Thing 23 : reflection - what next?

So here is the end of CPD23 (but, of course, it's only the beginning ...)
I'm a bit late finishing, but I hope I've still done enough to get that certificate! It's been an interesting experience, and I have really appreciated the chance to do a free course which hasn't tied me down with specific times (I registered for the ECDL a few years ago and I've never managed to fit that in to my timetable!). There's enough flexibility for the time challenged (I wish I had kept up as it went along though!)

The big thing which it has got me doing is the blog, although it is still very basic and I haven't yet strayed beyond CPD23. I'm hoping that I will keep it up now the programme has finished. I'm still conscious of the rather self-indulgent aspect of talking about yourself in public a lot (hence the title of the blog), and I'm aware that I am slipping into anecdotage at times. Still, perhaps the recent and not-so-recent library story has value for new professionals too, to understand how we have got to where we are now. I intended to make the blog look more interesting but haven't yet mastered my anxiety about using images, something I must do as blogs with pictures look so much more appealing. Watch this space!

Some of the tools we have looked at have great potential for me and I hope to revisit them one at a time and get to know them better (I'm thinking of Dropbox and Evernote in particular). Some of the others will be less relevant but at least I now know about them, and I may find a use for them. One really surprising outcome is that I'm definitely going to revert to the written appointments diary which fell by the wayside a while ago due to a combination of unexpected events and our getting an electronic calendar at work. Also, although it's an online programme, another unexpected result was actually meeting others locally and getting to know people better.

I don't think I'm going to share a formal analysis of my strengths and weaknesses with the world, but I'm hoping this element of "thing 23" will help with the ghastly and ever-evolving appraisal form I struggle with every year. (An aside - all the emphasis on goals and outcomes can sometimes have a knock-on effect on other people. I am behind with everything at work partly because there are lots of things which need to be done because they fulfil somebody else's goals and outcomes!)

Thank you to all those who put the course together and planned it so well, and made all these "things" so accessible.

Here's my six-word story:

Still got a lot to learn!