The Coming Year
Posted: Tue 5 November, 2013 | Author: Lyle | Filed under: 2013/14, 42-43, D4D™, Domestic, Finances, Five Year Plan (now Ten), Getting Organised, Own Business, Project 42, Work-related | Leave a comment »As is tradition chez D4D™, this is where I list out some of the things I want to do in the coming year. I’ve kind-of nicknamed it “Project 42” this year, for no particularly good reason (other than that it’s the year of being 42 – which, as everyone knows, is also the answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything) but it’ll do.
The top two stay the same as last year, but there’s some extras that I want to get done or work on, as well as a bundle of other stuff that’ll come up along the way. Anyway, these are the main bullet points…
- Weigh less
- Write more
- Take the IAM advanced driving test
- Sort out my own company again – although there’s a lot that goes into that
- From there, develop a couple of business ideas
- Keep on rebuilding finances throughout the year.
That’ll do, I think
Domains
Posted: Fri 11 October, 2013 | Author: Lyle | Filed under: 1BEM, Customer Services, Domestic, Literacy, Own Business, People, Thoughts, Work-related | Leave a comment »I have too many web domain names – although I’ve been divesting myself of some of them over the last year, acknowledging projects and ideas that will never happen (and some that I can’t even remember having) as well as some where their lifetime has expired and I’ve no intention of renewing them.
However, domain renewal has a lot of automated processes, and one part of that is automatic reminders that get sent out about each domain.
And each email looks like this…
Your domain, [x] is due to expire on [date].
It is manadatory, that you receive this email for each domain you own, 28 and 7 days prior to your domains expiration date.
Yes, a spelling error and a punctuation one. I didn’t notice it for a while, because I usually ignore those mails just from the subject line. But now I’ve noticed it, that “manadatory,” drives me crackers.
I’ve written to the company involved, asking them to change it, but nothing’s happened. It’s nothing major in the grand scheme of things, just something that annoys me on a regular basis.
Q4 – Plans
Posted: Tue 1 October, 2013 | Author: Lyle | Filed under: 2012/13, 2013/14, Creativity, Domestic, Five Year Plan (now Ten), Getting Organised, Own Business, Work-related, Writing | Leave a comment »So here we are, the start of the final quarter of 2013. Where has the year gone? It’s been pretty busy, but hard to believe that we’re already three-quarters of the way through the year.
Anyway, such is life. Onwards and upwards, and all that rot.
The final quarter of my 2013 is going to be used preparing for 2014 – at least that’s the intention so far. Whether or not it happens in the way I hope, well, time will tell.
The main things I want to do are about preparation, about going into 2014 with some finished developments, stuff to build on/from, and see what happens. There’s likely to be a fair dollop of work being done, and it feels like the right time to be doing it.
Along with the new contract, which should take me through to the end of the year, I also want to :
- Form up a new limited company for some of the business stuff I’ve got in my head and…
- Write the primary framework for at least one of the ideas
- Write the primary business site to attract attention to the products
- Possibly attend a couple of related exhibitions and trade-shows, in order to drum up some more interest
- Also do some maintenance on stuff I’ve inherited (well, been asked to keep on working on) from Previous Employer
- Get on with some writing – there’s one idea in particular I want to work on
- Continue to work on the losing weight / gaining fitness thing
That’s the ideas, at least. It’s going to be a varied three months, I think, but that’s the basic framework…
Decisions, Decisions
Posted: Sat 14 September, 2013 | Author: Lyle | Filed under: 2012/13, Bankruptcy, Business, Domestic, Own Business, Work-related | Leave a comment »So, as well as everything else, I’ve got a number of projects ongoing for which I’d now (I think) like to form a limited company again.
I know the company name is available, I already own the relevant domains etc. It’s just a question of whether I actually do go down the route of limited company – which has its own issues with paperwork, accounts etc. – or whether I just do it as a sole trader.
In general, I prefer the limited route, and I’m safe again to be a director now the Bankruptcy has discharged. But I need to decide which will work best, and how it will all combine to work. I know that with a Ltd. I can also use it for my contracting etc., although that tends to make the company very profitable very quickly. Might be a good thing, might not.
