Like with last year the start of the academic year is a time of chaos. Every year we prepare as much as possible to make things go as smoothly as possible. But, every year something always crops up. The main reassuring thing that I have started to reflect upon is that, even though things are problematic, despite all the work we put in, are always things outside of our control. Plus, if we weren't as prepared as we were, then the chaos would go from being a major annoyance to an absolute disaster. This is unlikely to be unique to our situation, it is a symptom of working for a large organisation with lots of moving parts and different systems. An addition casualty of this is that I've had little time, energy, or motivation to update this blog for the past month. I still enjoying blogging and want to update it, but the general tiredness contributes to a mix of not knowing what I want to write about in that very moment. Or, when I do have an idea, not being able to determine exactly how I'd go about doing so. Writing is a skill that needs training, but you also need energy to do so. Perhaps because over the summer I had a lot of editing for chapter I've been working on and afterwards my brain just needed a break for a bit. Like with physical training, breaks are good! They are a necessary part of recovery, so that you can come back strong. Otherwise you limo along not at your best. In part that's why blogging is such a useful exercise for my writing overall. This semester I'm meant to be on a research sabbatical. So far this hasn't yet kicked in properly, even though we're now into October! It might seem counterproductive to be writing something separate to what is my main priority. But the way see this, like comparing it to exercise, is that this also acts as a warm up. It gets my fingers back into typing, aiding the skill that is thinking and typing at the same time. Yes, there are those who say that writing by hand is the best way for getting thoughts out. But, for me, someone who has always had terrible handwriting and experiences physical pain doing so after just a few minutes, typing has been by saviour. I would not be where I am today without the humble keyboard. I was fortunate that from A-Levels onwards I've been able to use a word processor for all exams and coursework. That's it for today. This has been helpful for me, and hopefully helpful for you. Remember, even if it is something short, any writing is better than nothing. There is often something that you can take away from it. Getting those ideas down, even in a raw form, is something that you can return to another time and refine. That's what my blogs help me do.