This blog was co-written in 5 minutes by members of Catalyst’s support and training circle. Together we run 6 support initiatives on behalf of Catalyst. — Tools used: Google Forms, Medium Time to create content: 5 minute activity during Monday’s circle meeting, inputting into a Google form Time to format and publish: 15 minutes, using Medium Test Drive Tools By Ab Brightman What I’m excited about

A weeknote that’s more about my work breaks and less about the work I did. 2/3 is written by me. Can you guess which 1/3 is written by ChatGPT? — This week has felt like Spring at last. Because of this I’ve spent most of my breaks walking outside. It makes me more likely to take breaks. Despite being better at taking breaks this week I’ve still put in over 6 hours of effort per day (that’s client work time…

When I need a quick title, this one never fails: “The Good, the Bad and the [fill in the blank]”. — This week started gently. I liked that. I’d forgotten what its like to have a quiet couple of days. Then it got busy. I like busy too but I’m still feeling a bit like I’m spread too thin. …

This is about rocks: micro, small and large ones. — Back in 2010 I read David Allen’s Getting Things Done. It changed my approach to how I organised my work. Out went the piles of stuff and sea of scribbled notes. In came a proper list and a commitment to doing, tiny tasks immediately and calendaring any task with a…

This working week has been so structured that I’m rebelling against it and writing these weeknotes without a structure. Without a structure means as a stream of consciousness. I don’t usually do this. Usually I recommend having a structure. So its an experiment…. When it seems like not much happened its because you can’t remember all the things that did Not a lot happened on Monday, at…

How we’re doing it. Avoiding the easy title ‘whats in a name’. #notaweeknote #notyetconfirmed — Last week Kat and I both wrote independently that we’d reopened the box on renaming Service Recipes. This week we may have actually done it. The problem with the name ‘Service Recipes’ Service Recipes is a website that shares guides to how to do digital things, from charities who have done them and the tools and software…

6 insights from 71 total, gained from usability testing with 5 new site users. — Two weeks ago we tested a load of changes we were making to the Service Recipes website. This post explains: why we tested again how we tested 6 key insights, with a few others woven in Summary Testing led to 71 total insights, 6 do-now design tweaks, 9 visual design improvement…

Thumbs up. Legs up. Lets be happy. — This week has been one of those where work has flowed. Where the sun has shone and the words have tumbled freely onto the page. And where every conversation has been generative and enjoyable. Here’s highlights. Changing names to something more boring Last week I explained how we reopened the box about renaming Service Recipes. The…

A simple story about multi-tasking in a week of attempted mono-tasking. — Last weekend the mudflap nearly fell off my van. Where it joined the chassis rail had rusted through. On Sunday I treated the rust and made a new bracket. But I ran out of time to bolt it together, then paint and wax it. …