…disguised as another rant about customer service. I was in Accessorize (a British shop selling accessories) recently, buying a necklace for a friend’s birthday. I walked up to the counter to pay. There was no queue and the manager was at the till. I knew she was the manager by the way she was speaking [...]

With practicing Mindfulness, I mean. Remember a couple of weeks ago I wrote a post on why Multitasking is Bad Stuff and encouraged people to try Mindfulness for a week with me? I know some of you did it, how did it work for you? It was completely fantastic for me! When I did it. [...]

I have a challenge for you. First, some background: Spinning Plates is Stupid. I was talking to a good friend of mine over coffee and we decided that the whole Women Multitask to be more Effective thing is a myth. I am fairly rubbish at spinning plates. Ok, we can multitask, as pretty much anyone [...]

One day very recently I was making a stew and my (step)daughter was making brownies. The stew needed crusty bread and I forgot to get any, or start early enough to make any (the original plan). So while the stew was stewing I popped along to Tescos. Whether it was the smell of the brownies [...]

  I have something cool to tell you about. I do not suffer from extreme mental health issues but I have had dark days, difficult times, and panic attacks like many of us. Mental health issues, whether big or small, whether chronic and long lasting or relatively brief flare-ups when things get a bit much [...]

I have recently made a couple of basic but amazing discoveries for managing time. These discoveries allow me to save time AND get more done! Oh, and enjoy life more, which is the MOST important thing, of course. Maybe these will help you too. 1. An effective planner/calendar: I have a spreadsheet titled American Resident [...]

I think it’s good to try to be open to constructive criticism, to see one’s own flaws before we see those in others and all that. I think it’s equally good to accept one’s silliness. Here’s a few irrational, illogical or just silly things I do: 1. I prefer to buy burger buns with sesame [...]

What would you have done in this situation? This weekend it was my turn to be the bank party for the under 16 kids at the rowing club my daughter is a member of which meant riding my bike up and down, up and down, up and down the towpath by the River Cam in [...]