The pain of being unproductive

Chronic pain conditions cost our economy a lot in unproductive work hours but there is also a personal cost to individuals coping with chronic pain conditions. It is not surprising that many people with a chronic pain condition also suffer from depression and for many one source of this depression is down to the struggle of not being able to be productive. A feeling of letting people down as they are unable to commit to events, regularly cancelling meetings or having to take sick leave.

Many sufferers of chronic pain are visibly healthy looking on the outside and their struggles are not immediately visible. Take migraineurs. You can't see a headache and many people are very adept at managing their day with just a headache. But migraines are not just headaches. Migraines are made up of many painful symptoms including photo, audio and touch sensitivity as the nervous system becomes hypersensitive, nausea, vertigo and so forth. For a migraineur having to manage this painful onslaught, the additional pain of feeling like half a person for some sufferers can be very difficult indeed.

I'm a very driven person. I like process and routine and I love to be active and achieve in life. But when a migraine attack comes I can lose days. And I hate it. Curled up in bed in the dark with no tv or radio and wearing sunglasses with the lights off is as painful to deal with as the screaming pain wracking my body. I want to be at work contributing like everyone else, I want to go run my Brownie unit but what I don't want is to have to lie as still as possible in silence all day. For me it is the most frustrating thing in the world. I let people down as a result. Perhaps this is why on my good days I overcompensate on being productive!

I'm lucky that my family, friends, colleagues and current work understand but not everyone with a chronic pain condition is as lucky. I'd love to hear your experiences as its good to share. Good and bad we can all help and learn from each other to recognise that whilst we often have unproductive days we have good days too where we achieve so much. From as simple as making our kids smile or laugh to gaining an award or qualification or just a well done and thank you for a great piece of work.

Barbie's midlife crisis?

Barbie is a very successful woman. She's been an astronaut, vet, paediatrician, movie star (Toy Story 2 and 3), brunette, blonde and she's even had her portrait painted by pop art legend Andy Warhol.

Barbie has tried her hand at nearly every job imaginable and in every one championed women's rights and freedom. She made geek chic as a computer engineer, she holds a pilots license and has a menagerie of over 40 pets (including a panda, zebra and lion cub). She's fun, hip, educated, works hard, is conscientious and makes time for her family and friends.

In 2009 Barbie turned 50. She's 53 this year and still looks stunning. She's battled controversy over her body shape and even put on a little weight over the years to promote a healthy figure to her young fans.

If you want a role model as a little girl growing up then Barbie is a pretty safe bet. Or was.

Amidst all the anti size zero modelling campaigns and previous scandal over Barbie's body proportions I was shocked to find what I can only describe as 'Model Freak Barbie' on the shelves of a popular toys store.

Now, take a look at awesome vet Barbie:

and now Fashion Model Barbie:

There is something slightly disturbing about the extreme body proportions of Size Zero Barbie. I'm tempted to buy the two just to get them out the packaging and take some measurements. Skeletal comes to mind.

Young girls have grown up with Barbie as a role model. Paul's Boutique even has a range of accessories and clothing suited for the grown up Barbie fan. Our love of Barbie can stick with us for a life time. So why has Barbie picked now to have a midlife crisis and go size zero?

It's a dangerous game Mattel are playing with this iconic woman's brand.

And the animals went in two by two..

This weekend was a popular weekend for Christenings it appears. I know of at least 4 that took place amongst my family and friends alone. I consider this popular.

I was very honoured to be asked by a friend at Church to make the cakes for her son's Christening. We decided on a Noah's Ark theme and although I don't have photos of cakes on the day nicely displayed on a tower cake stand as I was at another Christening we did manage to get a few snaps at home.

Next week look out for some Snowflake themed cupcakes as I start my new job with Snowflake Software. I have the sprinkles in the baking cupboard (yes I have a whole cupboard for fun baking things) just waiting to be used.

