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Are you weighing up your work situation fairly?

A set of traditional balance weighing scales.
Are you a convert to the air-fryer yet? I was amazed to hear Jamie Oliver reveal on his latest Channel 4 programme that almost half the homes in the UK now own one. I’m tempted, but cautious.  I love cooking but with a 6′ x 9′ kitchen I have to be convinced a new gadget will...

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How to be more present in the moment at work

Cat focusing in the moment on the white butterfly on its nose.
Are you content to live in the here and now, or are you more future focused, always planning the next week, next month, next year even? Staying focused on what’s going on around you in the present moment is often cited as a route to better concentration, self-awareness, creativity and...

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Is your workplace menopause friendly?

Woman holding a chalk board in front of her abdomen with menopause written on it.
How supportive of those going through the menopause is your workplace? If that’s you, you’ll know if colleagues understand when symptoms like brain fog, tiredness, joint pain and irritability impact your work. Or whether your manager is comfy discussing how you are and what would help. But if...

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Is anyone else overwhelmed by their to-do list?

Woman looking overwhelmed by her to-do list.
Are you a list maker? If you’d asked me ten years ago, I’d have said yes, definitely. I had lists of lists at times but increasingly, they don’t work for me. Why lists don’t work for me My husband motors through a list. I just get overwhelmed and fed-up. So I...

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Learn to stop and recognise the fruits of your labours

Fruits of our labour at our allotment: fruit, vegetables and flowers.
Picking beans has to be one of my favourite allotment jobs. Firstly, you don’t have to bend down which is rare for allotment jobs, and secondly because of their incredible abundance. Hunting among the tangle of twisting stems and palm-sized leaves, you find the slim, silky pods hanging...

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How focusing on just one thing makes a difference

A woman bumping into a lamppost in the street because she is trying to do more than just one thing.
I did something radical this week: I went for a walk without my phone😲. I was inspired by Michael Mosley’s Just One Thing podcast, digestible 14 minute episodes about improving your wellbeing with inviting, easy-sounding titles like ‘sing’, ‘read’ and...

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The perfect listener when you need to talk?

Woman writing in a journal
As I write this, it’s Time to Talk day run by Mind and Rethink Mental Illness. The Time to Talk campaign was launched in 2014 to encourage more open and honest conversations between friends, family and colleagues about things they’re struggling with. How easy do you find it to...

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The word that sums up my intention this year

Celia Clark, career development coach, wearing comedy glasses saying naughty, as a suggestion of a word you could choose to set your intention for the year.
Happy New Year ! I hope you’ve had a good start to 2023. Did you get chance to do the review of last year in the previous post? The last note I received before Christmas was a thank you from someone who’d treated themselves to a rare pause in a café to reflect on their year. It was...

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Give yourself the gift of reflection

Whilst brushing my teeth the other day, my gaze flicked to the poem Desiderata hanging on our bathroom wall. It has so much wisdom in it but the phrase that jumped out at me this time was “enjoy your achievements as well as your plans”.  Now, I’m a...

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How to respond sensitively to loss and grief

tulips and a thinking of you message in times of loss or grief
I imagine we’ve all had times when life events take over and work is pushed aside: a cancer diagnosis, a flood at home, a phone call from school. How do you respond and what can you say or do for others going through an experience of loss or grief? For many of us, the death of HM Queen...

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