What Did I Learn From 2023?

The Mission.

I started 2023 with the very exciting task of opening my business again after closing it in 2022 (more about that here if you missed what went on). With 'health' being a new priority, I approached everything with this fresh new filter and set about making changes.

Starting with cutting ties on what was no longer serving me or that were taking away too much from my time, attention or energy away from the important things. Etsy shop, GOODBYE. Instagram account ADIOS, standing outside at craft markets all weekend, no thank you.

I wanted to fall in love with making again, as much as I loved it when I was little.

Noticing that my attention span was short and the days of having dead legs from sitting uncomfortably on the floor for hours lost in flow state were way behind me. I wanted this concentration level back. I noticed that my phone was in my hand more than my pencil and I wanted things to change.

Over the year, I experimented with everything from digital detoxing, being more mindful by 'single-tasking', actively including idle time into my day and even trying 4 hour slots of concentration. I learnt something from each experiment and use these bits to push me forwards.

I also looked at longer forms of content and what activities fill up my energy bucket instead of draining it. I stuck to 3 simple things; my email newsletter (I call this my Round Ups), my blog and a drawing journal. These three things create meandering paths of creativity and inspiration for me, they fill that energy bucket right up and I get excited to share them with a creative community every month.

The Next Mission?

After learning from little daily habits that stretch my attention span, I'm starting to look at creativity as a muscle that can be stretched too. Maybe this will be the topic for next year's posts?

As always, I'm so glad you're here and I'm so grateful that you support me and my work.

Thank you.

Books that helped me:

Digital Minimalism: Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World by Cal Newport

Company Of One: Why Staying Small Is the Next Big Thing for Business by Paul Jarvis

Stolen Focus: Why You Can't Pay Attention- and How to Think Deeply Again by Johann Hari

Podcasts that helped me:

Grow With Soul Podcast (now called Fireside)

Beautiful Misfits Podcast

Ugh. Goal Setting.

It's that time of year and I don't know about you but 'goal setting' is something that fills me with dread and reminds me of school. The start of the new year, get out your shiny new notebook and some fancy pens, write a list of goals that are too extreme or too vague, close the book. never return. job done.

Looking around for some examples to cherry pick can be more draining than inspiring too and can lead to us choosing goals that we want to want or that we think we want.

After being lost in social media land and not really having a main goal as such, my aims became a bit number and vanity based: 'reach 3,000 followers,' 'make 50 sales on etsy' or 'get 300 people on the mailing list.' Well, since deleting most of those apps, I can't focus on those goals any more and had to find a new set of targets. Although these were measurable, they weren't getting me anywhere and they weren't adding any extra value to my life or work - something that's trickier to measure.

After taking 2 years out of 'normal life' for Covid and then a year out for an even less 'normal life' for chemo, I had a new priority: HEALTH. This priority came with some tasty new perspectives: time, attention and energy.

What Do I Want More of?

I go about setting goals by thinking 'what do I want more of' and 'what do I want less of?' in my day to day life. This helps to set little habits that change over an achievable time period and not just setting big and scary goals that encourage me to focus on the end goal and that keep me swimming in the same circle.

Health as a priority

I started with my priority - health, then I worked from there. Yours might be family, self-care, eduaction, exercise, travel... could be anything (I find it easier to just have one).

I started with what I need and how I can get more of that in my life

Rest. A Freelance role allows me to take time when I need it, I'm not closed in by a strict contract or holiday days.

Money. To pay my bills and to work on a 'buffer fund' of a few month's wages - to reduce any money anxiety.

Social. Having colleauges to interact with on a daily or weekly basis.

Then I started to add into what else I'd like more of:

Rest. To take a regular day out to refil my energy bucket, to be inspired and well fed.

Money. To add to my pension and aim to save for a car.

Social. To enjoy coffee with friends, fellow small business owners and new connections.

I felt like these goals were something that I could achieve, I also threw in a challenge, to increase my attention span over the year too. I'd use research, experiments and determination to see if I could be less distracted and more focused.

How do you attack goal setting? Do you fight it with procrastination and scrolling online? Do you stab it in the eye with a glittery gel pen? Or are you in the 'I just don't bother' camp?

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Another post from me about being organised with a to do list and a post on how I tackled a Digital Detox whilst trying to stretch my attention span.

I share more random life hacks, inspiration and ideas on my monthly Round Up. Click HERE, sign over your email adress and enjoy monthly stuff from me

x

Taking Stockport: A Photo Walk With Elle Brotherhood

A bleak, grizzly (grey and drizzly) day in Stockport, Manchester and as I was loading up on layers and debating adding my heated gilet and hat as I charged up my camera battery, ready for a photo walk. I had no idea what I had signed myself up for but my friend said it would be a good (and free) day - so off I went.

I arrived at On the Brink studios into their main workshop space and already felt the inspiration senses tingling. The room was full of wood working machinery, hand written signs and the whole place just had a hand made feel to it. The kind of space where creative potential is just oozing out of every inch.

A small group of us sat down with photographer Elle Brotherhood for a quick introduction and a coffee before we grabbed our cameras and set off into town.

Between us, our group had a good mix of smart phones and cameras to take our photos on. We very enthusiastically snapped the buildings, trees and general life of Stockport as we headed out of the gates and into the urban areas. Elle pointed out shapes and lines within the buildings, reflections, railway arches, textures and patterns as we marched along the street.

Although I've lived in Stockport for a few years now, it was really special to actually stop with my camera and to take some photos of the parts that I would normally rush past without a second thought. What a great excuse to stop and really look at what's there.

There's also something very refreshing about meeting a new group of people and doing a creative activity together, especially when walking and the elements are involved.

After a quick mooch around the main shopping area, we headed down Little Underbank for a nosey at the independent shops, some partially derelict buildings and some weathered artist murals. This area is one of my favourite parts of Stockport, there's a real sense of community and a sort of gritty unpolished-ness about the place and it's bursting with character and friendly faces.

After a quick nosey down some side streets and pointing out our favourite places to eat, drink and socialise, we set off to the Hat Works Museum where we finished the walk with a warming drink and a quick chat.

*Just reflecting back over the day, there was something nice about there being 'safety in numbers' with the group. It can feel a bit daunting sometimes going into urban spaces to take photos on your own. It was also a great excuse to take my big camera out for it's annual outing (shameful) it's so much easier to point and click my phone at things but today I made the conscious effort to learn some of the settings and just have a go.

This photo walk was created for the Women + Archives collective created by Manchester Metropolitan University and Stockport Hat Works Museum. An exhibition of all of the work produced will be held at Hat Works Museum 8th- 23rd March 2024. (My photos will be included in the exhibition too!)

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P.S. Some of my favourite places to visit in Stockport:

- Rare Mags - Beautifully crafted magazines, bursting with inspiration

- Laco Cafe - Huge fan of their goats cheese salad!

- Plant Shop - Beautiful plants and homewares

- Bohemian - My new favourite hair dressers

- Hilgate Cakery - Vegan cake deliciousness

- Cafe Sanjuan - Delicious Colombian food

Of course The Hat Works Museum will be reopening soon after a big refurb!

Add your favourites to the comments, where would you recommend?