Smelling like Christmas - Mincemeat Flapjacks

My little house is awash with the sounds and smells of Christmas this afternoon. Don't worry, I haven't decorated just yet but with the first Sunday in advent only days away I'm making a start with my preparations and digging out the all important advent wreath for the dining table this week.

Now I mentioned earlier today on Twitter about Mincemeat Flapjacks and got lots of requests for the recipe. They're in the oven as I type and boy, does my house smell festive! As promised, here is the recipe. I already know I am going to be making batches of the stuff and may even forego mince pies entirely for this oaty alternative!

Mincement Flapjacks

Ingredients:

4oz butter

2oz Demerara sugar

2 tablespoons golden syrup

5 generous table spoons of mincemeat (equivalent to one small jar about 411g)

small tub of glace cherries (optional)

5oz rolled oats

Oven - 160'C, GM 3 or 325'F

Line a baking tin with non stick baking paper/parchment or grease well.

1. Melt your butter, sugar and syrup in a saucepan on a low heat and then add the mincemeat and warm through. Add your glace cherries at this point if you want to make your flapjacks even more festive!

2. Take off the heat and stir in your oats.

3. Pour into your baking tin and spread out evenly. Bake in the middle of the oven for 30 mins and until golden brown.

4. Allow to cool in the tin for 15 mins before cutting into squares or finger slices. Store in a airtight container or biscuit tin - if you have any left to store!

I'll update with an image once mine are out of the oven and sliced up, with a review from Mr 140andthensome! If you do make these yourselves please do leave me a comment and let me know how they turned out and any variations you try (like the cherries!).

Enjoy!

*Update: Don't they look scrummy? Mr 140andthensome had one in his packed lunch today and said it was delicious.

Why should Apple be like a traditional music label?

This week The Who guitarist Pete Townshend branded Apple a ‘digital vampire’ akin to ‘Nothern Rock’ in the banking industry. His reasoning by that Apple should act like a traditional music label rather than a music distributor. Amid some amusing quotes, quite possibly taken out of context by the newspapers, such as “...just because iTunes exists in the wild west internet land of Facebook and Twitter..” which made Mr Townshend appear a little behind on youth culture and technology I feel that the musician still rather missed the point if iTunes and Apple.

iTunes isn’t a music label. The iTunes Store is just that, a store. It distributes music in a digital format to play through iTunes on a PC or Mac, or on one of Apple’s portable music devices (iPod, iPhone, iPad...). When Townshend said that iTunes was a "fantastic piece of software" but offered only distribution and royalties to the singers and bands whose work it sold he kinda hit the nail on the head. iTunes is a music distributor – not a music label. Apple sells digital products, including music, and such radical diversification into managing artists.... well it may dilute Apple’s core values and product offering.

But, I do like the idea of Apple setting up some sort of music foundation with support and grants and advice for ‘undiscovered talent’ and who knows maybe that’s in their business plan, After all, Steve Jobs kinda understood about developing and support talent and knew that music was something that brings us together in community.

Let’s not forget though all the smaller artists who have benefitted by having their music used in Apple ads or featured in keynote addresses. What about @songadaymann Jonathan Mann who’s ‘iPhone4’ song opened the antenna-gate press conference and propelled him to internet stardom? You don’t have to turn yourself into a ‘traditional’ music label to support new talent.

It’ll be interesting to see how iTunes develops over the next few years with Tim Cook now at the helm of the good ship Apple. There’s loads of avenues they could go down but I kinda like it just as the place I can buy all sorts of music without complications.

My Kindle’s on Fire...

With Apple already working on the 3^rd iteration of its iPad, the device that finally made tablet devices cool and mainstream, the rest of the industry finally caught up in 2011. We’ve had the Samsung Galaxy Tablet, the Blackberry Playbook, the Acer Iconia Tab (pronounced “t -ar-b” apparently) and now Amazon has launched its colour ebook reader – the Kindle Fire.

In a keynote address to rival the polish of Apple, Amazon CEO and 37 Signals Advisor Jeff Bezos proudly walked the stage with the new device in hand. Yes it runs on the Android OS, yes it is light and yes, at first glance the price point is very attractive at £130 – for a colour screen ebook reader.

