I was once given a great piece of advice by Martin Fowler*. Instead of never publishing anything because none of it ever gets polished enough to publish, just explicitly publish your notes.

So, OK. Here are some notes I made back at the beginning of March, when I was on holiday in the Lake District. >>>

Sitting here in a deckchair in the sunshine outside Bird How** on Tuesday 3rd March 2026...

I've deliberately kept my itinerary and commitments as simple as possible. I'm only here 3 nights. Yesterday I just travelled, arrived, unpacked, lit a fire, listened to music, listened to podcasts, did some impromptu unplanned writing.

Today my only jobs are:

- To fetch firewood from the shop 

- To enjoy the weather (beautiful blue skies, sunshine, not terribly cold) and the surroundings...

- ...by sitting in this deckchair with a book in hand, officially doing the reading part of my daily writing rhythm 

- ...by going for a short bike ride 

- To write for 8 hours 

- This will in theory be broken down into 

- 2 hours reading 

- 2 hours writing 

- 4 hours planning 

- To do my physio exercises 

That's all. And that gives me space to be sitting here, allowing my brain to switch constantly between different things:

- I'm next to a burbling brook. It sounds delightful. I stop reading to listen.

- I keep looking up and taking photos, because everything around me is so beautiful, right down to the sun shining on bare twigs on the tree overhead (which on closer inspection have tiny buds on them) and their glowing golden as a result.

- I got distracted at one point by a helicopter circling overhead 

- Fascinating! Was it mountain rescue? What was it looking for? It didn't seem to know. It kept moving around different spots, then went over to the next valley. It looked like it had army colours. Was it doing an exercise?

- I've only read a tiny handful of pages, because every page kicks off a new thought process which I have to write down... 

- ...but I'm also enjoying reading when I do it 

- I have a coffee, which tastes good 

...and I don't have to feel bad about any of this.

This is me doing the right things. Everything going to plan. I'm getting writing done, but I'm also making the most of my surroundings.

I've even managed to resist sweet treats so far, and maintained my daily 17-hour fast and ate sensibly and healthily. Not sure how long that'll last though! I bought a fancy sweet treat in the post office in Eskdale Green. Some kind of gluten free ginger coated flapjack thing. Very much hoping it won't be a disappointment and wondering how long I'll resist eating it [Aside: not long. It was delicious.]

Also there was a packet of nice-looking sweet biscuits left for me by the national trust, which I've resisted so far (hidden out of sight at the back of a cupboard, contemplating hiding them in the car) but I'm not sure how long that'll last.

And crucially, I'm enjoying the "work" that I'm doing.

I'm sad that it will end all too soon.

Three nights is nothing. It's only two full days.

And I have to be out by 10am Thursday, which means I'll have to spend time packing on Wednesday evening, which I resent already.

It's always been hard for me to get a balance where I can lean in to my hyperactive mind and make the most of it, without getting overwhelmed, or guilty, or just failing to actually achieve anything because my pinball brain never sticks at anything long enough to reach a goal.

I've been trying to reduce things down so I'm focusing on a smaller number of things, giving them a chance to breathe and grow, but also allowing myself to boomerang-brain in the midst of them.

These few days felt like a success, on that front. But the FOMO - for all the things I'm NOT doing - that's very real. It will, no doubt, return.

* Yeah, I know. That's a huge name drop for those of you that know who he is. Bite me. :grin:

** I used to deliberately keep the details of Bird How to myself, in the fear that the world would find it and it would get so booked up I'd never find a slot. But I discovered recently the National Trust are shutting it down! This is TERRIBLE news. Please all contact the National Trust and demand that they keep it open and rent it to you all forthwith.