Time is a flat circle, calendars are lies, and yet somehow it’s April and I’m still knee-deep in tasks I confidently told myself I’d wrap up in January. The to-do list has developed sentience and is now breeding in the wild. Meetings beget more meetings. Progress is measurable only by the faint glow of a Teams notification turning off.

So: not a week of breakthroughs, but of motion. Possibly even forward.

This week at work

A week of spinning plates rather than carving out any serious thinking time.

Bitsy jobs included planning workshops, writing and delivering a couple of presentations, and wrestling the year-end finances into something resembling order.

Had a great chat with an HR tech vendor about digital employee experience. Specifically, how platforms only deliver value if they’re actually aligned with processes and, wild idea, people. Training, culture, the human stuff. We’re exploring ways to work together, so watch this space.

Started digging into pre-work for a team alignment piece with a client. Everyone needs a say, but time is tight, so we’re walking the tightrope between inclusion and getting it done. So we’re having to be flexible and creative, while giving everyone confidence that we’re genuinely listening and can be trusted to be discreet.

A recent pitch didn’t land. New client, new sector—it was always a stretch, but still a bit of a sting after putting in the hours.

More positively, I had a fab chat with a founder about something new, interesting and intriguing. The thinking behind it really resonated, my brain’s fizzing with ideas, and I’m keen to get involved. But I need to find some clear headspace to give it the depth of thinking it deserves.

Also this week

Spent one more day in Bucharest and visited its crazy-large Parliament building.

Back home in Amsterdam, I found myself in Dam Square at the exact moment someone drove in and set themselves and their car on fire. What looked, from my brisk departure angle, like a terrorist incident. Flashbacks to growing up in London in the 80s and 90s. Suspicious bags, dodgy alarms, constant low-level anxiety. Ah, the nostalgia.

Did a lightning dash to London to catch up with a bunch of mates I’ve known since I was a teenager. Between us: Johannesburg, Singapore, Amsterdam, North London and several time zones’ worth of baggage. First time we’ve all been in the same place in years, and it was glorious.

My long-delayed turn at PowerPints—the PowerPoint comedy night—is finally next week. Slides are ready. Memory? Less so. Wish me luck.

If you’re local, come down to Boom Chicago on Sunday and heckle support. Tickets here.

Consuming

👩🏻‍💻 Internetting

New research from Centre for Cities shows how WFH has reshaped the capital’s pub trade. Thursdays are now the new Fridays, as seen in both pub takings and TfL passenger data.

London bucks the national trend. Elsewhere, post-work pints have vanished almost entirely. Commuters are also spending less on food near the office, but not at cafés—it’s all going to suburban supermarkets. Living the Aldi dream.

The FT did a piece last weekend on LinkedIn “super users”. Apparently, I’m one—81,000 followers puts me in the “mid-tier influencer” bracket.

Is it useful? Occasionally. Mostly, it means more men in my DMs explaining things I already know.

But despite the hustle bros, AI sludge and endless posts about personal brands, LinkedIn can still be brilliant. It’s where I show how I think, what I do, and learn from people outside my bubble.

People ask how I “grew my audience”. No strategy, no funnel, no content calendar. Just be useful, be funny, be consistent. For years.

My top tips, if you want them:
🚀 Say something original. If ChatGPT could write it, maybe don’t.
🚀 Ditch your niche now and then—you’re allowed layers.
🚀 Social media is social. Don’t just dump content like a cat dropping a dead bird to impress its human.
🚀 LinkedIn loves video and carousels. I don’t. That’s ok.
🚀 Be a human, not a brand.

Accidental mid-tier influencer, signing off.

📺 Watching

Series 3 of Slow Horses. Still loving it. Still wouldn’t trust any of them with a stapler.

📚 Reading

Almost finished the book about Romanian history I started last week, Children of the Night: The Strange and Tragic Story of Modern Romania.

Got over-excited in the airport WHSmiths yesterday and bought a whole stack of dead tree books to get me through the next few months.

Connections

With Q1 now done with, here’s a progress update on my 100 People project – my annual mission to catch up with 100 people in my network.

19 met, 5 booked. Just shy of 25%. But with a travel-heavy Q2 looming, I’ll be racking up catch-ups at pace.

Travel

🇩🇰 Next stop: Copenhagen on Tuesday for IntraTeam. Ready to nerd out about intranets with the best of them.

This week in photos