ia play

the good life in a digital age

an appraisal for me

We do annual appraisals at work. They help book-end a year, create a framework for reflecting and making plans. I’m glad we do them but there are inevitably a compromise, a negiotiated contract between boss and employee. I don’t feel morally and emotionally held to the resulting document, just professionally obligated.

Every year there will be stuff on there that my boss needs me to do but isn’t something I get that bothered about. And there’ll be really big things I want to get done that year that won’t feature, either because they are not about work at all, not things my boss is supportive of, or just because there wasn’t space.

So I thought I’d do another one this year. All for me.

I’m not drawing distinctions between my main job, other paid work and general endeavours. In the world of my appraisal there is no such thing as work-life balance, there’s just lots of stuff I want to get done.

Learn

Write

  • write a little every day
  • write for a new publication (by June)
  • select and attend some editorial training (by May)

Talk

  • talk to a family member every week
  • correspond with at least one person from event I attend
  • comment on a blog I read at least once a week

Go

  • visit 4 new places in the UK (by June)
  • at least one new place a month in London
  • the library once a month

Save

  • end my last magazine subscription (by Jul)
  • buy a sheep for the freezer (by Sep)
  • quit buying coffee at work (by Aug)
  • drop a zone from my travelcard (by May)

Grow

  • buy blackcurrant bushes and plant them (by Feb)
  • propagate at least 5 of the following: yellow pansies, lamium, sedums, vinca, winter jasmine, dogwood, mallow, red honeysuckle, yellow honeysuckle, golden hops (by May)

Eat

  • breakfast at least 6 days a week
  • at least one dish each of foraged elderflower, wild garlic, blackberries and mushrooms

Teach

  • give 1 presentation to university students (by Jun)
  • propose an IA Summit workshop or panel (by Dec)
  • register as an IAI mentor (by Sep)
  • write something each week aimed at people learning IA

Make

  • one item of clothing (by Dec)
  • muffins, pita and roti (by Sep)
  • at least one handmade Xmas present for everyone (by Dec)
  • a cake or biscuits every week (but not cheesecake every week)
  • my deer mosaic (by Sep)

Written by Karen

June 28th, 2008 at 10:48 am

Posted in gtd