Blog Posts

The Normal of Now.

11/8/2020

I am sure most of you wish, like I do, that life could go back to normal, the way we were used to.

But this moment of ours, with social distancing, wearing facemasks and constantly washing our hands, well, this is now normal.

For now.

But then, hopefully soon, there will be another normal. With less Covid to worry about.

Stay positive.

This new normal will pass. (It will, it will, it will....)

A little bit of motivation

12/6/2020

It’s been some really strange months... But finally, a feeling of hope has arrived.

I still feel a bit slow to get going, though. So I dug out this motivational ‘saying’ and I shall try to adhere to it from this week onwards: Plan the work. Work the plan.

We often over estimate how much we can get done in a day. But just as often, we under estimate how much we can get done in two years.

So make a plan and work it, one hour, day, week at a time.

A minute or so well spent. 15 selected jokes. And they’re not about COVID-19.

21/4/2020

This “new normal” will not last forever. But it is starting to feel like it is, with every day feeling the same. I am not being flippant about this crisis. At all. It is a total disaster... But I am bored now, of reading about how not to panic.

So instead of writing yet another blog post about how to focus and figuring out new ways of working and communicating, or anything useful at all, really, I have browsed the internet for jokes. I hope they make you smile. Or laugh, even.

Keep the dream alive: Hit the snooze button.

The human brain is a wonderful thing. It starts working the moment you are born, and never stops until you stand up to speak in public.

Team work is important. It helps to put the blame on someone else.

To blame it on someone else shows management potential.

To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism. To steal from many is research.

If you can stay calm while all around you is chaos, then you probably haven’t completely understood the situation.

The trouble with doing something right the first time is that nobody appreciates how difficult it was.

Do not argue with an idiot. He will drag you down to his level and beat you with experience.

If everything seems to be coming your way, you’re probably in the wrong lane.

Some of us learn from the mistakes of others. The rest of us have to be the others.

My friend says to me: “What rhymes with orange” I said: “No it doesn’t”.

If every day is a gift, I’d like a receipt for Monday. I want to exchange it for another Friday.

Parallel lines have so much in common. It’s a shame they’ll never meet.

If it wasn’t for the last minute, nothing would get done.

I also have a lot of jokes about unemployed people but none of them work...

That’s it. That’s 15 jokes. I hope you liked them but even if you didn’t, at least you got a short break.

Finding funny jokes on the internet was surprisingly difficult. So if you have a joke or two to share, please do! I would love to hear from you.

Creatives Against Covid-19

16/4/2020

Creatives Against Covid-19 is a campaign calling on the creative industry to design and donate inspiring posters of optimism. The posters will be sold online with all proceeds equally donated to ISPCC Childline and Women’s Aid.

This is my entry.

How to cope with the stress of COVID-19?

18/3/2020

Normal has left the building. The country. The planet!

The Coronavirus has changed just about everything we do and if you feel anxious or helpless the one thing to remember is to breathe.

To properly breathe.

You average about 25,000 breaths each day but most people use only a small part of their lung’s capacity. Shallow breathing deprives the body of oxygen which is essential for good health. The effects of inhalation and exhalation controls the workings of the heart and lungs, so by breathing properly your body’s energy production is working as it should and you will be able to cope with the extra stress that we are all going through at the moment.

The simplest way is to close your eyes and consciously take three or four really deep breaths with equally deep exhalations and notice how much tension you release.

To go deeper into it, you can cover one of your nostrils, inhale whilst counting to five, hold your breath and then breathe out whilst counting to five, another pause of breath, swap side of nostril and repeat. This is a simple version of Pranayama breathing and you will hopefully feel a bit more relaxed after doing this exercise for a few minutes.

Next time you feel the panic coming on, try to remember that your breathing controls how you feel, think and react.

I wish you all the best for this time ahead.

Stay safe. And stay sane.

My "Brand Trumpet" Manifesto for 2020.

31/1/2020

New year, new beginning.

8/1/2020

New year, new beginning - and this year it feels even more like a fresh start with it being 2020.

Like a lot of people I start the year with ambitious intentions. However, this year it might sound like the opposite as I am planning to work less. Well, less hours. The idea is that I will get as much done.

