November weirdness - apparently both Clarinet Day AND Saxophone Day exist in November. (There now follows a slightly self-indulgent post - please forgive me). A well known route to writing social media posts is to check and see if there are any "relevant" awareness days coming up. Doing this, you quickly find that there are… Continue reading If music be…
Blogs
Talking and listening
"Well, it's clear to me that your son does NOT have a hearing problem. He has a listening problem." Probably a low point in my parenting career there. But I was reminded of it by a comment from a fellow climate scientist in the context of the COP26 being held in Glasgow this week. Talking… Continue reading Talking and listening
Information overload
I am famous in our house for being unable to cope with two many simultaneous audio inputs. How people can cope with TV, game on their phones and conversation at the same time I have no idea. I get overloaded with audio information about 2 devices ahead of anyone else. But it’s not just audio.… Continue reading Information overload
Balance, blend, whatever! A blog for Work-Life week 2021
In 2019 I wrote about work-life blend rather than work-life balance. I was moving towards recognising that flexibility and agility were important for me rather than a totally strict split. However, it was still pretty much work or everything else because working days and school days dictated certain patterns and separation. Wind forward 5 years… Continue reading Balance, blend, whatever! A blog for Work-Life week 2021
A Coachee’s Guide to… Metaphors
Metaphors can be a powerful tool in coaching. I know to some people that sounds a bit of a stretch from the solution focussed coaching they may be expecting, but our lives are full of metaphor so it makes sense that it would be useful in coaching too. Now metaphors are highly personal, but this… Continue reading A Coachee’s Guide to… Metaphors
A Coachee’s Guide to.. Finding your strengths
Although we often think about strengths in terms of skills and tasks or activities that you feel you are good at, the broader idea of Strengths, or Character Strengths, comes from Positive Psychology. They are described as “built in capacities for particular ways of thinking, feeling and behaving”. Identifying your relative strengths and weaknesses can… Continue reading A Coachee’s Guide to.. Finding your strengths
On life as a working parent.
Three things I often wanted my employer and colleagues to understand about me as a working parent: 1. By the time the official working day starts around 9am, I am likely to have been up since 6.30, getting children up and dressed and ready for school/nursery, dropping them off on an extended journey and then… Continue reading On life as a working parent.
On motivation, goals, and how they don’t always link the way you would expect.
Ellie outside on a tree-lined path in the rain, smiling to the camera This is the consequence of taking on a 25km, 16 km bridge walk - the Thames Bridges Trek. This isn't the day itself (which was sunny and to be honest a little too warm). This is today. 3 days later, in the… Continue reading On motivation, goals, and how they don’t always link the way you would expect.
What would you write to yourself?
"She manages to be a top quality student without being at all boring or a SWOT". Classic letter writing there from my undergraduate tutor to my prospective PhD supervisors. Today is World Letter Writing Day! What's been the most memorable letter you've received? The ones that stick with me are usually handwritten, and these days… Continue reading What would you write to yourself?
Post holiday struggles
This week has been hard. Last week we were in the west of Scotland, 8 miles down a single track road, surrounded by water, trees and hills. Yes, it was a little rainy, yes we did get lost on walks a few times and do some unnecessary hills, but there was a sense of space.… Continue reading Post holiday struggles
Ellie Highwood - Leadership, Career and Personal Development Coach 