I’ve made a vow to be a punctual person. Over the festive period, with loads of social appointments to fulfil, I became aware that my family and friends make allowances for my apparently inevitable lateness. I was a little taken aback, but not surprised, as I don’t want those dear Continue Reading
Writing
New Year finance check-up – a resolution £worth keeping
After overconsumption and festive excesses, I get back to normality with a checkup of my finances. Granted, it’s not the most exciting job in the world, but I’ve been doing a January review for years and I find it to be oddly therapeutic. I used to avoid looking at my Continue Reading
Christmas Consumerism
Published in Shetland Life magazine, Dec 2018 Until around the mid-1800s, Christmas gifts were traditionally modest, handmade objects and hospitality offered to friends, family and neighbours. But with the rise of mass manufacturing, consumerism and increasingly sophisticated marketing techniques Christmas presents have become very big business indeed, and are part Continue Reading
Giving up the booze
Published in Shetland Life magazine, Nov 2018 I decided to call time on booze in December last year (2017). I considered myself a fairly average social drinker (by Shetland standards) but I habitually exceeded guidelines and felt it had become an expensive, unproductive and ingrained routine. And I’d become bored Continue Reading
Winter Positivity
Published in Shetland Life magazine, Oct 2018 The other day I was asked by a visitor, “how do you Shetlanders manage to survive the long winter months?”, and I gave my standard response of “Embrace the weather, make the most of the light and have a project” Shetland winters can Continue Reading
Procrastination
Published in Shetland Life magazine, Sep 2018 Most people procrastinate to some degree. It can be a significant cause of stress and self-directed frustration – we know it doesn’t make sense to put off an inevitable task whilst becoming ever more anxious as the deadline approaches, or let opportunities slip Continue Reading
Habits are more effective than goals
Hands up who’s decided they wanted to make a positive change in their life but didn’t manage it? Exercise more, eat more healthily, save money or cut back on booze? One thing the above examples have in common is that they’re not specific goals – they’re just aspirations. We need Continue Reading
Overthinking – I’d worry less if I had more sympathetic imaginary friends
Overthinking is a common affliction characterised by going over and over a scenario in our heads in an unproductive way. It is often mistaken as problem-solving but as we replay imagined scenarios and their outcomes, more hypothetical “what if?” problems arise which require solutions, thus compounding and enforcing the pattern. Continue Reading
Sleep Learning – my plan to read the entire works of Shakespeare via overnight audiobooks
I’ve recently made my peace with sleep. I used to resent it, and tried hard to avoid it. It seemed like a waste of time when I could be awake doing stuff. I couldn’t fathom why anyone would go to bed at 11pm unless they had an early flight to Continue Reading
News induced angst
I used to feel anxious in the mornings – a mild existential dread that got steadily worse for the first hour of the day. Upon reflection of the possible causes I narrowed it down to too much morning news. I woke to news bulletins from my radio alarm. I checked Continue Reading