Favourite outfits so far? These coloured skinny jeans (dare I?) and this perfect full skirt.

I’m getting the crazy inclination to spend my Christmas Topshop vouchers on really impractical items. As you can probably tell, I’m conveniently forgetting that we normally get snow in London in January and February. These gorgeous things just wouldn’t make it. Would it be wrong to buy them now and keep them for the Spring?

1. The slippers. Tan is the colour to go with everything
   
2. The dress
   
3. The short suit. Amazing colour. A bit pointless…. I could never sit down on the tube but great for summer weddings.
   
4. The calf length pleated skirt. Paired with…
   
5. The striped top
   

• A Cup of Jo – We share a french style obsession
• Rock n Roll Bride – Super cool
• The Angry Therapist – Truth for when you need it
• The Grindstone – Career advice for strong willed women (who? me?)
• Suri’s Burn Book – Fashion and dark humour. What’s not to like?
• Design Seeds – Colour inspiration

The reason? Because it suits me. When the smaller interferences can be minimised, it feels more like play than work. It becomes effortless. If that ever changes, I’ll need to look for a new career path.

It wasn’t always like this. I’ve struggled hard to find what I’m good at and I’ve tried many things. I have a physics degree but have also worked in shops, call centres, probation offices, art galleries, hospitals. All great jobs for someone; just not for me.

One of my first memories of school was asking for more maths work to do and being told there weren’t any more books to do. Then wondering why I had to keep doing stuff I already knew. I was about 5. Eventually I switched schools and went from being considered unmanageable to being nurtured and encouraged.

I still had problems though. I think very quickly and get bored easily. This translated to me speeding through work to try to avoid getting restless. I’m not that great at the long haul. My attention begins to wander and I want to go do something else. When I was younger, this translated in to errors. My work was unchecked and full of mistakes. I heard that criticism so often.

I couldn’t change the speed at which I wanted to work so I developed other ways to balance the ‘weakness’ out. I practised having meticulous attention to detail, being highly organised and always giving myself enough time to review.

Now, this weakness is a strength. In advertising, working fast and being able to think on your feet is an advantage. Also, my tendency to get bored matters a lot less as most of our work is short burst and doesn’t require months of work. I need a feeling of continuous achievement and momentum to keep motivated. I don’t leave that to chance any more – I run a different interval session every other day.

This confidence and ability to see these skills as strengths to play on has taken a really long time to arrive. During my degree, I used to chastise myself for not wanting to see it through. I love the subject but found maintaining the effort over the 3 years a massive challenge. Equally, I wasn’t the best ever front end developer. My background should have meant I was great but I could never remain interested long enough. Admitting this was a tough thing to do (especially as I’m an ENTJ) but I’ve not regretted it.

Another strength that used to be seen as a weakness, is being chatty. At school I was thought a bad influence and at university, amongst the Physics undergrads, I was an anomaly. I have a bad day when I don’t have people to talk to and feel isolated. Now, communicating ideas, mentoring others and building relationships is a massive part of what I do. I can get on with anyone and talk myself hoarse quite frequently.

An interesting challenge this year has also been finding out what the strengths of other people around me are. Especially within team I manage, playing to these skills and hiring the right people accordingly has made a phenomenal difference. We are all so different but roll as an awesome little group.

I’m also lucky. The work that I enjoyed most last year were my 3 projects for adidas. I hear of a few more in the pipeline and can’t wait to get started. They are the absolutely perfect chance to marry personal interest with skills and talent. Thank goodness I’m also stubborn as hell. Otherwise, I might never have got here.

Running races

This idea started as a drunken Christmas party dare but now it’s actually going to happen… I’ll be running the Bupa London 10k in May and then the Nike Run to the Beat half marathon in October. It’s a little daunting right now but I do so much better when I have a goal to aim for. Anyone want to sponsor me?

Ibiza

One of my oldest friends and I have a trip in September planned to celebrate a few 30th birthdays in one go. I’ll be chatting about that constantly come the summer.

Moving house

I’ll be waving goodbye to Camden when I buy my own flat in July. It would be amazing to live here but, unless I rob a bank, it’s not going to happen. I’ll be sat on the floor for a few months but it will be worth the hassle to have a place I can call my own.

I’m most certainly looking forward to picking out furniture and making the place my own. Looking at interior design blogs like DesignLoveFest and Emma’s DesignBlogg are keeping me saving.

Kitten

My own flat might mean my own garden which means I can get a cat. Not so I can be a gin lady though. That’s not the plan.

Building the UX empire at iris

We’re still looking for a new junior. We have some amazing work on the way and it’s gonna be fun…

Making the most of my spare time

The ONLY New Year’s resolution I’ll be making this year is to achieve a better work/life/play/run/dance balance. I love my job and I don’t want to burn out. I find it very easy to take on too much work (perfectionist you say?) but a lot more difficult to let it go again. I need to teach myself to use my time to maximum effect and that might mean saying no more often.

Mostly, I suppose I just wanted to say how massively excited I am about 2012. Every year just seems to bring better and better things for me. I work hard at making good stuff happen – it’s fabulous to begin to feel the benefit of that effort.