According to an article in the Guardian on New Year's day, a poll of Internet users indicated that 7% of UK users had a blog. Well I've been using the Internet for quite a long time now and recently have found myself reading blogs more and more, so its perhaps time I had one too.
There are probably plenty of things I could blog about - personal interests, random observations, rants on all sorts of issues. But I guess the most productive use of my time would be to link a blog into my professional activities. "Reflective practice" has become quite trendy in professional circles (although my own profession hasn't caught up with it yet). Its really only about thinking about what you do and learning lessons from your experience which can be put into practice later on. I like to think that I do reflect on my work and learn from my experiences, but up to now I haven't done this in a structured way. I also spend quite a lot of time trying to keep up to date and expanding my knowledge relating to my work - reading books, journals, websites and blogs, attending meetings etc. But usually don't stop to think systematically about what I've learned.
Perhaps the best way I can use a blog is to treat it as a "reflective journal". By thinking about my experiences, reading and learning in a more structured way and writing down my thoughts and conclusions, I hope I'll be able to crystallise my ideas and improve my knowledge and practice. In that way the time spent writing the posts and maintaining the blog won't be wasted - even if nobody else reads what I've produced! If one or more people stumble on my ramblings and get something useful from them, well that will be a bonus. Even better, if I develop some new contacts.
So I'll write about my reflections on
- my work as a consultant in occupational hygiene
- my experiences as a trainer
- the stuff I read
- anything else I find myself thinking about
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