Matt Rutherford

Nobody tells you to go on a side quest. That's the whole point.A side quest has no deliverable. No ROI. No deadline and nobody to answer to. It's a thing you do because something in you said that looks interesting and you listened. As I wrote previously, side quests are where a lot of great things happen. The new skill that became a hobby. The walk that became a ritual. The conversation that shifted something. None of it was planned.These 28 are low cost, low stakes, and deliberately varied.…

Every week, I share something I learned in the previous seven days. I usually find these while I'm putting my weekly newsletter together but somehow, they don't quite fit! This week I learned about five islands you cannot visit - and why they are forbidden. 5 Isolated Islands That Are Strictly Forbidden (And Why)Some islands are off-limits for a reason. From deadly snakes to protected Indigenous territory, here are five places you’re not allowed to visit. Get better at work. Every Week. One…

Four weeks ago, this series started with a simple claim: consistency compounds. Then we looked at what it takes to keep going when motivation disappears, the difference between presence and performance, and why showing up for yourself is the foundation that makes everything else work.All of those posts were about choices. This one is about what those choices are building, right now, whether you're thinking about it or not.The Mirror QuestionIf someone who doesn't know you personally were to…

Everyone knows they should invest more in themselves. Exercise. Learning. Meditation. The creative project that has nothing to do with work and everything to do with who they actually are.Everyone also knows exactly what happened to those things. They slid off the calendar one week at a time, replaced by things that felt more urgent and less personal. Not dramatically. Gradually. Until you struggle to answer the question "what do you do for fun?" The cost is a gradual flattening. A narrowing of…

UpdatesWe flew back to Dublin last night - four weeks in Spain has been perfect to recharging a little bit as I move into the last phase of the consultation process for my role at Meta. The heatwave over Western Europe looks like it will really take shape over the next few days, and my apartment in Spain is expecting temperatures of 37/38c so we picked a reasonable time to come back to a bright, sunny Dublin. On the flight back, I started watching the 'Star City' a new series on Apple TV that…

Over the last few weeks, I've been writing about what it means to show up consistently. The compound effect of doing it. What it looks like when it's hard. The difference between presence and performance.All of that was about how you show up for your work. For your team. For your career.This week is about the showing up that people often deprioritise: showing up for yourself.The Things That Get PushedYou know exactly what they are. The training you've been meaning to do. The exercise that used…

Every week, I share something I learned in the previous seven days. I usually find these while I'm putting my weekly newsletter together but somehow, they don't quite fit! This week I learned how Official FIFA World Cup Footballs are made - they seem so simple, but definitely aren't! Get better at work. Every Week. One Email. Practical Tools. Real Progress. Get the Mail Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. Join 2000+ readers. No Spam. Unsubscribe Anytime.

One version of 'showing up' is performance: a packed calendar and late-night messages that signal status without building value. Genuine presence is a quieter skill. It belongs to the person whose contributions sharpen the conversation and ensure work gets done.From the inside, performing presence feels productive because it’s exhausting. Real presence often feels less impressive; it involves deep thought, selective participation and the confidence to stay silent when you have nothing to add.To…

UpdatesI'm still in Spain - the warm weather is doing a good job. Entering our final week in Spain, and once again my time has mostly been absorbed in the layoff process from my role. Alongside the consultation process, I've also been helping others that are impacted by running some coaching sessions to help people navigate their next steps and process the emotions that come out of this kind of event. It's been a massively rewarding way to give back something to a group that have been impacted,…

Every week, I share something I learned in the previous seven days. I usually find these while I'm putting my weekly newsletter together but somehow, they don't quite fit! This week I learned about a global network of fungi, that would span 10% of the Milky Way. Earth’s underground fungal network is so massive, it would span 10% of the Milky Way, map revealsThe first global map of subterranean fungi networks reveals how massive its reach is worldwide.Live ScienceSophie Berdugo Get be

