Welcome to my blog

Welcome to my blog. In truth I've written that a few times over my life. I've started and abandoned a number of blogs in my time. I'm probably not alone in that fact. Will this time be different? I don't know. All I know is that this time I have a project that I suspect …

Goal setting and why it is important

In my day job, I've started making videos. Instructional videos for students on different aspects of the study experience. I'm being guided by a very capable colleague who knows the ropes of creating video content. This is good, because I suck at it. One of the hidden benefits of making video content is that it …

Developing efficient workflows

A couple of weeks back I came to the conclusion that I simply had too many things to do and not enough time 🧑‍💼 This is an experience I hear many people describe.  My first reaction was to look at what I could remove from my life. However I hit the uncomfortable place of not …

My experience of Brain.fm

I’ve been using Brain.fm for a few weeks now, with a paid membership.   I am using it right now. I have it on one of the ‘focus’ playlists.  Brain.fm is an app (web and mobile) that plays music that is intended to help elicit certain psychological states: focused (for work), relaxed, meditative and sleep.  There …

People can be awesome

I’m not prone to noticing or being affected by touching human interactions. It is because I have blackened charred heart. But I noticed one this week. We were running an online wellbeing session for students. As part of the session, participants were asked to identify someone in their social network that could help them make …

Pathways to wellbeing

Over the past month I’ve been lucky to have been involved in the delivery and refinement of the Be Well Plan - https://www.bewellplan.com/, a facilitated mental health and wellbeing program developed by the Wellbeing and Resilience Centre at SAHMRI, in collaboration with Flinders University and the Orama Institute. The program teaches participants how to develop …

Impermanence

This week I have been contemplating the concept of impermanence. To be honest it has been on my mental radar for a couple of years now. I think it started when I commenced thinking and writing about self-improvement. The more I explored the topic, the more confident I got that we could improve upon ourselves …

Slowing down

Hey everyone! Happy Easter! Or if you don't celebrate Easter, then Happy Apocalypse. My desire to make little chocolate Jesuses has again gone unachieved, but there is always next year – it is good to have goals. What I have been able to do this Easter is slow down. When the Coronavirus hit and the …

Keeping a Coronavirus diary

A week or so back I started keeping a Coronavirus diary. I am posting it on the Student Health and Wellbeing Blog that I manage as part of my day job. You can access the entries so far here: https://blogs.flinders.edu.au/student-health-and-well-being/category/coronavirus/ As with many things I do nowadays there is a dual purpose to the diary. …

Chapter 7 of my book is up

The first draft of Chapter 7 - Principles of self-improvement has been posted and is now ready to read. When I was writing the chapter I had the mental image of a coach giving a team a pep-talk before the big final. The pep-talk isn't about tactics. It is about reminding the team of their …

What art has taught me about incremental change

I like drawing. I am not very good at it. The best I can do are modestly complicated doodles. Abstract 2-dimensional representations of something going on in my brain. I tend to turn to art during times of high emotional arousal. It might be because I am very happy and I want to celebrate the …