Weeknotes S1 E1 (2019 Edition)
And so it begins (.. and hopefully continues)
I’ve been doing…
So, first proper week back to the routine. I’ve felt a bit “bleeuuurrrgh” due to fighting off some sort of non specific malady (in no way related to copious amounts of Christmas cheese) but have otherwise been easing my way back into the familiar rhythms of the working week.
I’ve been doing a bit of thinking about structuring weeknotes. I largely failed at weeknotes last year, in part because I needed to divert my energies elsewhere or I just didn’t have any energies left. What I learned though is that I keenly feel the absence of this ritual. It’s often one of the wellsprings for refilling my mojo. So, I’m hoping that some slight tweaks and a bit of structure will help me (re)cement the habit for 2019.
I also wrote a post about service roadmaps. I couldn’t really find any examples of roadmaps in the context of housing associations, so I decided to have a go at creating a fictional one to more easily ‘show the thing’ to other people. I think they could be massively useful in explaining not just what sort of changes we are intending to deliver, but also how they fit within the context of the service. Context is something I think that’s often missing when you’re just looking at big list of planned work.
I’ve also been tentatively scribbling down some ambitions and goals for the coming year. I really wanted to have them finalised for this first weeknote, but this week just hasn’t been particularly conducive to getting that done, so I’m giving myself permission to stick a pin in it and try again next week. Having just written about roadmaps for services, it got me thinking about roadmaps as personal development tools. What if I framed ambitions as ‘missions’ on a roadmap? Hmm.. I might try and actually mock it up to see what it looks like and whether I’d persist with it.
I worked from home one day this week to accommodate doing the school run and a visit to the dentist, all of which are much closer to home than work. I’ve got a long storied history of not really liking working from home. I used to feel uncomfortable mixing my working space with the place that I associate with relaxing. BUT, since regaining a room to put a proper desk in I’ve actually found it quite a productive spot. Although the cat & dog tend to think I’m just hanging around the house for their benefit. Anyway, in a week where I generally felt quite knackered, this was the one day where my energy levels were better, which left me wondering about what sort of toll is currently being taken by the daily commute which by all accounts has been exponentially more horrendous than usual post-Christmas.
So, some stuff to work on next week. Top up on rest & relaxation. See how I might mitigate the soul crushing train commute. Get those ambitions for 2019 done.
Onward!
I’ve been reading…
- Neighbours Helping Neighbours. Volunteer Fire Departments and Community Building.
https://whatsthepont.com/2019/01/06/neighbours-helping-neighbours-volunteer-fire-departments-and-community-building-churchillfellowship-post-16/ - Gender and public sector events.
https://medium.com/doing-better-things/gender-and-public-sector-events-426fa94fcbf - Funding product teams, not projects.
https://defradigital.blog.gov.uk/2018/10/29/funding-product-teams-not-projects/ - The tech we use for remote working.
https://medium.com/the-satori-lab/the-tech-we-use-for-remote-working-e9439ae678c7 - The social imperative. – “ A group of individuals whose collective behaviour is controlled by a single individual cannot behave in a more complex way than the individual who is exercising the control.”
https://jarche.com/2013/08/the-social-imperative/