But that’s what it is. It’s still really just an ebook reader in a very competitive tablet market.

With a small 7” IPS display screen the device is small compared to the larger 10” screens favoured by other manufactures. It may have kept the price point low, and at that size the Kindle Fire certainly slips comfortably into a handbag but for me personally, it’s too small and why would I want two devices?

Yes. Two devices. I already have two mobile phones which is a pain to cart around during a working week so why would I want to cart around an ebook reader AND a tablet device? I can get my digital magazines, music and books all on my tablet with the added benefit of my email, my files, the internet and bespoke apps and games.

And if I were to buy a Kindle, why would I buy the new one for £130? In a move that may or may not affect Fire sales, Amazon has announced it will slash the prices of its black and white ebook readers. Picking up one of those for £89 or less is more attractive than the Fire when I already have the added extra functionality of colour screen, music and movies/TV shows AND MORE on my tablet and mobile phone.

Maybe it’s just me and I don’t get the Kindle. I’d like to get up close to one when they ship in the UK to see what the fuss is about but I really feel that there’s anything really new or innovative to set the Fire apart from everything else out there.

Prove me wrong Amazon – please.

Does your company blog position you as knowledgeable in your sector?

There are lots of different types of blog and blogging. There’s personal blogs that read a lot like diaries, blogs that comment on a mix of current affairs, insightful blogs that teach us something... I could go on. But all blogs have something in common – they pretty much stick to a theme or a purpose. This blog is themed around the stuff I stick up on Twitter or read on Twitter which I can’t contain to 140 characters which is why it has a lot of stuff about marketing, digital marketing, employment law and the digital age and cake baking. Why that weird mix? Well, it’s a pretty good snapshot of who I follow on Twitter and what I talk about. However, the company blog I manage for Silver Lining talks about unified communications, cloud computing, business continuity and telephony issues. Why? Because that’s what the company does and wants to position itself as knowledgeable in.

There are some great company blogs out there which mix the company’s personality with informative, insightful, current and industry specific commentary. For example SimplyZesty – their whole agency website is pretty much a blog. It’s not just a small section or page on the website it truly is the website. It’s not overtly salesy – it’s “info rich” and that makes me trust them. They don’t go off piste – they keep all the zaney personality, office banter and games stuff to their Facebook page instead.

Another company blog I like is the one from Propellernet. Now this is a really funky, fun, young agency in Brighton and it really shines through in their blog. Literally as it’s dominated by sunshine yellow. All the posts are geared to news and advice, industry insights, latest shows and exhibitions etc much like SimplyZesty but there is perhaps a little more of a sales pitch in there and a pinch more zing with those wacky/fun profile pictures! It’s a great blog and one I regularly refer to.

Finally, my other top industry blog that I read regularly is that off Koozai’s. Again its remit is well defined, informative and doesn’t stray from its path (often). They mix in a few news stories about awards the company has won but mostly they promote what they believe in – great SEO and PPC marketing. Funnily enough this is what the company also wins awards for. Posts about free tools, black and white hat techniques, local marketing shows and exhibitions... Can you see a running theme here?

SimplyZesty, Propellernet and Koozai are all businesses – marketing agencies looking for new clients and positioning themselves as really really knowledgeable. They’re all award winning. And I bet they don’t have any problem finding new clients and business. I’d happily visit the blogs of these companies than say Mashable, TechCrunch and Marketing Donut for all the news and latest industry insights I need because for these guys it’s not media churn – they have to be at the top of their game and the most knowledgeable to get results for their customers.

So, next time you look at your company blog and write a post have a think:

1. Does my blog/post talk about my company’s services/products/industry?
2. Does my blog/post position my company as knowledgeable/expert in my industry sector?
3. Do these posts help my clients or future clients?
4. Can people outside of my organisation engage with my posts? Do they understand the in jokes and colloquialisms?
5. Has my blog/post turned into an internal staff message board?