There’s something no-one told me about life as a Freelance Planner. You need to be a bit of a detective. You’d be amazed how often I turn up at an agency to find that the person who booked me to come in and work on Client X isn’t there and has left no instructions for … Continue reading let’s play Hunt the Brief
Category: Work
Adventures in people (and scenery) watching
I’ve got a real soft spot for train travel. A few hours of staring at the scenery flashing by is guaranteed to put me back on an even keel. Especially if the view is courtesy of Cross Country or East Coast trains (used to be GNER) just south of Edinburgh where East Coast means exactly that: … Continue reading Adventures in people (and scenery) watching
Are you playing the game without knowing what the prize is?
Northern Planner posted today about work-life conflict. Can you be brilliant and awesome at something work-related while still having an actual life outside work? As he reasons in his post, ‘you can't do interesting work if you don't do interesting things’ (which to me is the whole point of the Interesting Un-Conferences). A high profile … Continue reading Are you playing the game without knowing what the prize is?
Does your work life have an OFF switch?
Since I got into this whole working-for-myself lark, the line between work and leisure has got rather blurred. I now have the flexibility to, say, take Friday off to go and watch a horse show, then catch up with my invoicing on Saturday evening. The thing that worries me is that when I send out … Continue reading Does your work life have an OFF switch?
When I rule the world:
All marketing services companies and clients will stop work at 4pm every Wednesday to allow for a mid-week breather. All marketing trade magazines will include a ‘name and shame’ section citing bad pitch practice and unreasonable client demands. There will be a separate section in all the above magazines called ‘whoever thought that was a … Continue reading When I rule the world:
Closing a door but hopefully opening some windows
My current agency have decided that they can manage perfectly well without an Account Planner in the future. So I’m on the lookout for freelance or permanent Planning type roles in the Yorkshire area. If you’re outside Yorkshire, need some Planning support and don’t mind it being mostly done remotely, I’d also love to hear … Continue reading Closing a door but hopefully opening some windows
the sun is shining- time to relocate that meeting
Summer is here and the annual exodus to the office’s lovely garden is in full swing. Brainstorms, analysis sessions and even the odd client meeting are all being relocated outside. We haven’t quite reached a capacity crisis of towels-on-sun-loungers level yet, but it’s only a matter of time...
work/work balance
I’ve been thinking recently about balance. My normal stance on this subject is about trying not to compromise too much in life generally and very big on achieving work/life balance (which I’ve blogged about before here and here). I now find myself wondering how you can find balance in your job itself (whether or not you … Continue reading work/work balance
Choices, choices
by garlandcannon on flickr, CC applies This job, this career, this industry – it’s all about making choices: choose to stay where you are and see what happens, or go for an interview when the recruiter phones choose to live in the sticks, with fresh air, affordable accommodation and family nearby or upsticks to London … Continue reading Choices, choices
Snow need to panic
If nothing else, this country is good at adversity. We know exactly what to do – PANIC! Admittedly, its rather cold and snowy at the moment (snowfall on 20 out of the last 23 days round here and minus 10 last night). But we Brits really know how to make a drama out of a … Continue reading Snow need to panic