Firstly, I did not manage a 30 post streak. Well done to @jukesie and Terence for doing so! But I did manage 21/30 (technically this is 22, and I’ll be writing my #weeknotes tomorrow too) which I’m really happy with. Although I never wanted to give myself a target, I secretly wanted to write at least 15 blog posts.
People asked how we all managed to write so much this month, and for me:
- I didn’t force myself to write on the days that I didn’t have it in me, or was busy making memories with family and friends.
- Some formats were shamelessly stolen from Matt
- Most were brain dumps that I need to go back and iterate
- I don’t have any children or caring responsibilities, so my time is my own.
All in all, I just thoroughly enjoyed the challenge it gave me — particularly where it encouraged me to put out ideas that aren’t yet fully formed, and to stop perfectionism/imposter syndrome from holding me back.
‘Our deepest fear isn’t that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that frightens us’
What did I write about?
Everything from my values, ways of working, reflections from events, reviews of books, facts about birds, leadership, my mental health and Jeremy Heywood. A full list with links is at the end of this blog post.
What have I learnt about myself?
- I actually enjoy writing! I still really struggle with my spelling and grammar, and I genuinely don’t know when to use the right punctuation (which is somewhat embarrassing to admit). I know I put commas in the wrong place and overuse dashes. A goal for me is going to be to study some grammar/punctuation basics, and please don’t ever feel like you’d be patronising me to point out where I’m misusing things, as I really want to learn.
- People seem to like some of my ideas and have become curious about my work.
- It’s quite exhilarating to put yourself out there.
- Writing in the evening is relaxing and helps me to unwind from the day.
- I’ve come really far in my mental health journey.
Blogs I didn’t get round to writing (yet!)
- What is Forward Leadership?
- Embedding and sustaining Forward Leadership
- Weird hobbies of mine
- Why data and culture change need each other
- One year on from joining MOJ / reflections so far from being a member of the SCS
- A different [open] culture is possible
- Something nerdy about RFID chips / automated biometric decision making
- Basic income / how UBI is portrayed through sci-fi dystopia
- Predictive policing
- My extrovert quirks
- Future Leaders Scheme — part 2 — my experience so far
Let me know which ones you’d like to read, or perhaps co-write?
What would I do differently?
I’d definitely do more preparation. Every blog post I published was written on the day I published them — some took 30 mins, some took a couple of hours. Next time I would prep some blog posts in advance for the days where I didn’t have it in me (or too much gin in me) to write. I’d definitely look at more blog posts beforehand to get more inspiration, and would carve out time at the weekend to draft a number of blog posts, rather than just the one a day.
Lucky 21
If you missed any of my blog posts, here they are:
[2] Working with me — my user manual
[3] Why birds are awesome [part one]
[4] Thank you Sir Jeremy Heywood
[5] Future Leaders Scheme — part 1 — my candidate statement
[7] Data as Culture
[8] Working with me — this is how I work… give or take.
[9] Why I journal [and some images]
[10] Why birds are awesome [part two]
[11] October/November inspirations
[12] What wonderful words
[14] LegalGeek 2018 — my talk and reflections from the event
[15] Return to weeknotes
[16] Working with me — my values
[17] Reflections from ODI Summit 2019
[18] Book review — technology vs. humanity
[20] Open, inclusive and sustainable leadership
[21] Another part of me: my BDD
What’s next?
Hopefully more writing, especially more weeknotes!
I’d also like to thank you for all of your applause, comments, tweets, DMs, texts, and general love and support — especially how you responded to my blog post about my BDD. I feel incredibly lucky to know (and even get to work with!) such incredible people. It all means so much. ❤
