Working through it
I was messaging with a friend and he said he found himself just trying to keep things on an even keel, knowing that he wasn’t processing the year. I said I felt the same, it has been worrying me for a while. I’ve had a few occasions where not processing things has come back to bite me later on. So I decided to write this post and see if it helps.
Work
Last year I did some of the best and most rewarding work of my career so far. I learned some things and stretched myself in new directions. I got…
Weeks ending 2020–12–11 and 2020–12–18
It was a couple of weeks of things winding down and people maybe celebrating just the prospect of having a break rather than excitement for Christmas itself.
Last year I was struck by how strong the Christmas game is at Citizens Advice. The quiz last year was really something (see season 5 episode 11). Even with everything remote this year my colleagues put on some special things.
What was good?
- I met Jonathan in a nearby park to play a game of chess outdoors¹. It was so lovely. A couple of Eastern European workmen were so impressed with us, sounds like the boards…
Week ending 2020–12–04
Hi friend. Thank you for stopping by.
Writing these on a Monday again. Maybe that’s alright. It kind of fits with a bit of routine as I sit on a bed while my son is in the same room doing his early evening online Scratch class¹.
I experienced big swings from good to not good last week at work. If I was scoring from 1 to 10 where 10 is good I’d give it an average 5. That’s not the right way to interpret that data though!
What was good?
- Citizens Advice gave staff an additional day of leave during the latest Covid-19…
The final ascent
If you haven’t read parts one, two, and three then you probably should.
My name is Dan Barrett. In the past two years I’ve given a nice shout out to 104 Dan Barretts on the internet, one a week, on Fridays.
For the next phase of this important work I am going to revisit the Dan Barretts each week in order. I can do this for the next two years.
To mark the end of phase one of Friday Dan Barretts, I’m going to go through the list of 104 and reminisce a bit. …
An unexpected turn of events
If you haven’t read parts one and two then you probably should.
My name is Dan Barrett. In the past two years I’ve given a nice shout out to 104 Dan Barretts on the internet, one a week, on Fridays.
For the next phase of this important work I am going to revisit the Dan Barretts each week, in order. I can do this for the next two years.
To mark the end of phase one of Friday Dan Barretts, I’m going to go through the list of 104 and reminisce a bit. …
New horizons
If you haven’t read part one then you probably should.
My name is Dan Barrett. In the past two years I’ve given a nice shout out to 104 Dan Barretts on the internet, one a week, on Fridays.
For the next phase of this important work I am going to revisit the Dan Barretts each week, in order. I can do this for the next two years.
To mark the end of phase one of Friday Dan Barretts, I’m going to go through the list of 104 and reminisce a bit. …
The journey begins
My name is Dan Barrett. It was 9pm on Friday 16 November 2018 and I think I was in the office for some reason and I don’t know why but I decided to find another Dan Barrett on the internet and give them a nice shout out on Twitter.
Since then I’ve given a nice shout out to 103 other Dan Barretts¹, one a week, on Fridays². I’ve only forgotten three times over the past two years. If you don’t believe me you can have a look at this spreadsheet which provides irrefutable proof.
I tried to keep it unfailingly…
Week ending 2020–11–27
Hey friend. I appreciate you stopping by.
I had one of the best working weeks in a while. Looking back at my previous weeknotes (see episode 17) I feel like I achieved more last week and I felt more motivated. I had some ideas and came up with solutions to problems.
Having said all this, I still ended the week feeling there was a mountain of things outstanding.
What was good?
- Tom (chief analyst) and I had a good retrospective and planning session with Lee (delivery manager). The retrospective was particularly good. …
Week ending 2020–11–20
Writing these on a Monday. Can’t seem to get into a rhythm. Or maybe I want to separate work from non-work at the weekend more than I used to. Not sure.
Last week was alright.
What was good?
- I caught up with Jo for the first time in a while. Great stuff.
- ‘Unicorn Hour’ is where I take time out on a Monday to do something for my mental wellbeing in order to combat the fairly significant slump I was experiencing at the start of each week. This week I walked to a nearby park and did my French practice.
- We had some…
Weeks ending 2020–10–16 to 2020–11–13
Hello friend. It’s been a while since I wrote any weeknotes (see episode 15). But hey, here I am on a Friday evening trying to get back into it.
I’m going to go through some highlights from the past month and try and keep it short. Things at work are fine.
What was good?
- I sat in on a content crit with Chelle (content designer) and other content professionals and it was really good. Always fascinating to see something broken down into bits and put back together into something leaner and better.
- The team are doing some great work on a number of…
Dan Barrett
Head of Data Science at Citizens Advice. These are my personal thoughts on work.