You've seen them. The person who's in every meeting, visible on every initiative, always the first to volunteer and the last to leave. Presence as performance, activity as evidence.And then you've seen the person who's in fewer meetings, less visible, less loud. When they are in the room, the conversation sharpens. When they commit to something, it gets done. When they're absent, people notice the gap, not the noise.Both of these people are "showing up." Only one of them is building…

Some days you don't feel like it.The alarm goes off and the thought of another day doing the same thing feels too heavy. It's not burnout, and it's not a crisis. This is the moment that separates the people who build something from those who almost did. Not the dramatic moment. The quiet one, where nobody would notice if you just showed up a little less.The motivation industry ($$$) doesn't tell you that feeling motivated is a terrible fuel source. It burns hot and runs out fast. People who…

UpdatesI'm still in Spain - the warm weather is doing a good job. We spent a couple of days in Almeria this week, a nice hotel, some excellent Tapas and an afternoons relaxation in a spa hotel. Just what the therapist ordered!I am working while in Spain, but the majority of my time has been engaged with the consultation process for my role. It's not fun, but it's important that I get clarity on the questions I have, and understand how the lay-off process works. I've come to peace with the fact…

Every week, I share something I learned in the previous seven days. I usually find these while I'm putting my weekly newsletter together but somehow, they don't quite fit! This week I learned that beavers have been drafted in to fix the London Underground. Beavers could protect a tube station from floodingBeavers are to be reintroduced to a woodland in west London, and their water management of the landscape could reduce flooding at a nearby tube station.ianVisitsChris Harry says: Get bet

Last week ago I wrote about the compound effect of showing up. The key assumption was a convenient one: that you feel like showing up.Some days you don't.The alarm goes off and the thought of another day doing the same thing feels heavy. The meeting you prepared for doesn't feel worth the effort. The project that excited you three months ago now sits in your task list like a stone.This isn't burnout, necessarily. It's not a crisis. It's the ordinary, unremarkable reality of doing anything for…

Everyone talks about their career breakthrough. The big pivot. The moment everything just clicked.Almost nobody talks about the year that nothing happened.The truth about careers worth envying is less inspiring and more useful than any origin story: they were built on accumulation. Showing up on a Tuesday that felt exactly like the last one, and the one before that. Not one good week. Fifty of them.Five things compound when you do this consistently. None of them are dramatic and they share one…

UpdatesI've decamped to Spain for a month - it's our usual summer plan, but with a slight twist this year. The expected happened, I mentioned that my company was expecting layoffs and after five years at Meta, I'm on the 'at-risk' list. I'm going through the consultation process, and while I try and do my job - I'll do it from Spain. Sunshine and tapas makes everything 10% better. Since writing my last weeknote (sorry I missed a week), we managed to get to two excellent gigs: Richard Ashcroft…

Much of the career advice I give focuses on a big move. The promotion chased. The pivot that changed everything. The moment you "bet on yourself."It makes for a good story, but there is more in between those moments.The careers that actually work, the ones people look back on and call impressive, aren't built on breakthroughs. They're built on accumulation. On showing up. Again. And again. Long after the initial enthusiasm has worn off.This is the least glamorous career advice you'll ever…

Six weeks ago I started writing about how organisations really work. The invisible structures and politics you can't opt out of and the influence that matters more than authority.All of it assumed one thing: that the organisation you're in is worth the effort.Sometimes it isn't.You've seen the same problems recycle with new language. You watched the people who cared the most leaving. You know that the system rewards on paper what it punishes in practice.The skills you've spent years building…

Every week, I share something I learned in the previous seven days. I usually find these while I'm putting my weekly newsletter together but somehow, they don't quite fit! This week I learned about an intrepid tail - humpback whales that travel 14,000km to breeding grounds. Intrepid tails – fluke photos confirm humpback whales mount 14,000km ocean crossing to breeding grounds - Griffith NewsNew research documents two whales travelling between Australia and Brazil - breaking records for the…

