March 2025 - FIVE good things
from the midst of an edit
No offence but I’d rather not be writing this today. I’m in the middle of a podcast series edit and I don’t like disrupting the flow. More than that, it actually irritates me to disrupt the flow. I’m not good at switching tasks when I’m in the middle of something that absorbs me. BUT for the sake of consistency, the longevity of this newsletter and turning up even when you don’t feel like it, here I am!
March has been varied and fun. It’s the month I think of as the true start to the year, when everything, including my social life, starts to emerge from hibernation. I’ve recorded voices from across the world, had an exciting meeting about something shiny and new, completed a half marathon (and survived!), taken my son swimming for the first time this year, spent a lovely weekend in my hometown and celebrated Mother’s Day in a striking leopard print onesie chosen by my sweet five-year-old so that we can ‘be onesie boys together’!
In amongst all that I also edited and delivered Episode 16 of The Aberystwyth Book Club: Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow. I loved making this episode with its 90’s video game theme. I particularly enjoyed listening to and mixing in some 8-bit and 16-bit production music:
Click on the image to listen / subscribe / download 🎧
Here are five good things, apart from Sort Your Life Out, that have helped me get through March:
Onrise
The answer is never in an app but maybe it’s in a widget?
Trust me I have tried a lot of tracking / productivity apps (see obsession below). This one is the simplest and easiest one I’ve found. But what makes it work well is the widget. So if you want to give it a go, download the app and then add the widget. What I like about it is that the tracking can be a streak (if that’s your thing) or it can just be a count. This suits me much better because streaks aren’t my thing but knowing how many times I have, for example, remembered to take my medication or practiced the drums in a month is very helpful. I love it because it’s colourful, simple, quick and free.
This post by Oliver Burkman: https://www.oliverburkeman.com/donelist
It begins:
“Apparently I struck a chord on Twitter the other day when I observed that many people (by which I meant me) seem to feel as if they start off each morning in a kind of "productivity debt", which they must struggle to pay off through the day, in hopes of reaching a zero balance by the time evening comes. Few things feel more basic to my experience of adulthood than this vague sense that I'm falling behind, and need to claw my way back up to some minimum standard of output. It's as if I need to justify my existence, by staying "on top of things", in order to stave off some ill-defined catastrophe that might otherwise come crashing down upon my head.”
The whole article resonated with me so much that I laughed.
It’s time to confess that pre-burnout I became obsessed with productivity methods. Yep I was a real fun to be around! To be fair, I did have the self-awareness not to tell many people about my obsession (apologies if you were one of the chosen few). I could tell there was probably a limited pool of people interested in talking about the pros and cons of the Pomodoro Technique on a night out. But I was convinced that the reason I felt massively overwhelmed, must be because I was doing something wrong. Not because I was trying to do too much (often all at once).
I would say I’m still in recovery. However, reading this article really helped me this month and I’ve started writing a ‘done list’ instead of a ‘to do’ list and it does feel much better. On the other side of the page though I still need a ‘don’t forget’ list otherwise I do forget really important stuff and that’s panic inducing.
Rest days
Apologies if this is completely obvious to everyone but me but I’ve had an epiphany. When you’re training for a half marathon (pic below!) and I’m guessing this applies to any fitness thing, you’re actually meant to have rest days. Resting in between improves performance. This realisation has finally made me understand that of course the same logic applies to the brain. It needs regular breaks and then it’s ready to go and works more efficiently. Due to my previous obsession with productivity methods I have read about this many times but never fully digested it. I honestly think a part of me was afraid to even start resting in case there was no going back and I would be permanently in a state of rest unable to do anything!
Deciding what not to do
I made a tough decision this year. Admittedly this decision was made easier because last year was a demoralising disaster, pretty much everything I carefully tended to in the garden was eaten by slugs. So this year I’ve decided not to grow anything from seed. I thought I might cave in when March rolled around but actually I’m fine. I’m enjoying the break! Growing from seed is incredibly rewarding but it’s also time consuming and it’s ok to go a year without doing something and then see how you feel next year.
Peaks and troughs
It’s officially been a year since I left the BBC which is both odd, because that year has gone very quickly, but also satisfying because I’m still here, I’m still freelancing and I’m ok. One of the main realisations I’ve had in that year is that I’m more suited to project work than consistent work. Intense periods of ‘making stuff’ followed by a proper break, gives me much more satisfaction than the constant treadmill of daily or weekly shows. I know that consistency is tempting because it also means security but a year on I can genuinely say I made the right decision for me. Leaving after 18 years was scary but now the thought of having stayed is much scarier.
I love to hear from you here in my lonely field, so please drop a like or leave a comment if you have read and enjoyed! I’m always up for chats with anyone but in particular other freelancers / the freelance curious.
BONUS!
I’m so thrilled The Aberystwyth Book Club will be onstage at Hay Festival again this year✨🤩🎙️
I can’t believe this will be our fourth year returning to the festival. Below are a few pics from over the years, onstage, offstage and backstage!
If you’re heading to the festival this year and fancy seeing the show being recorded it’s FREE (so no need to book a ticket) just head to the BBC Marquee on 24th May at 5.30pm. We’ll be thrilled to see you 😃 🎪 📚
