February 2021 Newsletter

...and just like that, we're more than halfway through the shortest month (although in some ways it has felt very long!)

News

On 28th January, the 2021 SAOS Conference, which included Q&A session hosted by Scene & Herd director Monty, took place online. As the conference was free this year, SAOS asked attendees to sponsor their team's ‘virtual walk to Dunblane' – 1495 miles – in support of RSABI.  You can still donate here.Our OnFARM podcast series with agricultural co-op SAOS focussing on climate change continued. (You can listen to Part 1 here), In Part 2, Anna met with Robert Logan – SAOS project manager focusing on climate change, Gary Catto – Highland Grain malting barley cooperative and Andy McGowan – Scottish Pig Producers.  In Part 3, we hear from Mark Clark - SAOS chairman and managing director of Grampian Growers Ltd, Andrew Moir - contract farmer, chairman Scottish Quality Crops, who also heads up the Climate Change Group for Arable and Horticulture & Rory Christie - dairy farmer, SAOS director and chairman of Milk Supply Association.At the end of January, OnFARM was taken over by Lianne and Ally Brunton of The Scottish Association of Young Farmers Clubs’ (SAYFC) for a ‘Sofa Chat’ over Facebook Live with Rob Wainwright, Doddie Gump fundraising founder, former Scotland Rugby captain and British Lion, and now a beef and cattle farmer on the Hebridean Isle of Coll.We'd love to hear and share your news.

This month's newsletter focus is Time: Time Management, Time-Saving tips and Taking Time for yourself. We asked some of the Scene & Herd team for their tips:Monty's advice is “Don't procrastinate! If it takes less than two minutes, get it done.” The 2-minute rule is a mainstay of GTD ("Getting Things Done" - read more here). In a similar vein, John recommends that you 'bite the frog' i.e. do the thing you really don't want to do, first thing.Dave warns against 'DIY' - You can't do everything, nor should you! Outsource the tasks that you aren't particularly good at.Anna suggests you save time by automating as many processes as possible. Filling in the same details each time? Use Roboform instead!  Are you still typing your phone number at the foot of each email? Get to grips with email signatures. Do you spend too long posting to social media? Use a scheduler like Hootsuite (or speak to us about assisting you).  Really up your automation game with Zapier which links your web apps.Jan's top tip is to set aside time to tackle your inbox by setting up folders, creating filters, unsubscribing from newsletters (except this one!) and forwarding phishing emails to report@phishing.gov.uk. There are some great tips here.Click here for a 'short' quiz

March dates for your social promotions:

1 – 5 March  - Scottish Apprenticeships Week1 – 6 March -  National Careers Week 2021You can use both #ScotAppWeek21 and #NCW2021 to highlight how your business is backing talent. You can show the benefits apprenticeships bring to your business or perhaps provide a digital work experience or careers events.3 March – Spring Budget announced4 March – World Book Day a great opportunity to include the whole team, discuss favourite books and share #shelfies!5 – 14 March - https://www.britishscienceweek.org/ Celebrate the diverse people and careers in science & engineering.  Remember to use to hashtags #EverydayScientist & #bsw218 March - International Women's Day - the theme for #IWD2021 is #ChooseToChallenge.  Use your newsletter or blog to detail how your organisation will take action for equality and raise awareness against bias.21 March  - World Poetry Day24th - 30th March -  Tick Bite Prevention Week 2021 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tqLIp-zJJKQ28th  March - Clocks Go Forward (1.a.m.)One final note re work and home-schooling: please be assured that we know what it’s like – if we are on a call and your children need you, all Scene & Herd members will be happy to wait or rearrange. Lockdown life is difficult so let’s all support each other.