Determination is everything...

How do you know your life is being consumed by electronic products - answer, when you spend a good portion of an unexpected free night trying to sync everything together.

The effort involved in 'simplifying' my life is quite amusing, when really the easy answer would be to throw the whole lot in the bin.

I got a new iPhone 6 last week which I'm quite enchanted with, but it's no easy task to sync the phone and ipad together and make sure I can access all things across my work computer and home computer as well.

The new age ability to download ebooks and also 'borrow' ebooks from libraries is what causes me the most grief and is behind my desire to have all of my electronic devices synced. I've also discovered there are huge advantages when one is employed by a university which now provides me with access to hundreds of books in eformat.

Where once upon a time the idea of 'wasting' time sitting on public transport, or waiting anywhere for anything was avoided like the plague, it's now something I look forward to because then I can read and not feel guilty that I shoould be doing something else.

Work is gathering pace as we count down the weeks till the first 'go live' for our new system. We'll have four official 'go lives' to get through this year and never have I wanted more hours in my work day to get some of this stuff done. Developing and designing elearning materials is both engaging and more challenging than anything I've done in the longest time.

I just can't stuff enough information about instructional design and the user experience into my brain, because it's not just about the information it's about making the learning experience engaging and fun.

On top of the heavy workload I have plenty of things on the go, I've joined the fundraising committee for the YWCA which is an awesome group doing amazing things for young women around raising awareness of woman's issues and also providing leadership programs. Their Around the World breakfast in April should be a 'must attend' event for those in Adelaide.

I've also become a member of the Australian Institute of Training & Development so I have plenty of learning and networking opportunities which are all in line with my business plans. I start my NLP course next month (can't wait) and I'm only two subjects, three exams and a major project away from finishing my MBA.

Think of all the time I'll have once I get through this swag of things. 

Hubby and I are booked for a trip to Darwin the end of May and by then all of these goals will be successfully behind me and my soul focus can be on my business plans. For now though, my greatest joys are Friday nights with my grandson and sleep ins on Saturday mornings, oh and plenty of reading.

Plus I have one of those rare weekends of nothing ahead of me, no plans, no homework - believe it or not...and woe is me it's going to be 40 degrees both days so I'll just have to force myself to stay indoors in air-conditioned comfort and read and write. It's tough, but someone has to do it.

The weather has been so strange this year, not much of a summer at all except for a couple of bursts like this one and as we swelter in Adelaide, our northern neighbours are being battered by not one but two cyclones.

My oldest son achieved a monumental goal this week and I'm so proud of him. He's finally realised that he's the one in the drivers seat of his life both literally and figuratively and he's the only one who can make things happen for him. So here's to everyone who's achieving their dreams or working towards them.

Keep smiling all, Fi