Category: ThinkingOutLoud
-
Sunday thoughts: of showing-up and being present
Sometimes topics keep snagging my awareness until I pause and engage with them. One such topics over the last months was: presence.
-
New Note Making System Part 01: Keep track of reading
A journaling system for managing significant amounts of reading.
-
A healthy work identity
In coaching today* I had a profound insight! Until today I did not have a mental image of a healthy work identity. Literally drew blank when asked. Nothing. So far I have more or less successfully lived off the typical ADHD bursts of focus and the subsequent cognitive hangovers. I don’t think I want, or…
-
My Leadership Approach
My sister who is a systemic coach, and experienced third sector leader, coached me through a very rough spot on Saturday. At the end of which she jokingly suggested to just make a poster about my leadership approach, to sort my head. If you followed for a while, you know by now that I can…
-
Entschleunigen: Slowing Down
One of the worst things for The Brain is to be forced to slow down. But that process of Entschleunigen (act of slowing down) is important for work life balance. So I am pondering this as we soon embark on the new academic year, different strategies for slowing down. Part of this is has been…
-
The “Quiver of Arrows” Work Hack
Photo by Antoni Shkraba on Pexels.com Does any (or all) of the above sound familiar? Do you get decision paralysis, overwhelm, or procrastination? I tick all the above, and no strategy or mental image has helped so far. Until a conversation with a colleague clicked something into place. One visualization that was to help was…
-
Of Life Guarding Your Sanity
Don’t jump into the swimming pool Today I was given a great metaphor that helped me take a necessary step back from stressful situations. So I figured I share with you. Literally everyone I am talking to right now seems to struggle. Things feel difficult, the bad news keep coming uninterrupted, and the long dark…
-
Just Do It: SoTL
Why ‘Just Do It’ is one of the worst voices in your head When you read the tiles in the image (Why not today?) try reading them out loud and first emphasise the word today, and the second time emphasise the word not. Why NOT today? It makes all the difference doesn’t it? So why…
-
No. It’s not just a bad day.
Good Morning Imagine Blue Monday. You wake up and you just feel a bit achy, and a bit mhe, and you really struggle to force you and yourself out of bed. It’s a grey day and the rain hits you horizontally as you leave the house. There is so much water in the lid of…
-
Is it because the spaces never close?
Just coping, not quite fine In a conversation with my students (who are also peers and colleagues) today we were talking about how we all struggle at the moment. What emerged from the conversation is that we all felt things should be easier this year. We have pivoted online, we know how everything works. And…
-
Drawing Focus: ADHD and Productivity Strategies
Stressful (yet effective) ADHD coping mechanism If you are a regular reader you know that I am always trying to hack the ADHD brain–aka The Brain. One of the habits that worked during very stressful times was to jump onto social media for 3-5 minutes and read some headlines, share or bookmark something to read…
-
Painting a Diary
My efforts to publish working–out–loud pieces have been thwarted by overwhelm. So let’s step back by a month. There was some learning from this summer’s holiday-domain during which I ran out of words. This is a meandering thoughts blog, I am trying to figure something out–solve a teaching dilemma. Any ideas are welcome! If you…
-
SoTL as Strategic Imperative?
I made this a year after setting up the SoTL network in our institution, and this is my visual reflection on the thoughts emerging from this. The first point was that I was wondering if SoTL needs to be a strategic imperative for Higher Education institutions. On one side it fosters evidence based practice, providing…
-
Of Writing and Stories
Zwei Seelen wohnen ach in meiner Brust (Goethe) Alas two souls live within my chest, the one trained to shackle words, to make them march in predefined order, command approved phrases to rearrange meaning according to expectations, and one roaming in the wild, finding meaning as stories develop, taking a big stick and poking at…