Aliasgher Janmohammed

First Weeknote – January 2025

Welcome to my first weeknote! I am Aliasgher, an urban planner working with cities to make them better for people. For those new to weeknotes, they’re a way to share weekly reflections, learnings, and experiences – both professional and personal. My colleague, Richard Pope, got me hooked on them, so I’m giving it a whirl for 2025.

Back to Work

Back at work this week after a fantastic December break. It felt like starting the engine from scratch – dealing with all those leave “cobwebs,” as I like to call them. I’m sure many people were in the same boat.

When to Return

Leave timing is such a tricky decision. Do you take as much leave as possible in December/January (my approach in 2023), or do you take just enough to recuperate but return early when the office is still quiet (my strategy this time)? Having tried both, I definitely prefer coming back early. The quiet Slack workspace provides excellent opportunities for deep work, which is particularly valuable when you have substantial writing ahead, as I do this January.

Writing

The Gods have decided that January is my writing month, with four reports and documents due. Thankfully, my past self got ahead of this by drafting much of the content in December before leave!

I’ve been dealing with my fair share of writing blocks, but these strategies have been super helpful:

1. Use Pomodoro – Even starting with 15 minutes of focus time gets me into the writing spirit. I break down each hour into 15 minutes of writing and 5 minutes of rest. Before I know it, I’m deep in the process, words flowing freely.
2. Use ChatGPT – Not to write the document, but to suggest an initial schema that can guide your writing.
3. Embrace Grammarly – Even the free version catches those nitty-gritty errors that inevitably creep into rough drafts.
4. Accept imperfection – Don’t aim for perfection in your first draft. Embrace the incompleteness, especially in early versions. Your audience should appreciate this approach too!

Taking the Train

My wife and I took the train to Kalk Bay – a one-hour journey without the stress of driving. The same route takes 45 minutes by car, but I’d gladly trade those 15 minutes for the train experience. I love train travel and wish Cape Town had a wider, more reliable network that better served its passengers.

Interestingly, we didn’t pay for the return ticket because the station was closed, and security guards declared the ride free. It made me wonder about PRASA’s (the South African train agency) revenue loss from these situations.

Reading

I’m currently tackling the second-longest book I’ve ever read – “The Bee Sting.” It’s evolving into much more than character studies, exploring how single decisions create ripple effects through people’s lives. Though I initially struggled with it, Reddit recommendations encouraged me to persist – definitely the right choice!

Next Week

This week was lekker, but too many evening activities made it exhausting, especially for my first week back. Next week’s focus will be establishing a normal routine, particularly as I train for my first 5K. I never realized running demanded so much: calf strength, leg strength, core strength, and good shoes.

The writing continues, fitting into my busy January schedule working with cities. I’ll also tackle yearly budget planning and quarterly planning. While I’m not a fan of New Year’s resolutions (they rarely stick), I love quarterly planning that incorporates reflections and adapts to life changes.

What I’ve Been Thinking About

When I was study for my masters in transport planning, I learnt about this concept of captured and choice users. I have been thinking about that a lot this week when looking at the traffic statistics in Cape Town and taking the train ride. Watch this space for a future blog post!