Ok so I think we now officially can say that “Freewheel Fridays” are a family “habit” or new tradition 🙂 This makes me happy as I had been a real planning ennui phase mid June and just deciding to use some of the mountain of leave I was amassing to spend some quality time with the children on bikes has been great. We went for our third ride this week and although a little curtailed in terms of distance it was super exciting as it was Antonia’s first time on her bike. After riding a balance bike for years she managed to do really well and didn’t fall off. The others buzzed around on their bikes playing follow the leader and we just chilled in a very familiar bit of the forest we hardly ever stop in to discover insects (kids and Mike) lie in the sun day dreaming (me).
I also started working in my “new” office this week. As Mum is here I wanted to move out from working in the spare room to avoid conflict which meant that I am not sharing with Mike (different sort of conflict!). Neither of us were thrilled at the idea but we tend not to be working at the same time – although ended up working 3 afternoons together this week but we are still speaking. Actually I’ve quite liked working downstairs as I’ve got a pretty clear desk and the room is (relatively) clear now too. So it feels calm. Also I have noticed that as it is downstairs it is easy to slip off into that room to do things like a bit of extra planning or internet stuff during the course of a normal day. I like that. Things I don’t like is that I am rather near the front door so the dog barking ends up on all calls and Mike is a rather noisy office mate. I am wondering if the fact I am near the s**t that needs sorting out will motivate me to do it. Hmmmmm.
Work was as full on as ever this week and I did feel pretty stretched with boundaries. Taking calls in the evenings and feeling like each day my to-do list was too long hence things then rolled over to the next day. Every day. I realised that I find this very exhausting and it also makes me a in a super bad mood about it too. Funny though two hours on Friday morning (yes I was supposed to be on leave), working with a timer and very clear list, I managed to get a lot of things out of the way and felt much better. We have a closure day on Monday which is of course great but from a to do list point of view slightly annoying. That sounds ridiculous but the pace of change is huge at the moment. I will work a bit on Monday as I have some things to do for an external commitment on Tuesday but I am ok with that.
Been thinking a lot this week about leadership and how things evolve. I’ve learnt so much over the past few weeks, some things positive, some less so, but also reflecting on processes and things I have done. Feel like I have had to change a lot of things or ideas but then on reflection realise that it is more that as things evolve, you know more and so you decide to behave differently and do things slightly differently. I guess this is a good thing but there are times when I feel like I am all over the place and indecisive. I think I need to be kinder and focus on what we are achieving as well as the fact that we really are all in this together and working collaboratively is the only way we will get to September successfully.
In other news, having Mum here has meant a few evening walks with the children, including such a long one with Isaac that the others though we had lost the dog and were frantic with worry – oops – and little things like random yoga in the evenings for my sore back. I really do carry stress in my back and shoulders which translates to my elbows so by Wednesday it was so so sore. Better for a long weekend.
Also think I now want to add some yoga targets to my intentions for this year, namely practising (and mastering?) wheel, headstands and handstands. Wheel I am getting there. The others hmmm. I can do Crow now where I couldn’t a year ago so there is progress and I should be patient.