I’ve had this conversation multiple times lately, so it’s time to document it. I feel like a hippocrite offering these observations, since I don’t feel at all at home in London yet, but at least I’m mindfully unhappy about it. Even somewhat 1-dimensional workaholics have multiple aspects to their lives (they normally have somewhere to […]
Following on from The Disillusionment of the Early Career Engineer, I could write a number of different things, but the thing that I find people having the biggest trouble with, that I am continually nudging people on, is the finding of other options and opportunities. I don’t know why. Do people view this as disloyal? […]
I have this list of “habits” that I need to make time for, on a daily or weekly basis. For example: Get some exercise, every day. Read a book, every week, Weight train 2x a week. Do something for just for me, every day. Connect with a friend, every day. Do something outside (a long […]
For a long time, I’ve been doing this thing where I GO GO GO like a crazy person and then crash. And I always come up with a plan, like “take on less”, or “be more organized” or some other strategy. And these are helpful, absolutely, but at best they seem to result in a different […]
Back in May, I started checking email only once a day (and sometimes not at all if I had no meetings). I had to accept that no-email days would be scarcer than I’d like, but overall it’s been a good experiment. Typically I get through it as fast as possible (< 15 mins) and once […]
I bought this book (Amazon) because I’m a huge fan of Burkeman’s column “This column will change your life”. He has a knack for taking a large self help book and extracting the one actually useful piece of advice – like the 10-10-10 method for making decisions. And debunking popular myths – like it taking 28 day days […]
In May I focused on feeling better about myself. I bought new makeup, two new pairs of jeans, got my hair cut and colored, and started making more effort to dress up for work. Sometimes I wear heals, sometimes I wear my new Ugg sneakers (they are fluffy inside, it’s awesome). I still keep it […]
Arriving, stressed, on a Monday morning the other week I decided to shut the mail tab on my browser, with no intention of opening it again. This impromptu panic started a new thing – I’m checking (work) email at most once a day, if I have a meeting. No meeting days – usually one a week […]
I checked off everything on the list last week. It wasn’t even down to the line – at 1400h on Friday all that was left was one kickboxing class. I hung out, caught up on some reading, watched an episode of Scrubs and then went out for dinner. And I thought about how it was […]
Marcus Buckingham is writing a great series at HuffPost at the moment exploring why women are less happy. You can find all the articles here. What The Happiest And Most Successful Women Do Differently – gave me the most to think about, although others have too (did you know – having children correlates with less […]