Weeknotes to resume next week (hopefully… depending on any snap elections, monarchs passing away or being off ill)
13 April
I came back and unfortunately can’t access my laptop. I can use my phone for emails and view my calendar which is a blessing. But no access to MS Teams which is a pickle. I can still do calls, but definitely feel less connected. I know it will pass and this is a good thing. My list of ‘oh I’ll do that when I have my laptop working is growing’
I’m not sure I feel fully caught up after my leave. I did think about FFCP things, while I was on leave, but I didn’t dwell on them. They past more fleetingly, I have a few tweets I sent myself to read and left them unread in my inbox.
16 April
I’m in I have my laptop, it’s a bit like having a new laptop as somethings aren’t quite how I remember them. Things have moved on.
While I didn’t have my laptop I prepped for a session offline that I’m now not going to do called ‘This is Me’. The session requires participents to draw themselves and consider questions — the image becomes annotated. I’ve popped the non annotated version here of me. I also wrote up some of the key points from by notebook, as I finished, onto five stones. And added a 6th durring the Co-design show and Tell. I’m not sure about the wording but I think aesthetically and in its meaning it moves on a step from the systems stone I did last year.
19 April
I’m slowly going through the list of things I couldn’t quite do when I didn't have my laptop and also everything else, it seems simpler with a laptop. For one thing it’s also a lot quicker to email… I’m undecided if the ‘being easier to email’ is a good thing.
I sent my self this article/site at the weekend as Cassie Robinson mentioned it. https://in.boell.org/index.php/en/2020/09/10/revisiting-animism-insiders-story-western-discourse#_edn12 It’s great and I’ve added one of the books mentioned to my reading list. There are some things where it pushes me to think if I agree, but in many many ways it spoke to me.
21 Apricot
I read this first thing, superb set of questions, love them all and particularly like no. 10, love the order, the openness, the unsuposing https://emrosebaz.medium.com/10-questions-from-your-future-organisation-bcdbdd9caf7
The first FFCP Induction seemed to go well, we had 33 people. We’re going to get back into the swing of doing them monthly. It did feel a bit like I was doing a lot of talking.
23 April
I had an idea while chatting to Mirren in our time to think session, it is a culmination of things from our chat and others I’ve had this week. During another call I sketched it out a bit more. Needs more work, I feel it’s really important, possibly a key to showing/ build a methodology for different types of interventions. What surrounds Equality, Diversity and Inclusion is wellbeing from things we all can have to things that are very hard and cause high levels of stress, anxiety, depression, loss of appetite and paranoia (this list also needs work). Looking at it chronic poor mental health needs to be on the boundary line.
30 April
So many spinning wheels in windows. I’m going to hit the off button it’s been too long… oh it just heard me :) back later.
5 May
Ok I thought I was going to come back later and type up some notes of the week — I didn’t sozz me of the future. Still I’m here now. I have been afforded a bit more time as Eloise is off swimming. I can’t quite get my head into the space to do what I should do (book User Research interviews on Empowerment) so I thought I’d come here and say that — and sure enough being honest has made me want to do it…. back later. Oh I should also send the timings out for the Wellbeing Day to the organising group — I’ll do that first… honestly back later. Oh nope I should probably also tell Fiona where my plan is — that came up this am haven't mentioned it yet — right truly back later 3 things to do is a nice number.
I started drawing out the scribble I showed you above in MS Teams Whiteboard. This is definitely not the tool for me — for a start there is no spell check, there is no undo, there is no lots of things — I will pick this up again in PowerPoint :( Here is the current mess. I still think it’s worth coming back too. For me at least it’s making me think hard about where things overlap… onwards
14 May
A slightly unexpected mainly horizontal and warm to hot break of four days and a weekend brought on by Prostatitis (an infection in the prostrate) yep no idea, had it before this time oral antibiotics seem to have cured it/are curing it. Debbie has been really understanding and is keen for me to take my time.
I was quite tired this morning after yesterday which was our second wellbeing day, it’s not that I did loads or worried much but any event takes time to recover from. I ran a session with Mirren, which takes some degree of being on and I pretended to play a banjo during the intro music, which was a spur of the moment thing, I got fully engrossed in a session on depression. By all accounts everyone had a great day, lots to think about lots to do, and more thoughts on the diagramme which in the end I ran out of time to polish – something is better than nothing.
On Wednesday this week which was first day back I woke up early (circa 3am) I had been dreaming very vivid dreams about the connectedness of everything, in fact it was one of those rare these days moments where everything started to connect and I could seemingly answer any question I liked even though that I know there are no answers, I was quite uncontrollable until I started to cry as I was scared by it and didn’t want it to break into a full manic episode. This thankfully has been the last of those. It was to some extent very predictable as my mind caught up with the exhaustion of my body as the antibiotics kicked in (I think the first set of antibiotics was getting there, but I’m on my second stronger set now). I slept a little more and got up, and slowly got into work – I don’t quite remember what I did. I flaked out at around 3pm regained sprits for our final call in prep for the wellbeing day (we only had 3 prep call this time) and then fell asleep till Eloise came home, I din’t expect to but it happened.
As well as Wellbeing day on Thursday I also attended the Defra Group Reform Champions chat and the org dynamics retro rounding of with a chat with friends. I wasn’t very coherent by then.
Friday I as I mentioned I was tired by after my bacon, egg and tomato sandwich I felt rather restored, having lost 4 to 5kg in less than a week I need the calories. And my parents very kindly had Eloise again which allowed me to catch up on emails, and from that for the things that I couldn’t sort I built my actions for next week. This weekend is mainly going to be a slow pottering one – well at least that’s what I’m hoping for, and hoping the weather holds so some time can be in the garden. No long walks just yet.
