🛠️ Doing

I cannot believe I was cruising in Norway over a month ago. I am not sure where the time has gone!

I’ve been savvy with my annual leave this year and have another two-week break coming up in August. This time, I’ll be working on projects around the house. I have over twenty years’ worth of attic clutter to sort out, as well as some work in my garden. I’m hoping to do a little island hopping (Herm, and either Sark or Jersey). I’m also prioritising creativity and planning to take part in the August Break photography challenge again this year (hear about my experience last year here and see my photos here).

On the subject of creativity, I’ve decided to create a second Instagram account so I can start sharing my creative/crafty projects again (back in the day, I did this as “iMake” and then more recently “Martine Makes”). Preparing for the August Break prompted me to do this. These days, I only share my doodles on my @HeyMartineEllis Instagram, and it would feel weird posting photos there now. So, my original account (@HeyMartineEllis) will be my sustainable productivity and doodle account, and my new account, which is called @MartineMakesStuff, will focus on mindful making, arts and crafts, and island life. I’ll continue posting regularly to the doodle account, but the more “lifey” stuff will be on the new account. The fresh start feels quite nice. I am currently curating both feeds to mirror the themes of each account (which is a bigger job than expected!).

In terms of business, I have made a conscious effort to have a quieter summer, but I have still been delivering training and skill sessions, as well as supporting my regular coaching clients. I’ve not yet decided what to do with my live workshops; that will be a decision for after the summer. Watch this space.

I hope your July has been wonderful.

📺 Watching

I binge-watched Lena Dunham’s new show, Too Much. I thought it wasn’t going to be my sort of thing… a bit young, a bit romancy… but I LOVED it: fantastic writing and incredible cast. I’m also partway through Smoke with Taron Egerton: it’s surprising! I also managed a movie this month: The Amateur. I don’t think it had great reviews, but I thought it was a good watch (likely because I’ve enjoyed Rami Malek in everything I have seen him in so far).

🧠 Learning

I’m working through some Domestika courses this month to lean into my desire to be creative and create things.

🎧 Listening

I’ve not found any new shows this month, so my listening habits have mainly been episodes about running (from the Women’s Running Podcast), entertainment (from The Rest is Entertainment), productivity (from Deep Questions), and health and wellbeing (from Begin Again and What’s My Age Again?).

📚 Reading

Take a look at what I am reading here: Martine’s Library (I’ve been on a fiction kick!).