    Now, I love running but I also have quite a few physical and mental health challenges that can make it tricky for me. From long term injuries to asthma, there’s something to contend with most days. When I tried and failed to get back into running one of the key things I didn’t do was to pick the right place to start. I had high expectations of what I wanted to achieve, and set goals that didn’t take into account where I was starting from. This time round, when I started training again in autumn, I started from scratch. I basically went back to the ‘Couch to 5K’ model and went out for walks with short, i.e. one minute, run elements. And even that felt hard. Step by step, minute by minute, I got a little more movement and felt a little more confident. It took months before I ran the first mile.

    Setting a pattern to build a habit

    The next thing I did right this time was to establish a pattern that was actually achievable. I used an app to begin with, following a simple training plan that had me running three times a week. Three times a week was a lot, but it felt OK. The first week I did all three runs. The next week I did only one. The week after that I managed two… and so on. Over the past six months I probably ran three times a week about half of the time. Some weeks I was sick and didn’t run at all. Or I was on holiday, or work was too busy, or it was too cold. What mattered is that I set an intention that I felt committed to, and it didn’t matter whether or not I actually went for the run, just that I kept trying.

    Choosing a goal (and then repeating it)

    My goal for this year is that by the end of the year I want to be able to go for a casual 10k run whenever I fancy. Once a week, or maybe once a month. I don’t want to feel that it’s a big deal or wipes me out for the rest of the day. And so I decided to sign up for several 10k races throughout the year, 6-10 weeks apart, and keep trying to get comfortable in the distance. So far, I managed to complete 2 of these, and I have another one coming up in 6 weeks, and then two more scheduled in for the autumn. I intentionally picked races that are all local, all 10k and nearly all a similar route, to keep these firmly in my comfort zone. I also wanted to minimise the impact of being injured for a race or having a bad race day. If I miss a race, then I have another one coming up to make up for it. I always found it disheartening when I trained for longe races for over six months only to then be unable to participate when it came to it.

    Making it fun

    One of the key issues I had to contend with over the past few years is that I was simply not enjoying running. There were a few things at play, but basically the fun had gone. So when I set out to get back into running this time round, I tried to make it as fun as possible. The first race I signed up for was a holiday-themed Santa Run, in full costume. Then I made extensive playlists that are so sunny and soulful that I can’t help but enjoy listening to the tunes. A friend suggested doing a race together, and we all went for a delicious pub lunch afterwards. Then we signed up for a beach-side race with sea views. You get the idea.

    The way I want to run, in the morning, by myself, doesn’t really align well with having a running buddy or joining a club, which is why I didn’t go down that route, although I imagine it would have offered a lot of support and motivation. Instead, I am now on track to regain a really precious element of my weekly routine, enjoying quiet mornings whilst clocking up the miles and getting a bit fitter along the way.

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  • Setting up a space for brewing new ideas.

    Setting up a space for brewing new ideas.

    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 sharing the process is fun for me and part of my approach to open practice, to open leadership. This space is all about giving myself permission to explore ideas, to be creative and to try something new.

    Starting with…

    Long Distance Leadership Postcards

    Just the inspiration you need for navigating leadership life.

    This is an idea I have recently come up with and here’s the pitch:

    Hi! I’m Maren, executive coach, ex-CEO and prolific pen pal. This unique course is what happens when leadership coaching meets stationary obsession.

    It’s a play on Open Education the good old-fashioned way, when lessons arrived by post, rather than cluttering up your inbox. Every month, you’ll receive a postcard from me with the best bits of executive coaching know-how and resources. To accompany the postal delivery, I’ll post a monthly update on here with the month’s topic, links and resources.

    So, if you’d like to get a dollop of inspiration every month and inject a little more analogue fun into your leadership practice, this is just the thing for you.

    The idea behind Long Distance Leadership postcards was inspired by a radio-based conference I helped organise in 2024. We called it a conference of the air(waves), and the idea kind of stayed with me. So when I started to think about this “course”, I wanted to give it a similar sense of dipping in and out of, of getting just the right dose of creativity in a way that’s both fun and functional.

    Long Distance Leadership Postcards is a course made up of three elements: a monthly postcard (that’s the bit you need to pay for, because postage!), a monthly audio broadcast (or podcast) you can listen to and a monthly post on the course homepage (this page) that includes everything for that month, including transcripts and resources.

    Over time, more ideas in the making will appear on the Percolator page, so I invite you to explore at leisure and have fun giving these works in progress a go. If you come across something that sparks your interest, get in touch and let me know. You can simply email me hello@marendeepwell.com .

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    Image credit: Photo by Ante Samarzija on Unsplash .

  • Re-inventing Mondays Revisited

    Re-inventing Mondays Revisited

    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, when the new life or new job has been secured, what follows is more of a montage of what the new reality looks like, as our heroine happily cycles to work through a picturesque village, opening the little bakery she’s set up in the community she’s now part of. Or there’s a sunrise picture of a former workaholic CEO paddle boarding before undertaking meaningful work for a social enterprise. So far, so cliché.

