In my "day job," I work for the NHS in a hospital. I've worked in a variety of different hospitals over the past decade, with inpatients and outpatients, on wards and in clinics. They've all been unique - but also, depressingly similar in some very specific ways. This week, I wanted to write about some of those similarities, and the gift I've decided to give myself in 2019.

I spent New Year's Eve with some of my friends - we do roughly the same thing every year, which provides a bit of comfort and ritual to end the year on. Whichever city we're in (everyone lives somewhere different) it always involves a nice bar, some good food, then a long walk back to someone's home for dessert and singing along badly to Auld Lang Syne at midnight! It's calming and I love it.
There was a lot of conversation about resolutions and what people wanted to do differently this year, and much of it seemed to centre on spending their time in a different way. The conversation inspired me to think more deeply about how I spend my time - in this post, I'll give you some tips on how I'm (hopefully) going to procrastinate less and be more intentional in 2019!

Well, that's another Christmas over with! I hope you had a lovely time - I spent mine catching up with friends and family, eating far too much chocolate, and watching my rugby team lose our Boxing Day match (better luck next year!)
This is the time of year when people inevitably start to take stock of their lives, and ask themselves questions about the year ahead. What will it be like? Will I finally do the things I want to do? Will I be happier, healthier, cooler, smarter? Sorry to disappoint, but the answer is, um...probably not. The title of this blog might seem a little bleak, but read this post before setting yourself any resolutions - it won't help you achieve them (you've got to put the effort in for that!) but it might help you stick to them.

It's the most wonderful time of the year - apparently. But that doesn't seem to fit with the conversations I keep having in therapy. People keep asking me if it's normal to feel overwhelmed by the holiday season, to feel done with it already, to feel wearied by the constant treadmill of give and take. They ask me why, if it's supposed to be so wonderful, do they feel so anxious about it, so broken down by it. Why, when everyone is telling them to be happy, they feel the opposite.