What Does the Data Say?
I recently took on an assignment writing about institutional research (IR) in K-12 independent schools. IR in that setting is a type of data analysis, and can be used in many of the same ways businesses are now using data to inform decision-making. From admissions and fundraising to student life and student wellness to diversity equity and inclusion, IR can help schools measure the impact of programs, better understand trends and how to effect them, and even specific elements of teaching and learning. One thing I didn’t expect in...
read moreResisting the Urge to Panic
One of the things about freelancing that people complain about is the “feast or famine cycle.” It seems like you’re either covered in work, getting up early and staying up late, struggling to meet all the deadlines or you’ve only got an hour or two of work to fill each day. There are plenty of strategies to beat the feast or famine cycle, but it’s still likely to happen now and again to everyone. This morning, I got up, did a short yoga practice and came to my desk ready to get the work done. But there...
read moreList Making Mania
For the last couple of weeks, maybe longer, my anxiety has been running amok. Anxiety is a sneaky beast and doesn’t always show up as heart palpitations and shaking. Sometimes it’s the feeling of being behind on everything, or a sense of impending doom, or even thoughts about how there’s no possibility you can do it all, for whatever value of “all” you want to consider. The serenity of April didn’t extend to my brain As I reviewed the month of April during my not-quite-really-a-vacation last week, I began...
read moreLosing Connections, Again
A lilac bloom because it’s spring and flowers are joy People make fun of Google+ all the time, even now, years later. But, for me G+ was the home of a community that became really important in my life. When Google pulled the plug on Plus, our community was scattered—despite some truly concerted and genuine efforts to keep it together. “I’ll go wherever everyone else ends up,” more than one of the 70 or so people in the group said. And we tried. We really tried. We tested Reddit, Discord, TapaTalk, MeWe, and I...
read moreChallenges, Barriers, and Finding a Path Around Them
How many times have you decided to do a thing, figured out the steps you need to take to do it, then berated yourself for not getting it done? Here’s an example: Improving nutrition. For years, I would decide to “eat better” then really struggle to do so. The soundtrack in my brain was pretty ugly. I wasn’t eating well because I was lazy, didn’t really care, etc. In order to change my dietary habits, I had to break the process down into steps: making a menu, listing the items necessary for the menu, shopping,...
read moreIdeation
IMG_3176Download One of my strengths as a writer is being able to think up lots of ideas—story ideas, ideas on how to tell a story, ideas on how to find new clients, ideas about running a business. Ideas are usually the easiest part of the process. Even though I like brainstorming and coming up with ideas, I don’t usually enjoy pitching story ideas to publications. One reason is that it takes a ton of time, and it’s unpaid time. Another is that publications aren’t great about responding an uncomfortable percentage of the...
read moreMy Plan Is My Map
Do you participate in business planning? Does your plan sit in an ignored folder all year? This post details my planning process and it’s long. I’d love to know if you have a similar planning process! I’ve always been a planner. Usually, the urge to start making lists and considering goals and looking at the previous year starts in December, but this year it came a little early, and deserves a bit more thought. In 2020, I tossed the plan out in March and decided to simply concentrate on survival and self-care. At the end of...
read moreNourishment
I’ve been thinking about the word nourish lately. What it means when it comes to nutrition, creativity, self-care, business, and even lead generation. I guess this time of year is the time when I reflect on my goals in every area and what’s working and what’s not. I used to divide my task list each day into sections: Work, Self, and Home. It helped me remember that the tasks I did to take care of my household were important, and not just impediments to running my business. The Self section came after that, when it became...
read moreSeasonal Changes
Every spring, and again every fall, I find myself feeling a bit lost. I skip workouts, or ignore my weekend to-do lists, and feel generally either frantic (usually in the spring) or discontented (in the fall). I’ve come to realize that my schedule needs to be readjusted seasonally. In the spring and summer, most of my spare time is spent outside, either in my flower garden or my family’s big vegetable garden. The weekends are filled with cookouts, trips to the creek, boat outings, free concerts, camping, parties, and other outside...
read moreStop Dithering and DO Something
In most of my life, that’s been the key: just picking a direction and going. The hardest part, as the cliché says, is getting started. Yesterday, I waffled back and forth about blocking here, on my professional site, where I invite prospective clients to make sure I’m real and to look at my portfolio. I want to blog about topics unrelated to content marketing, so is this really the best place for that? Also, I’m planning an overhaul that could include a major redesign, so it seems like a good time to move the blog if...
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