This week’s been busy as heck, but really good for the brain. I love being busy, I love being inspired by stories and I love doing loads of things in a short space of time. I want a fast-moving life, and this week has defo been that!

Monday

I mentioned last week how I became obsessed with a four-hour podcast on Starbucks… I’ve now turned to Costco. The story of Charlie Munger and others is incredibly inspiring to me. Whilst I lived in America, I heard stories about how well they treat their workers, especially around wages and retention.

I’ve let a lot slide recently. I do make lists, but not my weekly lists. I haven’t done much for my own “brand”, I have Cohord to sign up to (if you don’t know, get in touch with Mark Thomas on LinkedIn), and I need to keep on top of LinkedIn or website blog posts, which I haven’t. But something I’m sure will happen to jolt me again! I tend to work in clutches when writing, and I’ve enjoyed the chats around my posts, so I’ll defo keep doing it.

Tuesday

I think I must let it be known at this point: I play Football Manager 2024. Like… at this point it’s potentially an addiction. The new one didn’t land at all with me, I just didn’t like the extra faff you have to do. ‘24 just feels more simple with the additional extras. Hard to describe, as we all know it’s just a spreadsheet with graphics. BUT I recently took over Rangers and it’s been one of my favourite playing experiences. Not work related, not anything related, but I am sure you are delighted to know.

On a work note, I presented designs today. I am so used to presenting flat screens again via Figma, it’s crazy how this area of design has potentially taken a step back. YES, I could produce a prototype in Figma, but for what means? Statics seem to do the job so well. I find code is better when handing over to devs AND users. Users will use the thing, sure, but they also understand the spoken word of the thing too. Figma prototypes are just a little on the shit side and I also find them more work to actually do than code!

Value vs effort and all that. I do think we should look into these design tools again, they feel so stale. Those who are amazed by them tend to be the ones who do not code, which is fine, but us lot that do… I dunno. Not a snobby take, just more of a “design is wonky sometimes” take.

I have a meeting tomorrow with Bobbin’s ad agency, so a lot of prepping during the darker hours of the day. I want to be on top of AOV, visits per day and so on. This way I can talk about things I actually understand, and I’ve done so much work on that site it’s crazy. And yes… I did code in Liquid. Took me back!

Wednesday

Meeting with the ads agency today. I went in prepped with questions and things I’d love to learn, and it was great. They are a super smart, proactive bunch and “on it”. They calmed our fears (welcome to being a business owner…), planned the future, and I realised they work similarly to how I work best: prepping for quarters, making lists of shit to do and just, in general, being good at ideation and being clear on “this data can mean this” in normal human talk.

They are defo folks I’d drink a beer/coffee with.

I am also managing an email team who are concentrating on Klaviyo, which is great tbh. It’s wonderful to be in that level of leadership again and something I really enjoy doing. They are flourishing (nothing to do with me), and the output is crazy high-level and consistent!

Thursday

Mortgage pay day… Always a reminder when it’s the 1st of the month. I always forget to run my personal bank account properly, so the reminder is always there to put god-damn money into my bank!

Today includes a lot of meetings. Most days seem quite heavy on meetings at the moment, just tons of planning, which is fine, but I am also wary of knowing I have 90 days left on the project, so managing two projects with two stakeholders is key. Value vs effort, including expectations.

Outside of the 9-5, it’s also Bobbin and Bumble launch prep. Whilst we haven’t set a big date for launching the Uppy cushions, I need to update things like PDPs (Product Detail Pages), navigation, imagery and just general eyes on the product stuff. But I’m also on top of on-page optimisation around SEO, what are people searching for, what are the long-tail keywords, etc.

It’s key now that we find clues in the data to help us grow, especially around the organic area, as that is often “free” traffic and also I f’ing love this part!

Friday

Sad times for the team, a huge part of the product side is leaving, and it’s been a blast working alongside him. I’ve actually made a good friend there; he’s a very good lad, huge potential and a proper leader in the Product Owner/Manager role. He’s made some really strong decisions, and all with the user and business in mind. It’s been so refreshing to work with someone with clear goals and who is so in check with users through daily conversations and listening and somehow… turning feedback into good, solid user needs and business requirements and marrying the two together. Big loss for the team but a huge gain for the team he is joining!

I am also delighted to know he’s buying a Switch 2; this means I’ll be able to absolutely smash him at all types of games… or lose terribly.

The bad side of contracting struck today as well. A friend who had signed a contract and had a start date on Monday suddenly found out at 5:20pm on Friday that it’s not happening, with no other “we expect it to start on…” or anything else. He’s left hanging terribly, and that just feels wrong. There is a contracting vibe where we are expected to accept “oh well, that’s just contracting life”, when in reality it’s very tough to work like this and anxiety-inducing. He’ll be fine, he’s one of the best out there, but he’s now got to survive the weekend with overthinking, panic about work and money and with no one replying to emails to find out what is actually happening. It’s certainly a life choice, this contracting!

Viewing of the week

I’ve got two, as I am feeling generous this week! One is a little on the geeky side, the other is on the murderous side…

First one is Can You Live an Average Life in Skyrim?. This is such an interesting video for me, unsure why, but the world of Skyrim is just so lovely, and (sometimes… and I’m stressing sometimes) cosy, and this feels like an extension of that. The game is older than my children but still feels and looks good.

The second is a Netflix docu, so you know it’s potentially going to be good… The Widower: ‘Til Death Do Us Part. I won’t link in case of spoilers but both Emma and I gasped and said, “surely not”.

Roll on next week! ✌️