Week notes 16–20th January

I’m writing these week's notes feeling a lot lighter than previous weeks, this is the first week where I’ve started to feel settled. I was wondering what the turning point was and I think it’s a combination of things — some of which I’ll explore below but I’m feeling quite energized and excited about work again which is a great place to be.

A smiley photo of me wearing a Torchbox hoodie

Some thoughts from this week

1. I had a good honest conversation with my coach on Monday which resulted in some reflections on both sides. He shared a thought around the “pebbles taking care of themselves” i.e. don’t sweat the small stuff and vocalizing some of what was in my mind helped put things into perspective for me
2. I received some Torchbox swag in the post — including postcards on our values. I also had a good session this week with some of the other new starters at Torchbox about values which was good. The value that particularly stood out for me was “Have fun” it was a timely reminder to not take things too seriously which I’m prone to doing
3. I’ve enjoyed being able to go into an office, although I’ve spent some time in meeting rooms on Zoom calls — I’ve loved taking a walk around the grounds and getting to know my colleagues a little better. I love how people prioritize coming together for cake and food. Very rarely is someone still at their desk or caught on a call when it comes to sharing food together (impressive stuff)
4. We’re hiring for a number of roles at the moment. Torchbox has a tea-bot that pairs people in the company for a remote cuppa, this week I was paired with Naomi (Talent Manager at Torchbox) and we had a chat about hiring and attracting talent. I’m currently looking for a Senior Delivery Manager to join the team and I’d love to speak to anyone who is debating applying. I’m also chuffed to see the job listed on Jobs with Pride, shout out to the awesome Jess!
5. I’m managing two big discovery projects at the moment, my favorite project phase, so I’m in my element at the moment, however, I did count 11 meetings on Tuesday so I’m definitely looking forward to having more time to work through my to-do list next week and spend a bit less time on Zoom.

Overall a really positive week. In other news, I’ve really been enjoying the Apple TV series called Little America this week.