Over the last five weeks, I've been writing about how organisations really work. The invisible structures behind the organisation chart. The decision-making that happens before meetings start. Why good ideas lose to better-timed ones. The politics you can't opt out of, and last week, why influence matters more than authority.All of that assumes something important: that the organisation you're in is worth navigating.Sometimes it isn't, and knowing the difference is the skill can remain a…

You've seen the phrase a hundred times. 'Influence without authority.' It shows up in leadership programmes, competency frameworks, and performance reviews like it's a skill you can simply learn.Here's what nobody seems to remember: the people with the most influence in your organisation almost never have the most seniority. Those people shape the decision before the meeting starts. They build trust so consistently that people seek them out, not because they have to, because the thinking gets…

UpdatesWork remains in a holding pattern. Layoffs were announced weeks ago and we're still waiting on the specifics. Who stays, who goes, what the new shape looks like. Everyone is planning in the abstract, running scenarios, having conversations that feel productive but aren't, because nobody can commit to anything until the decisions land. It's exhausting. You can't action uncertainty.Wednesday night, our quiz team won by four points. I'd love to claim credit, but I was genuinely useless. The…

Every week, I share something I learned in the previous seven days. I usually find these while I'm putting my weekly newsletter together but somehow, they don't quite fit! This week I learned about Hector the Convector - a thunderstorm that arrives in the same place every day at 3pm. Nature is truly amazing. This bizarre thunderstorm arrives every day at 3pm | BBC Science Focus MagazineA unique storm that is punctual with its time, Hector the Convector is one of life’s weird occurrences. But…

In almost every leadership programme, there is a phrase that pops up: "influence without authority." It gets treated like a skill to learn. A module to complete. A competency to tick off.I've watched a lot of people operating, and in my experience: the people who are best at influencing without authority don't think of it as a technique. They think of it as how work actually gets done.Because authority, in most organisations, is a fiction. Your title says you can decide things. Your org chart…

Most of my side projects die as ideas. They live in notes apps and on scraps of paper. They get talked about with friends and then get quietly forgotten. OncePosted.com is one of the rare ones that made it out.It's a simple premise. A curated collection of vintage postcards, each one scanned front and back, showing the image and the handwritten message on the other side. You can submit your own. You can browse the collection. That's it. No algorithm. No notifications. Just cards that were once…

It's one of the most common things people say at work. Usually with a slight head shake, as if distancing themselves from something grubby. It makes sense, when most people hear "office politics," they picture backstabbing and corridor whispers.I've noticed across nearly four decades of work: the people who say they don't do politics are almost always doing politics. They've just convinced themselves they aren't.Not doing politics doesn't mean you're above it. It means someone else is defining…

I'm still living in Dublin, Ireland. I love my space here. I can see the sea from my living room and I'm surrounded by my records and books. I started an email newsletter four years ago called "Stuff that MattR's", it has evolved into a great way of sharing career and development advice to a growing list of curious people. In 2026, I will be posting new music nearly every day to a list on spotify. I did the same in 2025, 2024 and 2023.I launched a new site called onceposted.com - a space to…

UpdatesAnother week sitting with the uncertainty of layoffs at work. It's a strange headspace to operate in. You can't fully commit to long-term projects. But I also can't just stop. So we show up and do the work in front of us.On the flip side, I've been investing a huge amount of time this week working on agentic workflows with my team. Genuinely exciting stuff that is also full of traps. Process redesign sounds straightforward until you're knee-deep in it and realising that the thing you're…

Every week, I share something I learned in the previous seven days. I usually find these while I'm putting my weekly newsletter together but somehow, they don't quite fit! This week I learned that Neanderthals ran 'fat factories' - a carefully constructed site where they could maximise opportunities to eat mammoths and rhinos to get more of this important nutrient. Neanderthals ran ‘fat factories’ 125,000 years agoFat is a very valuable food component, packed with calories, especially important…