Hello,
Yesterday I moved into a new office space. I’ve gone for a glow-up and moved into a private office inside a co-working space. Currently very happy with this decision as it meant I could (definitely) justify buying the Mustard locker I’ve been coveting for about three years…
(Other special mentions to: unkillable plant [and helpful advice] from the lovely Caz at Plant Space in Prahran, magnets are Wordbits, artwork on the door is a print from Luke John Matthew Arnold, an artist who’s work I very much enjoy, cushion is from the good people at Hommey, and both of the riso prints on the wall I picked up from Duplikat studio whilst I was in London.)
Other than any excuse for interiors shopping, I made the decision to move into an office for a couple of reasons;
The dedicated desk I had at my previous co-working space wasn’t really working for me. I loved the people but I was constantly bouncing around trying to find an (echoey) meeting room to do calls from.
I also couldn’t reasonably run virtual sessions from that space due to the meeting room set up.
Working from home is great for many many reasons, and I had a good set up there, but I love working around other people.
I’m planning to do a bit more collaborative work this year, so this gives a flexible base for this to happen.
Frankly, I really want to wear some different clothes sometimes, and leaving the house is an excellent and necessary reason for this.
Judging by LinkedIn, there’s still a depressingly binary argument happening between ‘team office’ and ‘team WFH’.
As with most things, the answer is somewhere in the middle AND it’s a constant experiment to tweak and play with. I’m looking forward to resetting and reimagining my own ways of working over the next few months.
Other than new offices, here’s some things I’ve enjoyed since we last spoke (mostly featuring a lot of podcasts I listened to whilst I was on my reading/thinking week last week):
Podcast - Brave New Work: as a nice segue from the above, I am *obsessed* with this podcast, why did nobody tell me about this before!? If you want some seriously provocative thoughts about how radically different ways of working, this is your podcast. I’m also reading the book at the moment (with the same name), which I’ll be talking about very soon on my own podcast. Enjoy on Spotify or Apple.
Podcast - Black Business with Dixie Crawford: This is a new podcast from the amazing Dixie Crawford; Barkindji Woman and founder of Aboriginal Engagement Consultancy Nganya. In it she talks to leaders making positive, robust change with First Nation people and communities. The conversations are both engaging and challenging, and I went away with some new cultural understanding, and more questions to think about in my own business, and when working with clients. Dig in on Spotify or Apple.
Podcast - Diary of a CEO ft Rory Sutherland: I’ve sent this podcast to about four different people over the last week, it is brilliant. I love the reframing Rory does of marketing perspectives (eg rather than how to make something faster, how do you make it more enjoyable?) and the way he brings real polymath thinking to problems and scenarios. Such an enjoyable conversation. (H/T to my friend Mark who recommended this episode after he put it on to fall asleep to, but ended up staying awake even longer because it was so good). Don’t listen at bedtime, but do listen on Spotify or Apple.
Podcast - Fed Up: You probably know by now how much I love Maintenance Phase and their ability to firmly put #inthebin all the junk around “wellness” / health fads / diet culture, so I was excited to see this new podcast about an influencer diet trend that ended up in a huge legal issue. I’m only one episode in but so far it sounds like it’s going to be a cross between Maintenance Phase and Inventing Anna. And I am 100% here for that combination. Get your fill on Spotify or Apple.
Event - Mentor Walks: I went to Mentor Walk for the first time in a while to get some new input to a business challenge I’ve been a bit stuck on. The breadth of experience in the mentors is so impressive, and I love meeting all the women and hearing what other mentees are thinking about / pondering. It’s always such an uplifting event and well worth checking out.
What have you been reading/listening/watching/enjoying recently? Pop a comment to this post, hit reply, or just tap the little heart button if you liked something you read.
Waving from my new work pad,
Steph
PS. To borrow from Austin Kleon (and everyone else who borrows this from Austin Kleon), this newsletter and the podcast are 'free but not cheap'. You can support their ongoing creation by buying me a coffee as a one off 'thank you', or leaving giving the podcast a (five 😉) star rating on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. Thanks!
My new Kindle - a review
ICYMI, my trusty old Kindle died a few weeks ago, and I sadly had to replace it with a new one. I went for the classic version because it’s a little smaller for my smol hands, and you can turn the backlight off (it was unclear if that was possible on the Paperwhite). Plus, frankly I don’t need all the bells and whistles of the Paperwhite. I want fireworks and jazzy things on all my other tech, but I want my Kindle to be as low key as possible.
Here’s what I like about it
Ok ok, despite being a hardcore backlight hater, I have turned the backlight on (just to level 1) on more than one occasion. So there, fine, I said it. A backlight on a Kindle is quite useful.
Highlighting quotes/ideas on the touchscreen is sooooo much quicker and easier than on the older version, where there were a myriad of buttons to click.
There’s a setting where you can set the ‘hold’ screen of the Kindle to be an image of the cover of the book you’re currently reading. I enjoy this a lot.
Here’s what I don’t (/yet)
The touchscreen has some downsides; it’s really easy to accidentally change page if you pick the Kindle up and touch the screen, which is a bit annoying.
The touchscreen is also still rrrrrreally slow on the (luckily few) occasions you need to type anything into keyboard (eg wifi passwords). Given how instant touchscreen technology is on almost anything else, this feels pretty clunky.
Bookmarking a page has an extra click than it needs to. I bookmark a lot and have a little eye-roll each time.
On the old Kindle, there was a ‘next page’ button on both the left and right hand side of the device. On the new version, tapping the left/right side takes you back/forward a page, respectively. It’s better skeuomorphism, but it’s less convenient if you’re reading with one hand and have to try and swipe instead of a simple tap to change page.
It’s harder to see how much is really left in the book and upcoming chapter or section markers, which were nice and clear in the old model. Many Kindle books are wildly inaccurate in their % completion information (most books finish somewhere around the 80-85% mark), but you can’t tell that in this version.
The verdict
Overall, I’m happier than I thought I would be with the new Kindle, but I’m glad I didn’t pay almost twice as much for the Paperwhite. Call me old fashioned, but despite the upgrades, I’d still take the old version I reckon.
Oh yes, Brave New Work is killer! Oops, sorry for not recommending it. I'll stop assuming you can read my mind, HAHAHA. LOVE THE LOCKER.