Weeknote 1 of 2024
It’s been a slow start to 2024, even more so today as we’ve been hit with our first proper cold spell and snowstorm. It’s around -10c right…
It’s been a slow start to 2024, even more so today as we’ve been hit with our first proper cold spell and snowstorm. It’s around -10c right now which is apparently unheard of on Vancouver Island. It was too icy to walk to school this morning which threw my routine off a bit — I feel best when I’ve had the chance to take a long, brisk walk in before I start work. But the kids are loving it and we’re all safe and warm so I can’t complain.
What’s gone well
- Workwise, it’s been a slow start to the year and I’ve had lots of time to reflect and catch up and put thought and intention to what I am and will work on. After a manic Sept-Dec, this was much needed.
- I’m switching jobs soon which is exciting. More on that later.
- I’ve been working on something I’ve wanted to develop for a while — a learning resource for User Research. This one is specific to developers and technical people, but if it goes well I may try to use that momentum to expand on it.
What’s not gone well
- My family was ill over Christmas and while everyone else has recovered, I’m still not 100%. Minor illnesses seem to take months for me to get over these days. And my anxiety brain keeps spinning around whether this is due to age or stress or long covid or something else?
- I want to expand my content in 2024, and so I’ve been thinking about migrating my blog posts away from Medium, to my own website hosted either on wordpress (not a fan but saves $$) or ghost (love it but more expensive for ghost pro which I would need bc I don’t have the energy or technical mind to learn how to self host, also that would prob be more expensive anyway.) But I have a good following on here and I like being part of the web of weeknotes network, so I’m exploring how to cross-post. If anyone knows an easy way to set this up please let me know!
- Adding to that, I feel like I’ve spent a lot of mental energy on pros and cons of different platforms, what I want to do with my content and ‘brand’ this year etc. Can’t someone just do this all for me?
- Moving jobs means I have to officially transition away from being the lead facilitator of the BC Gov Design Community. This is a good thing and needed to happen for a while. But it’s hard both logistically and mentally to manage a change like that.
Learning about….
I’ve been thinking a lot about the Post Office/Fujitsu scandal, it really is unbelievable what real people have gone through as a result of mis-management and bad tech. This is a good read:
This is very useful:
Also helpful:
Reading, watching, listening
My first book in 2024 was Nothing But Blue Sky by Kathleen MacMahon and I absolutely loved it. It was joyful and heartbreaking in equal measure.
(by the way if you like fiction I recently posted about my favourite books of last year on instagram.)
Speaking of the Post Office/Fujitsu scandal, Mr Bates Vs The Post Office is an excellent watch, and the BBC’s podcast on the scandal was also really informative.
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