2012–NOT the end the of the world

So 2012 is done and dusted.

If i was trying to sum up 2012 in one word…..BUSY.

An awful lot changed in 2012, personally and professionally.

I haven’t quite gotten a handle on the whole thing and I’m still forming new habits and routines to make sure I can fit everything in!

Our biggest piece of news was that earlier in the year Bryony managed to get a new job working with the NDCS (National Deaf Children’s Society). To say the role was made for her would be the understatement of the year! This had a big impact on home life as Bryony made the switch from part time hours to full time hours. Both of our routines entirely changed as we found ourselves getting up much earlier in the morning and having our evenings start much later after the children are in bed.

As a result weekends have become even more about family time and evenings are now mostly about catching our breath!

That isn’t the only thing that has kept us busy on the family front. Other big “moments” include having a family member leave the UK for a new life in Australia, various family members with scary health problems (everyone is ok now!) and two children who go from strength to strength every day.

483576_10152313565020323_1809521842_n

Very proud Dad here, they’ve both achieved a lot this year.

On a professional level the biggest change for a lot of people has been Microsoft sending Small Business Server out to pasture. This was scary on one hand for a lot of IT providers but if looked in another way it provided an opportunity to differentiate yourself from others and provide a solution designed by yourself from the ground up.

I was also fortunate enough to be named a Microsoft Partner Area Lead and AMITPRO continues to be well attended by companies in the Midlands area.

Aside from all this serious stuff I did manage visits to EuroGamer, PlayExpo and The Retro Computer Museum. I also spoke at a Pecha Kucha evening for a second time as well following my own advice to make sure I was taking time out to recharge the batteries. I’m also happy to report my knee has been trouble-free and the tactics I’d used in 2011 to lose some weight also worked successfully again as I looked to drop a few pounds in the run up to the start of the football season. 

Since it wouldn’t be much of an end of year post if I didn’t, so I’ve picked three things I’d like to think about changing in 2013.

If you’re looking back on your own 2012 have a read of this post by Richard Tubb: Three Questions To Ask Yourself Before Setting Your New Years Goals

The one question that really jumped out at me was “What do you enjoy doing that you simply don’t make time for anymore?”. We all use the “I’m too busy” or “I don’t have time” excuses frequently but if we’re being totally honest if something is really important you’ll make time for it. 

I’m usually a bit wishy washy when it comes to setting goals but I think it’ll help with some of these things if I actually commit to something publically!

Reading

In January 2011 I started tracking what I was reading. I was pretty pleased with the results and the actual act of tracking encouraged me to read. For reasons I can’t explain 2012 has been a disaster on this front. I’ve actually read a tiny portion of books in comparison to previous years so I’ll be looking to do something about this in 2012. I’ll start tracking again and have a target of finishing a book per month. That’s perfectly do-able based on past activity and I’m pretty sure once I get back into the habit I’ll smash this target.

Blogging

19 posts in 2012….not great at all. Blogging is still something I really enjoy doing so I’m going to put right this year. When I first started if I had an idea for a post I’d write it pretty much immediately or it would be something I’d do of an evening. As my evening routines are significantly different nowadays blogging doesn’t get a look in! I’ll commit to a post at least once a week and make it much higher priority on my to do list.

IT Community

If I’m being completely honest I’ve not done enough on the community front in 2012. While AMITPRO has been ticking along ok that’s all it’s been doing. As an example, the website is only updated with the next meeting details at the moment. This goes hand in hand with the Partner Area Lead role. I’ve also not being doing as much with this as I’d like. Being more active with AMITPRO will automatically sort out the Partner Area Lead concerns I’ve got. Not sure how to set goal for this one though but I’m going to sort the website out for start. This means restarting the meeting reviews that used to go up after each event and updating the site to make sure the information is up to date.

In closing, 2012 wasn’t a bad year on the whole, even if it feels like it whizzed by. I’m very grateful for having great friends and family who have been there to share it with.

So welcome to 2013! Let me know how your year went and what plans you have for the coming twelve months.

Whether it’s online or in person I look forward to catching you soon

The following two tabs change content below.
Andy Parkes is Technical Director at Coventry based IT support company IBIT Solutions. Formerly, coordinator of AMITPRO and Microsoft Partner Area Lead for 2012-2013. He also isn't a fan of describing himself in the third person.

Latest posts by Andy Parkes (see all)

3 thoughts on “2012–NOT the end the of the world

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.