And of course some of it will also come down to whether any of the main banks will let me have a business bank account, what with only being a month out of Bankruptcy.
It makes more sense (kind of) to start on this kind of venture in January, start of a new year and all that. I need to think about all of these things for a while before making the decisions on where I’ll be heading. And that’s some of what this weekend will be about, I think.
2013 : Final Third
Posted: Mon 2 September, 2013 | Author: Lyle | Filed under: 2012/13, Creativity, Domestic, Finances, Five Year Plan (now Ten), Getting Organised, Health, Own Business, Web Development, Weigh Less, Weight Loss, Work-related, Write More, Writing | Leave a comment »So here we are, the start of September. Which means we’re two-thirds of the way through the year. Doesn’t time fly when you’re having fun?
For me, the first two thirds of the year have been more about staying stable, getting stuff done, getting things in place and ready for whatever comes next. It’s been pretty successful: I’ve got through the bankruptcy period,, I’m pretty settled on location and house for the moment, and I’ve changed jobs, with all the fun that entails. (Oh, and got some pretty good contacts and future opportunities from people within ex-employer) It’s looking pretty positive.
But now it’s time to step things up a bit. There are things I want to do, or at least want to start, and see how they work out. The plans and ideas are there, but now it’s implementation time. (Yeah, I know, heard it all before) I’m not saying they’ll all work, I’m not even saying they’ll all get out of the starting gate – but I want to at least try.
For this next period there’s really three main projects going on, alongside the general gradual development/sorting of finances, which is now just an ongoing process. The other three are :
- Health / Fitness
- Project Development
- Writing
Pretty self-explanatory, I think. But a bit more detail…
Health / Fitness
One of the goals for 2013 has been to improve fitness, improve health, and lose weight. So far it’s kind-of happened, but not properly. I’ve been going to the gym, but it’s not really working for me – and even less so when it’s now in the exactly opposite direction to where I’m going for work… So it’s time to rethink (again) and get back into doing something. I’m not yet sure what it’ll be, we’ll see. There’s a couple of ideas, anyway.
Project Development
As always, I’ve got some ideas for some web-based businesses. I think I’ve now got the overall plan, so it’s time to see how things work out. The primary ideas are all based round a particular theme this time, so who knows, it might actually work out. I’m aiming to get the main sections for the first significant project written by the end of the year. Maybe more, with a bit of luck, but I’d like to be ready to get it launched in early 2014 and see where things go from there.
Writing
Similar to the above, I’ve got two ideas that I want to get into some kind of shape over the next four months. I think that’s a reasonable timescale. We’ll see.
So yeah, the next four months ’til the end of the year should be quite interesting. That’s what I’m hoping, anyway…
Time Out
Posted: Mon 29 April, 2013 | Author: Lyle | Filed under: Domestic, Getting Old(er), Getting Organised, Health, London, Own Business, Sleep - or lack thereof, Thoughts, Time, Work-related, Writing | Leave a comment »This week (and some of next) I’m actually on leave from the job. This is A Very Good Thing.
I don’t have much in the way of plans, the main thing is just Not Working, and taking the much-needed time out.
Of course, there are things I want to do, or at least get onto “paper” and out of my head, but that’s all going to be done on my terms, rather than within the demands of an office.
I’m sure there’ll be a couple of days out and the like along the way, but really the main thing is just time out. It’s been a pretty hectic first third of the year, and the next one isn’t looking like it’ll be any quieter, so downtime is definitely a good plan.
Un-Fair
Posted: Tue 8 January, 2013 | Author: Lyle | Filed under: Bankruptcy, Business, Domestic, Own Business, Travel, Web Development, Work-related | Leave a comment »Usually around this time, I’d be looking at hitting the Spring Fair at the NEC in Birmingham, which kicks off at the start of February.
I’ve gone a few times over the years, usually building up some contacts for building websites etc. Sometimes I made use of them afterwards, most of the time I didn’t. (to be honest) It’s always an interesting trip, what with one thing and another.
This year, I’m not planning to go. Partly it’s on a week that is already madly busy, but also I’ve got enough on my plate for the moment without adding to it.
2014 may be a different matter, but 2013 is one where I definitely won’t be going.