Saying NO to learn

image: pexels.com

Focus focus. This could be me this week juggling family life and a surge of ‘work’. My work is a strange beast at the moment. I am a research student and I am exploring some areas of great interest to me- women, leadership, learning and thinking about living in a rural area. I am trying to pull together some new ideas about how living in a rural space impacts women’s identity, especially those who are working in leadership roles in education.

I am reading, writing, interviewing, transcribing, reflecting, reading again and yes, doing more writing. (I have another blog life here) I would love to know how you juggle your life  and its demands – family life, work and study. Whether you are doing an online course, research, some vocational training or professional learning I am interested to know how you create space in your schedule to do all that you have to  get done. Do you outsource household tasks? Do you rely on extended family to help with child care? Do you and your partner play tag with home duties? Are your children expected to do more?

Perhaps this question is even more important. What do you say no to, so that you can keep on learning? Tell me, please! xx

The Monthly Pain

image: pexel.com

We need more information. We need facts. We need to understand our bodies better.

As a woman I know I have this amazing God given body that can bring life into the world. But there are times I feel my body is letting me down, plagued with pain, cramping, discomfort and making me emotionally fragile. So how can this body be so fabulous when each month it is a struggle? I promised to write more on periods so I wanted to share this article with you.

Without doubt there needs to be more research, more information and knowledge about what happens to the female body through the course of her life. In the short piece ‘BLOODY PAIN: Period pain can be “almost as bad as a heart attack. Why aren’t we researching how to treat it?‘ Olivia Goldhill shares her experiences of period related pain and some expert opinions.  John Guillebaud says:

 “Men don’t get it and it hasn’t been given the centrality it should have. I do believe it’s something that should be taken care of, like anything else in medicine.”

It is an interesting read and it has renewed my commitment to share all of the wonderful details of the female body with my girls. Knowledge is power.

Evernote Crush

Evernote. You may be a convert already but I am only now finding the time to ‘play’ with this little app.  And I think it could potentially change my life. It will challenge my habit of collecting moleskins and beautiful journals. It will stop me writing in several journals at once. It may help me to stay on track with a whole range of documents, ideas and administration. It will allow me to illustrate ideas as they come, to track the flow of new thoughts, creative projects and memos. And these lovely jottings will be synced across my devices.

So I see you may still be unsure. In the last week I have used Evernote to:

• Collate research notes
• List blogging ideas
• Clip important documents from the web
• Annotate a photo – with Skitch
• Copy and paste inspirational quotes
• Note important websites to visit
• Store important receipts
• Journal my ideas
• Make shopping and to do lists

I have a long way to go. I need to use it each day for a week to get a real run on its full potential. Sacha Chua’s  is inspiring in how she used Evernote for Visible Thinking. She uses Sketchbooks to illustrate what she learns and helps people engage with Visible Thinking. Evernote is her vehicle. Her Vodcast makes Evernote look so simple and the obvious way forward for any creative. Enjoy!