As I write this monthnote on the last day of July, I’m enjoying my long awaited summer break watching the sunrise over a vineyard in the Burgundy region in France.
One of the joys of working independently is being able to dictate my own holiday allowance and this year I’ve awarded myself nearly six weeks off (albeit with a couple of days work to keep in touch with my coaching clients and run some monthly team workshops).
The six months from mid-January to mid-July were pretty full on, with a great fractional engagement and plenty of consultancy projects too. But as the summer break approached I could feel like the tank was emptying fast and by mid-July I was definitely running on fumes.
We left the UK in our motorhome a week ago and have since meandered through the Champagne region, the Auvergne and have now arrived at Lyon for a couple of nights.
I love not having a clear plan and just exploring each day. The joy of discovering unexpected places or events is such a contrast to the busy planned life I lead in the UK.
However tomorrow’s a work day so I’m off to a co-working space in central Lyon, which will be a bit of a change of pace compared to our leisurely life on the road. I’m also looking forward to meeting Emily Rose Dallara in person too for a coffee in Lyon.
I’ve been re-reading Cal Newport’s Slow Productivity book where he talks about working in periods of intensity interspersed with periods of relatively low productivity.
That’s my plan once I’m back at work full-time in September – to try to be more planned in the work I take on to have peaks and troughs of intensity, but maybe not quite as intense as recently.
This month I also did some facilitation work which I really enjoyed. It’s been a while since I did a purely facilitation-based engagement, so running a management awayday for 27 people was a good reminder how much I love designing days that bring people together to forge meaningful connections.
I’ve also kicked off a client project with fellow Extra Brain Manish Kapur this month. We’re helping a PR, social and events business understand how they can improve their systems and automate as much as possible of their operational processes. It’s been nice to work with Manish and enjoy the experience of jointly delivering consultancy work.
I’m excited about my fractional course – The Fractional Executive Launchpad – that launches on 15 September. Pre-sales have been encouraging and my “top of funnel” marketing activities seem to be working nicely now. I’m enjoying learning new techniques in both the production and commercialisation of the course.
Had a bit of a blip with the course platform last week where some Teachable “upgrades” took out the course platform and checkout. It was a situation where I needed support from Teachable, but it was pretty slow. With my checkout down for several days and frustrated buyers emailing me, I had to resort to a LinkedIn post to get some priority – and then within a couple of hours they’d fixed the issue.
It’ll be interesting to see if the course and associated services this remains an experiment or if it has the potential to become a meaningful part of my work portfolio. I’ve given myself until the end of the year to answer that question.
Music this month…
Going to see Texas and KT Tunstall live in Margate this month has led me to a rediscovery of the Texas 1990s back catalogue.
Podcasts this month…
Loving “How Stories Happen” with Jay Acunzo. In each show he dissects the signature stories that leading public speakers use, along with practical tips about how we can learn from them.
Reading this month…
Got to be Robin Bonn‘s “Market of One” book. Robin and I always have great conversations when we catch up. His insightful thinking and down-to-earth style takes abstract marketing concepts and makes them accessible – if you run an agency, please get Robin’s book and read it. Then read it again.
Cycling this month…
183 miles. We’re thinking of heading off to Mount Ventoux next on our roadtrip so looking forward to tackling this iconic climb for the first time.
Running this month…
51.1 miles
