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Sandra Madeira

I am a working mum and entrepreneur with a passion for writing, coaching, mentoring and inspiring others. Subjects I tend to blog about are life skills, parenting, decluttering, worklife balance, career etc. I’ve been on a decluttering mission for years creating space in my house, garden and mind. In 2020 I challenged myself to declutter every day for a whole year and write about it daily. After that success I took on a challenge to change my career from accountant to life coach, and in early 2024 set up my own company. I continue to keep up with the decluttering, and now write daily about my home life and coaching business. Have a good day! Sandra https://www.sandra@solarcoaching.co.uk https://www.linkedin.com/in/sandramadeirasmith
Sandra Madeira has written 391 posts for My Writing Notebook

Note 317 – I AM a writer, so let’s move on a step…

I just made myself smile when I read the following post from five months ago: Note 169 – When are you qualified to say ‘I am a writer’? as I feel so different now.  It was difficult back then to say ‘I am a project manager, and also a writer‘ whenever anyone asked what I do.  I used … Continue reading

Note 316 – Fifty days to go…what’s kept me going

It only seemed like the other day when I mentioned that I had 100 days to go until my writing challenge ends. Now I’m starting the 50 day countdown; after today there will be 50 more posts and then who knows! eBooks, more posts, new challenge – the world is my oyster (wonder where that … Continue reading

Note 315 – The difference between disc and disk

I’ve often wondered why compact disc has a ‘c’, but then other disks have a ‘k’ in British English. Wikipedia have a section on spelling of disc and explain that although they both relate to things of a thin circular nature, there is a difference which relates to the origin of the words. The spelling … Continue reading

Note 314 – Where and how do you sit with your laptop?

I’ve been talking a lot about posture over the last few weeks and today I was thinking about something my chiropractor said about where I usually sit and use my laptop. My response to that would be: at the dining room table (or similar table) on the train in bed on the settee Being very … Continue reading

Note 313 – Upper cross syndrome

This blog post is not a ‘writing fact’ as such but instead relates to the posture issues I have been talking about over the last few weeks. As a writer, I’m guilty of sitting at the computer incorrectly (or sitting anywhere incorrectly for that matter – more about that another day). Anyway, my chiropractor Mark … Continue reading

Note 312 – The Erector Spinae (group of muscles)

Being a writer, I spend many hours per week on the computer (and this is as well as my day job!).  As mentioned in previous blogs I have not been sitting correctly at the computer which isn’t helping my posture and spine.  My chiropractor, Mark Thomas (Chiropractor clinic), has been treating me for a couple of weeks now, and although … Continue reading

Note 311 – Travelling v traveling

I went travelling 10 years ago today (for 8 months); how my life has changed since then. When writing something about this on Facebook earlier, the word travelling corrected itself to traveling, so this was yet another word I had to look up today to check the spelling. As suspected, travelling is the British English way … Continue reading

Note 310 – Comparing sulphate and sulfate

If you read yesterday’s post (the word verdigris), you will have noticed that I included a quote from Dictionary.com where they used the word sulfate. Thinking they had spelled* it wrong (*or spelt in British English), I googled it and lo and behold sulfate is the American Way of spelling it (I must learn to … Continue reading

Note 309 – The word verdigris

My dad plays the trumpet and in one of his music books it told him about a substance called verdigris which can form in trumpets or any brass instruments. This image found on Wikipedia (author Richard Webb) shows this green pigment caused by the corrosion of the copper in the bronze. You may also have seen … Continue reading

Note 308 – The phrase ‘chip on your shoulder’

Where does the phrase chip on your shoulder come from and what does it mean?  Wikipedia call it a metaphor that describes people who “nurse a grudge or grievance that readily provokes fury or disputation”. Cambridge Dictionaries online define the phrase as seeming “angry all the time because you think you have been treated unfairly or … Continue reading

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