Middlefocus

It was a treat last weekend to meet up with some friends to dine in a really classy restaurant in Belfast. It's the kind of place you go to for that special occasion because you just know that the food will be superb and you are going to be treated very well. It's the epitome of great service and attention to detail: table tops, crockery and silverware all gleaming. The restaurant popped into mind today while reading a newspaper article setting out five tips for would-be writers.  Here's why.... The article's #1 tip was that "If you want to shine, you have to polish". As a blogger, I'm one of those  'would-be writers' so it's advice that I'll be taking to heart and acting on in future. Then it struck me that there was plenty of polishing going on in that restaurant and its shine shows. That sparkled my thinking about things that we might do in our personal and professional lives to polish up our act and shine more brightly. Tim...

Back in my old language teaching days, one of the guiding beliefs was that communication had not occured unless the message sent had been received and understood.  So often it can be taken for granted that just because something has been said that desired action automatically follows. It's a fallacy. Your message may get heard but may not have been really listened to much less acted upon. I'm interested in the process of how messages are transmitted and how best to avoid interference on our signals so that the point we want to get across is not distorted.  There will be more of that in future but for this post I would like to focus on highlighting the subject matter of the communication. One of my former bosses, who had to manage several staff across literally dozens of disciplines, taught me a technique which he insisted I use and which many years later I still find effective.  When I would approach him for advice on dealing with a particular aspect of my ...

Sometimes it can be hard to organise thoughts against the pressure of deadlines. Think of that report that's due. You've several options to consider and time is short, what one to go for? Or you have an upcoming presentation and you want to be sure you are in command of the facts. Maybe you are a student preparing for an exam. How best to assimilate all the information and still be ready to pick out the salient points and organise them for your argument? At times like this it can be hard to hear yourself think. In preparing for such eventualities I like to take some time to myself and most often play some music to help me concentrate. I am a regular listener to the radio station ClassicFM and it has suggested a playlist for students as an aid to concentration. Take a moment and check it out here . If you've checked out the playlist you will see that the station recommends starting at the Pachelbel Canon. It's one of my favourite pieces for helping me organise...

This past few weeks I've been challenging myself to lose a few kilos, get a little fitter and consume more wisely.  It's a sort of advance New Year's resolution and maybe by getting ahead of time there is a chance of avoiding the over indulgence that seems to go hand to mouth with the festive season.  Along with the physical challenges, I've been keen to exercise my brain more in a bid to get sharper on that front too. One of the ways I've been doing that is through word puzzles. We're keen fans of crosswords in our house and, although we sometimes share answers to clues, each of us likes to treat the crossword as a personal challenge. Respecting that individual approach we've even taken to photocopying the crossword so that we can each have a clean copy. Over the past weeks of this fitness regime I've begun to notice that the solutions are coming much more quickly and so I've started to keep a record of how long each puzzle has taken to com...

What has happened to the tasks and dares that used to be printed on Starburst Wrappers? They weren't included in two recent purchases. As explained in this earlier post  I use the sweets in icebreaker sessions for meetings I facilitate. The tasks are fun and lift energy in the room. Hope they are brought back, meantime: Mental note to call their marketing team!

They've gone, what a pity! It has been great working these past two days with student teachers from Stranmillis and St Mary's University Colleges.  Memories of my own student days came flooding back, especially so today as I had some time by myself to wander around my old College of Education and see rooms used for new purposes. Technology is an obvious difference although alongside the electronic whiteboard in the lecture room was an overhead projector.  I was a big fan of the OHP and still think its a useful tool even though it isn't much used these days. Much was familiar and it was surprising to recall faces and events from over 40 years ago.  I well remember those aims and objectives, the lesson plans and visual aids - collages of magazine cut-outs pasted onto sheets of coloured manilla card. I reflected on the hopes, dreams and ambitions of the class of '73. Many of us, intent on changing the world, have now retired after lifetimes dedicated to the service o...

You know how it is, new technology comes along and replaces the older stuff. Problem is that the old stuff was once new and even though its operating system cannot be upgraded or it doesn't have the new bells and whistles, it still works. So what to do with the previous generations of stuff? What I've done is added a selection of driving tunes to the little shuffle. An audio lead connects with the car's radio and there you go a playlist for the road. The shuffle is tiny so can be left in the glove box. The old nano is set up to hold podcasts of favourite shows and sits in the study/office close to a supply of pens and paper. That way any useful snippets, quotes, suggestions or links can be jotted down and filed for future reference. Then there's the trusty iPod Touch. That got so much use in the past but the collection of music eventually exceeded capacity and these days it serves as a repository for audiobooks. Yes it sometimes travels in the car, especially for l...

All these books on the go at the same time?  Yes and many more too. At first glance it hardly seems to be a productive way to approach the matter of reading.... but if you can watch many different tv series over a week or a month - you can have several books on the go at the same time... Can't you? That all depends on our purpose for reading.  I read for pleasure, information, ideas and inspiration and reading for these purposes necessarily means having several books on the go at the same time. Take The Goldfinch there for example.  Now that's a BIG read and naturally involves a good investment of time.  I've cheated a bit with this one though to create room for others.  I've done that by downloading the Audible version as well. The "talking book" recording lasts a total of nearly 32 and a half hours! The audio version means that I can keep the book on the go while driving or doing other things and can resume the pleasure of reading again when I get th...