At the end of every week I reflect on the previous seven days and look forwards.

These are thoughts on work, work adjacent stuff, a little bit of life which I am willing to share (in case maybe it helps someone else out there), any culture notes, running/fitness, home improvements, and looking forwards. Read some or all, it’s your choice.

Here’s two weeks.

Work

The pre election period stops me from talking too much about the work I was involved with at HMPPS. It’s been two weeks of tying work up, handing over to the three people who are the ongoing team, and then in the absence of a delivery manager doing a bit of paperwork to get people’s laptops picked up and such. A little sad to stop working with such a great team of people. Two years on the same thing is a shift, as some people say.

It was nice for the work to called “an exemplar”. I’m usually not the biggest fan of the word — it’s a bit too pedestally — but I have a smidgeon of pride I lead a team to that outcome.

I haven’t had much head space for much else at the moment so I have not been trying too much to line anything up next. A couple of people got in touch about some small bits of help they fancied. It was good to catch up and know these small bits of work are from people I know already and who know what I can do and where I can add value. Their brief is clear. Plus I’ll be doing some work from Dublin and Paris in June. Something to look forward to.

Work adjacent

New digital things: How often do they celebrate the things we might take for granted. Better user experience? Using a design system? Barely mentioned. It’s not just about celebrating stuff like replacing the existing digital infrastructure.

Lloyds, one of my banks, emailed me, the subject News about your product. For a second I thought they were talking about their app (which I have on my phone), but it’s about a financial product I have with them. Anyway, a reminder products aren’t just websites and apps.

Lots of rumination on the the fear of sticking with the first idea. Looping, circling, iterating. Vital, always vital. Time pressures.

Also: How often do the first ideas — or the first decent idea — come from being sat at your desk in a brainstorm. Stewing thoughts, on walks, in showers, that sort of thing. It’s usually off the clock, but it’s the stuff that is always at the back of our minds. That’s where our looping, circling, iterating is — done in our own time.

Attended Steps Collective, which was a very good hour on murmuration.

Yet more thoughts on how we fund services. Digital comes from an overall digital pot or the org realises having people with digital skills is just how the world works so the “digital people” are. Also something about projects versus programmes here. Too many digital teams are set up to do the project and get out — and invariably that digital project stays constant, doesn’t change, static pretty much from the moment it was.. finished (or money and time ran out).

Email from Strava. Give yourself a nudge it said, recommending I try out goals to keep me motivated. I do use goals and have been for a few years. If only they could join the messaging in the emails to their existing users with those users’ habits.

General life notes

Booked a long weekend in Bilbao in July.

Funeral. Don’t recommend doing that one day and then leaving a role you’ve had for two years the next.

That culture

Had a grand day in London the weekend before last, taking in the Tropical Modernism exhibition at the V&A.

Running and fitness

🏃🏻‍♂️ Over two weeks: 4 runs, totalling 21.3 km (83km for the month) 👎🏼
🚶🏻‍♂️ Over two weeks: Tracked 44.5 km of walking 👍🏼👍🏼
🧗‍♂️ No climbs 👍🏼
🏋️‍♂️ No weights or aerobics sessions but, again, plenty of life aerobics if that makes sense.
⚖️ Weight back to 88kg 🙄

Race/organised runs plan. I track most activities on Strava.

Home improvements

Got the keys to the new house on 27 October 2023. Four months of renovation. Moved in start of March. Lots of things left to do.

Over the last two weeks:

Bolts and handles on most of the upstairs doors
Cleaned some of the backyard floor

Not enough progress. Glad I’ve some downtime coming.

Interesting links (some of them)

Looking forwards

Work / work adjacent

Better find some work longer term than a few days here and there.
Try and start one of those blog posts I keep hinting at.
Opened my calendar up again. Have some chats — some with new people, some catch ups with friends — lined up. Feel free to book a half hour slot too.
Planning if there’s any good events after the summer to go to. Working that around things like avoid the first week of the new school year.

Life

Need to plan a longer break with the kids.
Still (still) need to try and read some of those 400-odd browser tabs in my phone.
Final stretch of accounts / taxes.

Health and fitness goals

Run at least 35km.
Weight down to 87kg. 🙏🏼
One weights/aerobic session.

Home improvement

Finish the upstairs doors.
Fix the sideboards on by the oven.
Finish cleaning the backyard’s paving.
Touch up the walls in bedroom 2.
Hang some more pictures.
Some there stuff too.

The full home improvement log (needs the tasks sizing and prioritising)

Diary management

Say hi if you’re going to be at any of these/are at one of these.

Tuesday 4 June 2024
- Service Design Mornings (If you’re interested email Marianne: marianne@dxw.com)
Thursday 13 June 2024
- Product for the People, Leeds
Friday 21 June 2024 to Sunday 23 June 2024
- Dublin
Monday 24 June 2024
- CSS, The Brude, Leeds
Sunday 14 July
- Ilkley half marathon
Saturday 24 August 2024
- Field Day, Victoria Park, London
Sunday 15th September 2024
- Pudsey 10k
Monday 28 October 2024
- Fran Lebowitz, Barbican, London

Weeknote for 20 May to 2 June 2024