In my own experience side projects don’t always appear outside of the day job; a lot of my own projects are fundamentally interwoven with my job, even if they’re rather on the periphery of my actual job description… so this time I found a friend and peer who is possibly even more prone than me for … Continue reading Side Project Stories #16: The day-job side project

Last week I got together with a couple of colleagues to record a webinar and podcast for the University of Bristol's Bristol Institute for Learning and Teaching (BILT). We were there to talk about embedding enterprise into the curriculum and we happily wittered away for about 48 minutes if you're interested in such things. Who's … Continue reading Embedding Enterprise Podcast

Happy New Year! Let’s try and start 2019 as I mean to go on; with a few more regular side project blogs! Developing good habits kicks the arse of goal-setting, so this is me trying to start a habit for the new year. Here’s my pitch: I increasingly believe that a having a side-project is … Continue reading Making 2019 the year for Side Project success

Over the last couple of months I've been thinking a lot about creativity so it's time for a quick download of thoughts. For about a year I've been using the "garbage in = garbage out" principle that creativity is in some part related to the quality and diversity of your 'cognitive diet'. As part of … Continue reading Creativity: Diet + Exercise

When I first started exploring side projects Alex Thomas and I drew a simple diagram to capture our initial idea that side projects were a hybrid activity that looked like a bit like a hobby or personal interest, and a bit like a job or professional role: From there I developed a three-circle model in … Continue reading Overlapping Circles

Our 15th side project pioneer is curiously a colleague, a school-friend of one of my closest friends, and a man who designed part of a building I walk past almost every day of my life. He has also turned one side project into a career, let another go fallow, and is in the process of … Continue reading Side Project Stories #15: Brian Records

For this latest blog I got tipped off by a previous side project pioneer, Travis Baldwin who was #7, about another designer/maker with some interesting side projects. I was sold from the moment his website described him as ‘chaotic good’; a fellow gamer would always be someone who could articulate the value of hobbies and side … Continue reading Side Project Stories #14: Sparkwood and 21

For this thirteenth episode of the #sideproject blog series I’ve turned to a former colleague who has very much made her own luck. I’ve known Tracy for about fifteen years since we worked together delivering skills training first when I worked at the University of Bristol Students’ Union and later for the University of Bristol … Continue reading Side Project Stories #13: Brainbox Coaching & Fitness

In some ways my own TEDx talk started when I first encountered our twelfth side project pioneer. I met Mel whilst I was working at Bath Spa University and she approached me about getting student involvement in the first of her TEDxBristol events back in 2015. Being on the side-lines of such an amazing event … Continue reading Side Project Stories #12: TEDxBristol

Welcome to the eleventh episode of my #sideprojects blog series. This is the first of the 'second season' of blogs about an array of diverse people pursuing passions, skills, future lifestyles, and maybe a living through spare-time projects. Nick Skelton & Jonathan Chenoweth I’ve bumped into Nick periodically for many years as we’re both long-serving … Continue reading Side Project Stories #11: Nutgrove Kitchen