A year in week-notes
For the past year and a bit i have been writing about my week. Or ‘week-noting’ as its called in the biz.
52 weeks. 52 weeknotes.
Its been a journey full of ups and downs so lets talk about it!
So…what did i learn?
That is a good question. And objectively a hard one to answer.
A year is a long time and there is a lot i learnt in that time so bringing that all under the umbrella of these weeknotes is quite a challenge
One thing that really stuck out to me was that some weeknotes the theme guided the notes and sometimes the notes guided the theme. It’s a nice balance to keep things fresh.
Its about balancing all the elements just like in ‘Avatar the last Airbender’
Some of the key things that have really stuck with me are:
1. There is ALWAYS something to talk about.
You might think that nothing happened or its been a bland boring week but you just need to dig deeper then what you see on the surface.
What was the underlying theme? Did you have to influence a lot of people? Inspire them? Was everything all about stats and data?
These are all things to talk about!
2. You don’t need to be perfect on the 1st one
Writing is a Muscle you just need to stretch and that’s what I have been doing for the past year and a bit. I have improved so much since my initial weeknotes (reading them back made me cringe slightly) so for anyone who hasn’t taken the weeknote plunge or thinks they can’t write a blog or a case study.
You 100% can, its easier then it sounds.
Your skills aren’t gonna improve if you just leave them to collect dust!
Guess that’s an overall lesson really?
If you want to improve at something or even learn something for the first time you need to take that step.
The first step will be the hardest and you might not be at the skill level you want to be but you will get there!
3. Your not always writing for others
This may seem obvious to some and hard to grasp for others. When writing weeknotes or blogs its not always about who reads it.
Writing can inspire others and provoke thought but it can also be a journally device for yourself to talk through what’s on your mind.
Some weeks it would involve taking a look back and thinking..
What the “$%*!” did I do this week
Writing about it is a great tool for feeling more complete and competent in your work.
4. The amount of people reading or reacting doesn't matter
Who cares if one week i got 50 reads and the next i got 9? It did give me sleepless nights but that's not the point I'm trying to make!
It should never be about who is reading it and should be about sharing your voice.
I didn't do the challenge to get attention or any sort of self righteousness. I did it for me. I wanted to challenge myself and when i started this (deep into the pandemic) i needed a distraction and something to focus my creative energy.
Focus on you and what you want to say. Not on what others want to read.
Developing habits
Throughout this entire process i have been getting into the rhythm of writing every week so that through the entire week i will be thinking “i need to write about this” or “this would be a great theme”. Even thinking of ideas when watching tv shows or playing video games.
I’m so happy with that fact that I can pick any subject and just write an informative blog or article about it.
My skills have improved so much that when I was writing award submissions last month it was 10x easier than if I had done it the year before. And I even got complimented on how my writing came across from people with a professional comms background!
If you look back you can see that as well as my writing improving I have also gone from low level concepts and ideas to actually writing full essays and blogs around subjects and passions.
I like to think that i kept up that creative energy throughout the year. There were highs and lows but when isn't there?
Everyone will have a favourite or one that resonated the most with them. Lots won’t have read them all, some might have dropped in and out.
But that's not important. If you have been a part of this journey in anyway, whether that is reading the weeknotes every week, jumping in when you see a subject you like, or just wanting to hear my musical ones.
I just want to say thank you. Your support means everything and i wouldn't have been able to keep going with this without you.
What's next for me?
This is something i have been thinking about myself for the past few weeks and I'm not really sure i have the answer.
- I still have 30 ideas listed down that I didn't get around to doing so I could try and extend to 2 years and do a 104 week challenge?
- I partly feel like i may have overstayed my welcome and i might be better suited supporting others to start writing
- I also feel like it might be good to take a break for a few weeks to see how i feel after that?
hmmm…How about all three?
I'm going to take a break through March and will come back full force again in April. I will also try to encourage others to start writing just like the fabulous Delia has.
One last thing…..
I couldn't write about my year in weeknotes without a call to action could I!
So if you are at all questioning if you should start writing:
Just by writing anything you are already in the top 10% because not many people actually start writing they all just have the “maybe i should start blogging/week noting” thought but don't action it.
Starting with something that is ‘just okay’ is good. Because it’s a start, it means you can improve and grow when you get more consistent with your writing.
If your first piece of writing is the best thing you will ever do then where do you go from there?
Put your virtual pen to paper and just write see where it takes you.
For my weeknotes some concepts wrote themselves, sometimes what happened in the week dictated the weeknotes and often I was inspired by a show I watched or an article I read or a game I was playing.
When I first started I really had to think and concentrate about what I wanted to say and now it’s just habit. I'm pretty sure if someone challenged me to write a cabbage notes i could pull something together!
I can write about anything I want and know what formats work best for me because I have practised for over a year and that has created this confidence.
And practice makes perfect!
So get out there, write about what your thinking, feeling, what you liked what you didn't, concerns about climate change, how to inspire leadership…
Start your writing journey and you won’t look back.
Sam out.
P.S if anyone would like any help/support starting writing let me know and i will help you in any way I can :)
