Dan’s Weeknotes 2022–08–30

Hello. I hope you’re doing ok.

I haven’t written in a while. Looking back at last time I notice I wrote

When did I last have a break? Like, a real one.

and shortly after that I was sorting out my annual leave and I realised that I hadn’t had any significant time off beyond a day here and there all year. Next year I’ll have to do something about that, no wonder I was so tired.

I’m not sure exactly what I can do about it because my holiday allowance gets pretty much used up by covering half of the school holidays for my kids. It really did hit me that I hadn’t looked after myself properly though. Next year I’d be inclined to take a week off in the Spring unpaid if necessary. I think it’d be worth it.

Yes I was so very tired and also feeling a bit demotivated. The year at work has gone well so far, the team are doing great. However, scattered through my most recent weeknotes there are references to me feeling I’m not making as much of a personal contribution as I’d like. I want to get back on it, really get a grip on the things in our data strategy in progress over the next six months and some other things beyond that too.

I have had a break. It was really lovely. Back to work tomorrow, so here I am drawing a line under the last month.

I went to stay at my parents’ house for a week to help my Dad while my Mum went on holiday. I was working from there and the setup was fine although it was a tough balance with quite a lot to get through domestically as well. Sadly my Mum caught Covid half way through the week and had to cut her break short. But Dad and I agreed it was something we could manage again, so I’ll be heading back down in September for a few days. Also my Mum is fully recovered now and thankfully Dad didn’t catch the virus.

After that stay was when I realised how tired I was. I felt like I hit a wall the week beginning 8 August.

I’ve had my kids for the holidays from 15 August. There have been a few days where I’ve worked with them being in our flat. We’re used to it from the second Covid lockdown at the beginning of 2021. The pair of them are so good, I appreciate them very much. It’s not a sustainable pattern beyond a few days now and again though. There’s a nagging guilt in addition to the work and domestic juggling.

We went to Ilfracombe in North Devon for a week. It was fantastic, such a beautiful place. Hard to pick a highlight but maybe it was seeing Atlantic dolphins in the wild and up close on a boat trip. We had lots of beach time and some great food, including plenty of ice cream.

I don’t drive, so on the way back we stopped off in Bristol for an evening to break up the journey so it was less of an effort for my partner. Lovely city.

A few work highlights:

• It was my turn to run the monthly Design, Data, and Technology all hands ‘Get Together’. I made it a data takeover and had 10 different speakers doing 5 to 10 minutes on a wide variety of data topics. This went well and I got some positive feedback. The quality was high, and the breadth of content was fantastic. I wouldn’t have been able to put something as good together a year ago, I think we’ve made progress as an organisation.
• I made a start on something that’s been on my mind and my to do list for a while by publishing a work in progress data playbook, accompanied by a blog post. My intent is that this approach will hold me to account and motivate me to fill the playbook with material. I’ll be getting contributions from the team too but this is one of those things that feels in the right kind of ‘leadership’ space where I’m making the kind of contribution I can and should.
• On the team we successfully recruited an Associate Data Architect and I’m looking forward to them joining in September.
• This role will focus on one of our main priorities at the moment — improving our data about the Network of ~260 local Citizens Advice. The team have made great progress on this already but now it’s time to ramp up the momentum. My contribution here will be making the case for further investment. The consensus from the team is that we need a small, dedicated multidisciplinary team to fulfill these users’ needs. This is a good opportunity, and I’m excited at the prospect of finally bringing in some of the non-data roles I identified the need for when I started this job in 2019.

I’m a bit apprehensive about getting back to work tomorrow but I’ll see how I go. There’s something about the circumstances in society at the moment (especially the cost of living crisis but not just that) that create a constant weight at work. I know I’m not alone in feeling this. Citizens Advice is at the forefront of these issues, contributing through our advice and also our advocacy work. So it’s motivating to be part of an organisation that is making a difference. But the circumstances are very bad and the prospects aren’t good. During the first 18 months of the pandemic people experienced this weight I’m trying to describe as well, but from my point of view it felt further away. Perhaps because everybody was affected? Or maybe the distribution of how people were affected wasn’t as disproportionately skewed towards those in society that have the least, which is the case with the current crisis.

Thanks for reading, I appreciate it.