Weeknotes 001
It’s time for a new season of weeknotes. Last time I attempted this was three years ago, when I’d changed jobs and was trying to figure out exactly what I had done, jumping from in-house design to a cool, impactful, well-renowned consultancy (Rest in peace, Futuregov). Now I find myself at the end of that role, at what later became TPXimpact, and about to embark on a new journey, exploiting my own labour for a change.
So these weeknotes aren’t intended to be a record of what’s ending – although I’m sure I’ll want to pay tribute to the many, many talented people I’ve had the pleasure of working with over the last three years – but a record of new beginnings; the challenges and lessons learned as I design a business from scratch.
So what have I been doing?
I’ve embraced my inner delivery manager and set up a Kanban board in Notion for everything that needs to be done between now and the 1st November, which is the official business launch day.
I’ve been reading an awful lot, thanks to Nina and others who’ve recommended books.
I’ve been hitting up friends and various connections for tips over coffee. I’ve still got a few more brains to pick over the next few weeks, scheduling calls is my least favourite activity, but actually having the calls has been a complete pleasure. Thank you to everyone I’ve spoken to so far for your patience and generosity.
I did a course - I happened upon Emma Parnell’s fantastic freelance course and not only did they have space for me, the cohort kicked off in September, so the timing couldn’t have been better. It was a great intro to freelance design and answered quite a few questions I had, and a few I didn’t.
I’ve found an accountant, thanks to two recommendations and they’ve helped me register a limited company. It’s a real thing! (more on that later).
I’ve been responding to enquiries. This was the biggest shock, the last thing I expected based on a single announcement on linkedIn was actual business enquiries. I’m already finding it difficult to talk about money, but everything I’ve read says it comes with time, so I’m reminding myself to take the opportunity to practise. I’ve put together a few estimates and had some promising conversations about future projects.
I’m working with a coach. It’s been a massive help to have someone to think with, ask difficult questions and hold me to account. Kelly and I had started before I knew my career path was about to change, and she pivoted the sessions to account for the new situation. I can’t recommend coaching enough, especially with Kelly, and if she has availability tell her I sent you :)
In the interest of getting back in front of other humans (Not networking but something close to it) I went to a local tech meetup event this week: Shropgeek’s AI Takeover, offering 5 curated talks centred around AI. The event was well hosted, had a really friendly atmosphere, and it was great to be out and see some old friends and familiar faces in Shrewsbury’s small tech scene, and I’ll definitely be at the next one.
Unfortunately the subject matter left me cold. So much of the discourse around AI seems to be driven by the existence of the tech, rather than the need for it, and most of the talks were the pitched similarly – that AI is new and exciting and can do lots of things. It felt like everyone needed to take a minute to ask themselves ‘why’ a few times, be a bit more human, or problem centred.
It was also a bit disappointing that not one person talked about the climate impact of this new tech. In 2024, as we witness the more and more the impacts of climate change , any conversation about return on investment of the deployment of AI tech, or any tech really, should factor in carbon or it’s not, in my view, a true calculation.
Watching
After a TV-free summer (thanks to a broken TV) we’ve got a lot of catching up to do. We started this week with Season Four of Slow Horses, which continues to be the right mix of thrilling, well written and tongue in cheek, properly good TV.
We also picked up where we left off with Season Four of Only Murders in the Building which we’re watching with the kids. I’m happy they’ve managed to reach four seasons without the format feeling too repetitive - the storyline this season is genuinely exciting and based around a character you’re likely to care about.
Listening
I don’t usually jump at unplugged albums, which is why it took me 3 years to have a proper listen to The Smith Street Band’s Unplugged in Wombat State Forest. I’ve had it on rotation this week and it’s fantastic. You don’t have to be a fan of Aussie guitar music but it helps.
Reading
Apart from immersing myself in every bit of ‘how to start a business’ articles I can get by hands on - which is helping alleviate the stress of how the hell I’ll pay the mortgage after this month - I haven’t been prioritising reading for pleasure too much, but I’m midway through book one of Children of Time. A deep and chunky sci-fi about terraforming, told partially through the POV of one of the species inhabiting a planet being terraformed. It’s not a gripping page turner but I don’t tend to regret carving out half an hour to spend some time with it when I can. I’ve attempted and given up on some properly shoddy sci-fi books recently, but thankfully this is not one of them