Some countries are already experimenting with a shorter workweek. A four-day working week is nearly standard in the Netherlands, and Finland’s new prime minister, Sanna Marin, was on the news recently backing a four-day working week also.

Both of these countries are just as efficient as any other, as far as I can tell. In fact, they might be even more productive. And in Norway, well they still do the five-day week but they only work about 33 hours a week with a minimum of 21 paid holiday days.

We have nine bank holidays in Ireland every year, that’s one Monday off every month or so (if you look at it optimistically). Some companies offer reduced hours on Fridays during the summer months. Here’s to making that a standard every week, every month.

That’s my 2020 plan. To switch off from lunchtime every Friday. Being my own boss I can of course do this whenever I want. But it is the self-discipline of not checking my e-mails late at night and at the weekends that I will find challenging.

I will be working towards a four-day working week. If we were all in on it we would become more productive. I am sure of it.

Happy new year!

Season Greetings

20/12/2019

Happy Christmas to you all - and best wishes for 2020.

Branding the Da Vinci Way.

4/12/2019

Refresh your brain!

28/11/2019

Winston Churchill, Albert Einstein and Salvador Dali were all great believers in the power nap.

And so am I;-)

A mid-afternoon nap of just 10 to 20 minutes will improve your alertness, creativity and performance. Anything longer, might “enslave” you with laziness for the rest of the afternoon. (Salvador Dali’s words, not mine.)

Because of the natural cycles of our circadian rhythms, we are at our most tired twice during a 24-hour period. For most of us the peak of sleepiness is in the middle of the night and in the middle of the afternoon. In other words, the dreaded mid-afternoon slump is part of human nature!

So rather than fighting it off with tea, coke or coffee, try a short nap to refresh your brain before taking on the afternoon.

How to Nap? Things you can do to relax:
Turn off your phone.
Set an alarm for half an hour so that that you know you won’t fall asleep for hours.
Set your napping space up with as little light as possible and use ear plugs to help tune out disruptions.
Keep warm with a blanket.
If you have the time you can try to read something relaxing (or boring!) for 10 minutes first.

I am still new at this and I do not manage to nod off as often as I’d like, depsite following the above tricks. It doesn’t really matter too much though, as the short break gives me energy regardless. Practise is key. Figuring out what works for you can take a while. Try to experiment with different times of the day and different nap lengths.

Napping at Work
Winston Churchill would take a two-hour nap every day at 5 p.m. He said this allowed him to get 1 1/2 days’ worth of work done every 24 hours. Google, Mercedes-Benz and NASA are all companies that believe in the power of napping. As the Vice President of Google, David Radcliffe says: No workplace is complete without a nap pod.

That nap pod can be any space, really. If you're self-employed you can use your sofa, as I do. A parked car or the office loo are both nap pods that friends of mine swear by.

And if your boss is not too happy about it? Well, if he or she needs to know you can always show this blog with my convincing argument that you work more efficiently afterwards!

Good luck and thanks for reading.

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The Normal of Now.

A little bit of motivation

A minute or so well spent. 15 selected jokes. And they’re not about COVID-19.

Creatives Against Covid-19

Creatives Against Covid-19 is a campaign calling on the creative industry to design and donate inspiring posters of optimism. The posters will be sold online with all proceeds equally donated to ISPCC Childline and Women’s Aid.

This is my entry.

How to cope with the stress of COVID-19?

My "Brand Trumpet" Manifesto for 2020.

New year, new beginning.

Season Greetings

Happy Christmas to you all - and best wishes for 2020.

Branding the Da Vinci Way.

Refresh your brain!

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Creatives Against Covid-19 is a campaign calling on the creative industry to design and donate inspiring posters of optimism. The posters will be sold online with all proceeds equally donated to ISPCC Childline and Women’s Aid.This is my entry.

Happy Christmas to you all - and best wishes for 2020.

Categories

Archives

Would you like to sign up to receive our monthly blog about branding and design?

Creatives Against Covid-19 is a campaign calling on the creative industry to design and donate inspiring posters of optimism. The posters will be sold online with all proceeds equally donated to ISPCC Childline and Women’s Aid.

This is my entry.