Lots. Too many projects. But they are 99% strategic, interesting and with great people. This month was full of trying to complete things before the break whilst being cognitively burnt out. It all got done but it seemed we all limped to the end.
Thinking about how to write a better social value policy for a public sector organisation. Balancing aspiration and practicality.
Reflections on power when making community investments.
Plans for in person workshops in January. Really looking forward to working in close proximity to people I think are brilliant.
Summarising end of year reflections from the team I work in 2.5 days a week. So nice to look back together.
Things I have been reading/ listening to
Very little - my brain was overloaded with information from work.
22 November 2024
Things I have been working on
Analysis of policies from a municipality. Slow work that needs time and space. Impossible to do when I have meetings. I managed to clear a few days but things still popped up and I might need to work over the weekend to get it done. Some things cannot be rushed and need time to work out exactly how the work is adding to others.
Talking about some potential support for active travel and retrofit work.
Attending a hybrid event remotely where they hadn’t 100% thought through the tech. Trying to share constructive feedback through frustration.
Summarising outcomes for community environmental activities. Making long lists. Coming back to more focus.
A full financial review of the year. Ouch. Budgeting, realising there’s not enough now all the costs have gone up. Getting practical about what can and should be cut.
Catching up with a range of old colleagues and friends to chat about where we are all up to, where we can see potential for collaboration, and where we need to avoid sinking our energy into things that don’t yield much use.
[Deleting substack subscriptions for things I’m not reading]
25 October 2024
Things I have been working on
Two final workshops in a series. I definitely felt the tiredness by the end, especially the second to last one where we had 50 minutes to do something we’d already been squeezing into two hours. But, I think we achieved what we set out to. Open and expansive conversations, generating some text for a plan.
Digesting what we discussed and writing up into a summary.
Writing a blog for the first time in years. Not sure how good it is… will see.
Not so much weeknotes but month notes. I have had a lot of work (and then a week of friends visiting which put any additional tasks well down the list).
I have moved partially in-house for one of my biggest partners so 2.5 days a week will be based there. So my “freelance” work is reducing but still overlapping with the projects I am delivering there.
Writing proposals for new work. One that is mildly interesting. The other could be fantastic, and I am doing it with a few old colleagues who I love and respect. Pulling it together has been challenging in all the right ways.
Lots and lots of workshops - three where I was a facilitator, one a participant. Lots of deep conversations about how we are working, what we are learning, how we move past managerialism into doing the best with all of our skills. It’s been a pleasure (but I am knackered after each performance!)
Thinking about outcomes for collective environmental work.
Thinking about all the different fields of knowledge needed to inform the work of a community music venue, and what we already know about how music, collective action and place shapes lives.
Doing my business tax return, paying tax. Not quite having the time to do a full financial review of all outgoings. Postponing for another week.
Things I have been reading/ listening to
We Can Do Hard Things with adrienne maree brown about her new book, Loving Corrections
Who Cares by Emily Kenway- we were trustees together at the Voice of Domestic Workers. This book is beautifully written and balances personal and policy/ strategic thinking.
