In my long quest for productivity, I have downloaded an app called coach.me.
It lets you set goals and then track progress day by day. I set myself the goal of thirty days consecutive writing on this blog.
So far I am on day 9. I have started writing streaks before, and around about day 10 it feels like that Marilyn Monroe movie “The 7 year itch”. The excitement is gone and the grind is real. This app certainly helps, though.
This is nine, tomorrow is ten. And on we go.
Holiday was cut short by a military lockdown. Not your usual reason.
It’s nice to be home. I’m trying to be optimistic. This is a chance to live differently. Thank the Gods we are allowed to walk the dogs. This is good for both my dogs and my marriage!
21 days can sometimes fly by. My children are confused about the interruption but I think they’ll cope fine.
We have food, we have plenty of work to do on the house, and actual job work which is still coming in over this period though to a lesser extent.
We have entertainment, a garden with a pool. We have space in the house and we have shops down the road. We have every chance of side stepping this damned virus.
Here’s to healthy kids, dogs, marriages and national lockdowns.
If we wanted to do something worthwhile – and it almost doesn’t matter what it is – we would likely find it easier to do with someone else as a guide, a teacher, or just as company.
There’s always an opportunity for creating a welcoming venue for birds of a feather to come together and practice, discuss, create, define what they want to get good at.
The best websites do this. Podcasts too.
The best restaurants, clubs, churches, offices, parks, homes and companies do this too.
The fun Billie Eilish has with her brother writing, producing and describing her music is infectious.
When I was 11 years old, I changed my handwriting in an effort to be cool. I wanted to be more like my friend. He wrote with far more flair than I did. His pages had words that stood out at you. They were all in in neat rows, but they looked artistic and full of purpose. His paragraphs were all in joined up writing and each word was at an angle. His pages looked like they came from someone interesting. Mine just looked like they came from a bog standard 11 year old kid.
I remember clearly deciding to write an assignment in this new style – with my new found flair. The words were all at a painful angle across the page. It took me ages to finish because I was more interested in how it looked than what was written. I put my name on it and handed it in. I felt satisfied and liberated. My new, cooler, more angular identity was emerging.
When the teacher handed our marked papers back, he stopped when he reached me. I got a poor mark. He was disappointed with me, he said. And what on earth was wrong my handwriting? He could barely read it.
I couldn’t hide my blushes as I mumbled some sort of response. I reverted back to myself the very next class.
Happy Sunday chimps. To thine own self be true!
Is there any point in keeping your social media accounts open?
The cost of interacting is high in terms of attention and time spent. Intense interaction can add to your brand and your followers’ loyalty, but it can also be pure distraction from doing any work that is meaningful.
So we need to be strategic about where we decide to spend our time.
I dislike the combative nature of Twitter. I broadcast for the chimpwithcans account, but don’t take part.
I have a love hate relationship with Instagram. It is the best designed product, but it can be a massive distraction.
I’m too old to know anything about Tiktok, or Snapchat.
I prefer to write than to take pictures or make videos. An English major at university, I enjoy longer forms of expression. Hence the blog. And hence the use of the word “hence”. Ha.
Where do you spend your time and why?
In this internet age, access to information and data is not necessarily a competitive advantage. Everyone has google. Everyone has more data than they know what to do with. This includes your clients.
The trick then when dealing with clients and data is to package it properly. Package it into something as specific as possible.
If the target client needs scientific proof to make a decision, send them scientific papers.
If they are driven by money, send them as many financial statements and ratios as possible to back up your sale.
If they identify with emotion and passion, possibly you need to package your information in the form of a romantic story.
It is a matter of speaking the right language to achieve your goal with a client.
We all have a language we like to speak and will pay money and attention for. What is yours?
If you follow me on Instagram (@chimpwithcans) then you will have seen I am finalizing the man cave (man-chimp-cave, maybe?) and it is giving me great joy.
A space that is yours alone in a busy family is a wonderful thing. It allows for expression of your interests and your designs without impacting the rest of the family. We are lucky to have the home space for it, and I have big plans to build my chimp empire from this room.
I have no doubt that incorporating your own spaces into your living arrangements is good for your health.
I feel better already.
Today we had sun and swimming and family. A good day.
Happy Saturday chimps.
We are purging our cupboards on the first day of the year. Although it wasn’t planned for this exact day, the timing feels extremely cathartic and right.
We will send our old clothes to one of the multitude of needy causes nearby. Africa does not struggle when it comes to charities and needy folk, unfortunately.
The purge is also spreading to my man cave/office which is chock full of my stuff….this includes all the coolest stuff (posters, guitars, Hifi amps and speakers) and all the junk I have collected over the years (old battery chargers anyone?)
If you are looking for something to do to start the new year right, I’d highly recommend a purge.
Happy New Years chimps!
Movies are given to us in (usually) 2 – 3 hour chunks. Designed to set aside a whole evening for your entertainment. Conversely, Entrepreneurs and influencers on Tiktok or on Instagram have mastered the quick fire clips and video messages.
Even though there are neuro-chemical tricks going on with Instagram, it is interesting to me that social media often feels like the only form of entertainment that fits into my life right now. To read a book I need to wake up at 5am when the house is quiet. The same with movies or albums. These things need concerted effort from me whereas the Instagram account goes with me wherever I go.
I know this is not revelatory in any way. Mobile phones are convenient…..so what? However when I look at these facts I realize two things. Firstly, I need to manage what’s appearing on my Social media feeds so that the messages I am receiving are of value and not just a trick to keep my brain’s attention. Secondly, I need to make time for books, albums and movies that I still want to have in my life while my kids are young and life is so busy.
That will go some way towards escaping the media jungle of life.
Nearly New Years! Happy Monday chimps.
Chimpwithcans 