How To Kickstart An Awesome 2025 And Escape Living In 'Default' Mode

December is here with a jingle of bells and a dash of snow, and it's time for the last Notts Techfast of the year, for your 'before work' shot of technology-focussed talk and chat.

This will be a 'hybrid event' - both in-person at BJSS Nottingham's office, and available to join online too. Those who mark themselves as attending will be sent a link to join the webinar closer to the time if you're unable to join us for breakfast personally. You are welcome to join us at BJSS Nottingham from 7am. The links will also be made available via social media posts so make sure you follow us on LinkedIn and X to keep up to date.

About the talk

Paul Bailey aka #DesignThinkingDad will be guiding us thorugh How To Kickstart An Awesome 2025 And Escape Living In 'Default' Mode!

It's that time of year again — when we reflect on the past and set ambitious goals for the future.

But let’s be honest, how did your New Year's resolutions fare last year?

• Did they fizzle out by February?
• Were your have high hopes derailed by shifting priorities or unexpected challenges?
• Did you make time for the things that matter most?

What if 2025 could be different?

What if you could thrive instead of just surviving?

In this session, Paul Bailey (a.k.a #DesignThinkingDad) dives into why he abandoned traditional New Year's resolutions for a 'Design Thinking' approach to personal-change — treating life as a prototype, experimenting, and iterating continuously towards a better future.

What you’ll learn…
● Why once-a-year ‘big bang’ resolutions can’t compete with the power of continuous iteration.
● How to adopt mindsets that keep you focused and resilient in the face of adversity.
● A practical, four-step framework to reflect on your past, imagine your future, and set realistic, actionable goals that stick.

You don’t need to be a designer or consider yourself ‘creative’ to benefit from this session. Whether you’re a developer, analyst, engineer, or manager, Paul’s life experiment approach is accessible, impactful, and proven to help you stay laser-focused throughout 2025.

Make 2025 the year you step out of ‘default mode’ and start designing your best life yet. Join us for an inspiring and actionable session!

About The Speaker

Paul Bailey is a Design Consultant at BJSS, the largest independent IT consultancy in the UK.

He’s been working with teams to help build digital products and services for over 25 years and has created innovative solutions for some of the UK’s largest organisations and government departments.

But that only occupies his working week.

His real job and the thing that occupies the other 128 or so hours, is being a full-time developer of little humans (he’s a father of 4.)

In this role as the #DesignThinkingDad, he spends his time coming up with ingenious ways to edutain his kids. Helping them learn the 'Design' and 'Human' skills they’ll need to thrive in the 4th Industrial revolution..

As well as co-hosting Service Designers Connect he’s a regular speaker on the value of Design and a passionate advocate for improving design literacy and problem-solving skills in education.

Our thanks to BJSS Nottingham for sponsoring Techfast and if you're able to join us in person breakfast items and drinks will be provided to help start your day right. Hope to see you there!