So Bernie where is your head for this week?
1. Blogging and Podcasting
I have decided to double down even harder on ONLY podcasting – to stop fiddling around with all the other ‘stuff’ like breathing, eating and my family.
It seems to me I spend more time thinking about my blog than I do acting on it and also I am not podcasting from it like I could – I am so scared that I won’t have an audience that I don’t even bother. Even though I have an audience already and then I remembered my 50 Coffees in London podcast project that is already in motion.
Then there are the things I need to update on my blog this week…
Shame on me – cobblers shoes and all that – even more shame because the Rainmaker version of the mighty WordPress platform I use is easy to work with.
If you can dream it you can do it.
And I thought I had done it but it turns out I had only dreamt it.
I had dreamt about four important pages on this blog:
- About page – I like it and wrote it really fast six months ago and it is not up to date – it is not a lie but it is not a clear indication of where I am today.
- The event page – I waste a shit load of time telling people events one by one – are you going to this? You should come and join us, you’d also like…..
I had a sudden realisation that all I needed to do was to keep the Publicate page feed in date order with the next event at the top and the newest at the bottom. (Dough) This is toooo easy to do. - The tool page – this is also made in Publicate. I like it to be helpful and and also it generates revenue – not much – I don’t make a living from it but it lowers my outgoings and makes running the site pay for it’s self.
- A landing page to join my email community. This is another thing I have been procrastinating on. Then I listened to Ramsey over at Blog Tyrant on this podcast where he talks about using email sign up pages to increase subscribers, to make it a more personal and inviting rather than just ‘sign up for updates’. I like this, the best thing I have going for me is my email list and I need them more than they need me.
- A lot of this I can send to the amazing Fancy Hands to take care of , there are also other jobs like seeking out all the duplicate posts and merging tags. Fancy Hands have been looking up podcasts and content I have posted on other sites over the years and have been adding them here, I can host EVERYTHING here on Rainmaker and link directly to itunes.
2. Time Out to maintain a very low anxiety level.
Why am I meditating? Meditating is to calm my mind and enjoy the clarity and stillness that comes with this.
Being calm in my head is good for developing my mental and physical health and being able to support #supercoolwife and #babybernie when they are happy and when they are sad. I want to be able to take care of them and not have my ability to do this be dependant on how they feel – I hope that makes sense.
On the days I am meditating when I sit down to write or work at @90mainyard I am able to focus deeply for four hours at a time and this conjures a glorious feeling of progression and achievement for me.
Fine tuning my workflow
Working on the efficiency of myself within teams is my main goal in April.
I noticed the time it takes for me to ‘birth’ some elements of projects and one reason is the amount of time I spent looking at my own task lists, I was double handling stuff and over thinking it at the same time. I would always start work by looking at my ‘bernie’ trello board which became a layer between me and the people I am collaborating with on other trello boards.
Apps like Trello from Gmail and Scrum points were GREAT but my email is so low these days and I have worked out my best times to work and produce they have become surplus to use personally.
So yesterday I closed my ‘bernie’ trello board to spend more time in my OuiShare trello board and Moondog Asana projects
My own ‘projects’ are this blog and hanging out with my family as these come really naturally to me they don’t need a trello board! It is worth noting I leant a lot about how I think about these areas of my life by putting them in a trello board.
The ‘work’ is with OuiShare, Echo and Moondog so I am saving time and diving deeper by being in these project places online.
I hope this will help me spot connections and find the ‘edges’ to contribute more accurately to each area.
For “Bernie” I am using Google tasks for my daily practice, I have a good routine and want to get even better at it.
This is in my Google Apps and Calendar and also in a fast app that really works off line on my phone, this is something that the Trello and Asana mobile apps lack – they are super sexy with a connection but crap off line.
Project Creep – OuiShare Radio and OuiShare London
OK Bernie so DON’T do anything else until after OuiShare Fest – the only thing you need to do everyday is publish and podcast – did I say that out loud? OuiShare Fest for me is like the World Cup is for #supercoolwife and before, during and after everything has to be podcasting!
It is just eight weeks until OuiShare Fest in Paris and I am going to lock myself in @90mainyard everyday until I have shipped a blog and a podcast. Don’t be too impressed, this is easy for me, it just that sometimes ‘stuff’ gets in the way. ‘Stuff’ like having too many things to think about, work out and over think – so I am redeploying my ‘say no’ strategy to get the mighty OuiShare Radio and OuiShare London moving again in time for OuiShare Fest. Jonothan, Elena and I will be live podcasting from the event and this is a great opportunity to connect people to OuiShare Radio.
I was listening to the RainmakerFM master feed this week and it was inspiring. Inspiring because Copyblogger media is the ‘Apple’ (with Steve Jobs) of the online content world AND they have got all their people doing podcasts, these are highly skilled writers who really know their stuff, yet they are finding their way in podcasting.
Instead of waiting to be ready they have just shipped knowing that they will be great in six months time, the information is beyond valuable and because I have read so much by these guys over the years I can hear their style come through.
They are organised, smart and accurate and I am so glad they are not super corporate polished like a cheesy American Game Show Host.
In one podcast someone said it is so hard just being yourself, when you know that is what really works yet it is near on impossible to relax and just do it. I know what they mean, the main stumbling block to me doing more is a highly skilled form of procrastination and anxiety around what will people think?
I am dreading the day when I walk through the desks @90mainyard and everyone is staring and laughing at me because I stuttered a few words or gave an opposite opinion on a topic.
Of course it has never happened, it is a coworking community not a high school.
In fact the feedback I have got from my coworkers has always been open, direct and helpful even if it was not total praise. This is even better as they have taken the time to listen and offer advice to improve and tweak what I am working on. This is where being in a coworking community is a total home run.
Since we got back from Argentina January I have been running around town and not been locked at my desk enough. I have missed the community @90mainyard and also the productivity and focus curve I had built up there. I have set a strict schedule that means I get up earlier and finish earlier, so I will NEVER be working after 4pm, unless it is recording a podcast which is so much fun it is not work. I really do get three – four times as much done in the morning than the afternoon, there is a confidence and peace that comes with knowing you are going to be able to sit down and kick ass.
Learning to fly
As my podcasting journey has developed I have continued to find my home and become comfortable with my own style. The topic area is an ever developing niche of communication and action around the intersection of business, community and education. I am getting really good at the whole podcast interview thing and people are feeding back to help with this, I am unashamedly aiming for a Clive James, Chris Evans David Frost thing with a double helping of Mark Thomas and George Carlin.
Going deeper is the point of my 50 sharing economy coffees and I am looking to learn and find out more about the people right near me here in London – and of course make a ruckus.
