Small Steps

Do you need a filing system?

Do you need a filing system?

I started writing a weekly reflection back in October 2022. As well as sharing them here, I created a blog page on my website where they all live.

The vision to was to create a useful resource, both for me and others. A kind of library - a place to store and structure what I was writing and learning about, for the benefit of me and anyone who wanted to access it.

Except I never put a filing system in, so it became less of a library and more of a disorganised and increasingly large pile!

If only there was a way of grouping and organising them to make them searchable. Ah, Categories and Tags - the things I’d ignored since the start…

Are you trying to rush the process?

Are you trying to rush the process?

I love fitting pieces together to create a picture - in all areas of life.

It’s such a joy to make sense of things and see how they come together, to join the dots, to see the clarity emerge and the wood for the trees.

I know now that taking time at the beginning to sort through the pieces is an important part of the process.

In a puzzle that’s finding the edges, grouping obvious colours, gathering things to build around. And it’s a pretty similar process in other situations too.

I know how useful it is, and I am always, always tempted to skip it, because I’m impatient to get going and want to be onto the satisfying part!

Do you need to try a sample?

Do you need to try a sample?

I love to read - both real books and on my Kindle, a mix of all kinds of things.

I have authors I auto buy, books that come recommended from friends or on social media, suggestions that pop up on an algorithm.

Each may sound like something I’d want to read. I might already like the author, the idea of the book, or the sound of the reviews - so how to decide which to invest the time and energy in?

If I’m not sure, and sometimes even if I am, I Try a Sample. It’s so useful to read the first pages, have a small taste, get a sense of what’s it’s about in real life.

Often it’s just as I imagined and I go onto buy it. Sometimes it’s just not my cup of tea and I don’t. And both are absolutely fine.

It’s such a gift to have tried it and know whether to say yes, no, or maybe later.

Lessons from knitting - and for 2025

Lessons from knitting - and for 2025

I started knitting when my first child was born, lucky to be patiently taught by a lovely older lady in a local shop.

It was super fun to make cute, small things and I found it creative and relaxing.

Over time it became less fun. As my children got bigger so did the projects, and then (when no one wanted to wear my knitting anymore!) I thought I should challenge myself with 4 needle socks in the round…

I haven’t knitted since - I took something I wanted to do and I set too big, too hard a goal. I took the joy and the sense of creativity and achievement out of it.

Until now. One ball of wool + the simplest, easiest pattern they had in the shop. Starting with something I want to do and can do :-)

It’s also how I’m approaching this year.

Are you over thinking and under doing?

Are you over thinking and under doing?

When I have the urge to write, it can be really tempting to wait until the idea is fully formed and perfect in my head before I put pen to paper.

My inner critic tells me that I don’t have time to work on it right now, or that I need to think about it more.

It also worries that it won’t be as good on the page as it is in my head, so there’s no point even trying.

For a long time, this meant I didn’t write anything, and all the ideas that bubbled up in me didn’t have anywhere to go. They stayed stuck inside - trapped by overthinking and under doing.

Now I give myself permission to create a messy first draft, because if the idea only exists in my head I’ll never know whether any of those worries are true.

What would be the EASIEST way to do this?

Have you ever tried to create the perfect habit… and ended up never getting started?

For a long time I wanted to add some strength training back into my life.

I know it’s important, I feel better when I do it, it feels good to feel stronger.

And yet for a long time I didn’t do it.

And then felt bad about not doing it.

And still didn’t do it.

Celebrating a year of Morning Pages

Celebrating a year of Morning Pages

I never thought I’d be a person who wrote Morning Pages.

I had always heard about people doing them and thought it wasn’t for me. 3 pages of A4 felt an awful lot, and I didn’t think I had the time.

Even after I bought The Artist’s Way it sat on my bookshelf for at least 2 years. Committing to the whole 12 week plan felt overwhelming.

And yet….

Since September 22nd last year, I’ve filled 7 note books with my (pretty illegible) handwriting.

Every morning for the last 369 days I’ve woken up, opened my notebook, and emptied my head.

Sometimes it’s simply a list of things I’m doing that day, and what I want to remember.

Sometimes there’s a thought in my head that needs to come up.

Some days I’m full of inspiration, other days I write about what the dog is doing at the end of the bed.

And now I can’t imagine missing a day.

Do you have a greenhouse for ideas?

Do you have a greenhouse for ideas?

“Where do you get your ideas from?”

I was asked this recently, and I replied that I see ideas everywhere.

I’ll notice something - a visual, a sentence in a book, a view, a part of a conversation - and an idea forms in my brain. Sometimes it’s just a fragment, and sometimes it seems to download, fully formed.

And I then realised that wasn’t the whole story.

When I reflected on it further I realised that I’ve been increasing my capacity to have ideas over time. I’ve been building a habit.

It’s a practice, not a gift.