    My own version of the story goes as follows: Eighteen months in, I am still running my small, yet perfectly formed, venture, and I am just about to close my second full financial year as Maren Deepwell Coaching & Consultancy. My work is also still split between executive coaching and consultancy, pretty evenly.

    Working in the not-for-profit sector for 15 years has indoctrinated me so far into transparent governance that I even write my own Director’s Report every 4 months, reporting (to an audience of 1 human and 2 dogs) on progress against KPIs, which include financial and operational figures together with logs of how much I have worked and impact measures.

    One of the biggest bonuses of having a lot of CEO experience is that now being in charge of my own business comes easily, and I love being my own boss even if it brings with it a lot of headaches and risks to manage.

    Daily, weekly and monthly routines have started to establish themselves, and I am finding myself happily anticipating a busy month or a quiet period because there is some joy in knowing what to expect and it is much easier now that it was in the first few months to anticipate what the week might bring.

    Recording the podcast, compiling the newsletter, blogging… these and other activities bring shape to my days, and I have a reliable system of reminders scheduled and repeating that remind me to do things like catch up with financial paperwork, schedule CPD sessions or document coaching hours.

    I’ve also managed to get my non-work routines established: a hart fought road back to running has seen me complete my first 10k of the year a few weeks ago, and I have a few more in the pipeline for April and June.

    Alongside running and the dog walks, yoga has made a return to my life over the past year, and I am now more able than before I keep a regular practice.

    Even a bike has been purchased second-hand, and one some mornings I cycle into town or to the library, merrily ding, ding, ringing my bell.

    It’s not all montage material, however, because of course running a business like this is precarious, particularly in these uncertain times, and there are days when nothing happens and no one responds to my emails. When there’s not enough work or I don’t do as much as I’d like to have done.

    I can’t imagine leaving my home working life any time soon. Maybe there’ll be a time when I will get itchy feet and look for something different, but at the moment, the working life I have built for myself is taking shape and the shape fits. Mondays are no longer dreaded days of stressful meetings. More often than not, my week now starts with no meetings and a dog walk instead, and I am very grateful indeed that I have found a way of working that satisfy my creative curiosity and also pays the bills. Long may it continue.

  • The Hybrid Working “1% Better” List

    The Hybrid Working “1% Better” List

    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 week I’d do just about anything to make work a little easier, I’ve gone back to review and update the list to include a few new things and approaches. There are a lot of things you can try to make your day a little more comfortable, calmer and more balanced. What will make a real difference to you depends on the way you work and your personal preferences.

    What makes this approach work (for me at least) is that the aim is to start thinking about making very small, incremental improvements, not big or radical changes that new year resolutions so often come with. I can always find ways to make myself 1% more comfortable, even on a bad day. And along the way, I gain a little more awareness and distance from being lost in digital productivity curves.

    My “1% better” list

    Use this list to find ways to make a small change, or maybe two, and see how things shift:

    Working environment

    • lights for different times of day, i.e. a work lamp, SAD lamp, fairy lights, a candle
    • a selfie or ring light
    • A place for a pet to be… if you can persuade them
    • a place for papers/desk tidy
    • open window or fan
    • heated seat pad

    Work set up

    • a new mouse mat or a mouse you like
    • wrist rest/mouse rest
    • glare protector
    • foot rest (cushion or yoga bolster can work, too)
    • headphones that suit your ears

    Stepping away from the screen

    • an alarm or similar that reminds you to take regular screen breaks
    • a physical reminder to go to a different room/downstairs/outside
    • cushioned slippers or shoes (particularly handy for standing desks)
    • a paper planner/diary you can use away from the screen to think/plan
    • a lunch date/appointment with someone away from your desk

    Engage your senses

    • scented candle or a diffuser for aromatherapy oils
    • music
    • new flavour hot (or cold) drinks to try such as new herbal teas or coffees
    • a secret snack stash (healthy or not)
    • something tactile like a soft throw or a fidget toy
    • a pet

    Analogue joys

    • a plant
    • a nice coaster
    • photos/pictures/art
    • a rock or shell from somewhere you like
    • record player

    Healthy habits

    • eye mist and glasses that help filter blue light
    • a water bottle
    • cleaning products for your workspace, i.e. eco wipes, disinfectant, screen cleaner
    • find a window sill or high shelf you can use as a place to have meetings with your laptop or a sit stand desk or desk shelf

    A few notes…

    If you haven’t done so in a while and especially if you have recently moved things around, checking in on your work set up from a basic health & safety perspective and reviewing display screen equipment guidance is a good first step.

    Many of us easily ignore or tune out constant factors that make working uncomfortable, like glare, noise, a bad chair and so forth. Try and look at your set up with fresh eyes.

    Ask yourself, if someone else had to use it for a week, what do you think they might like or find difficult?

    Support from your employer with purchasing office equipment for home working (or if you are self-employed here in the UK, you can apply for support with office equipment costs from the Department for Work) should help with making bigger changes, such as buying an adjustable desk, a suitable chair and other equipment.

    What are you going to try to make your day tomorrow 1% more comfortable?