About Inside Projects

About me

I have been a project manager and IT consultant since the late 90s and am now part way through a MSc Psychology, having completed a University Certificate in Psychology. Between my work and study I spend a fair bit of time thinking about social psychology, leadership, cognitive bias and personality in relation to project management.

How I got started with psychology in <8 hours per week

I wanted to train to be a psychotherapist but didn’t have the time or money (time will tell if I have the aptitude) to pursue any of the courses I had found so far. The minimum requirement is for 16 hours per week and I had more like 5-8 hours. So I looked for ways to study independently and found the Free Video Lectures site to be great for this. I first found a course then found the books that go with the course in charity shops or on eBay/Amazon. The courses are from several years ago, so the books turn out to be very cheap.

I downloaded the lectures onto my tablet and watched them on the bus on the way to work or at lunchtimes. It took me a year to get through UCB General Psychology and I read about 30% of the Gleitman text that goes with it.

One thing I have missed in all this was the chance to digest and talk over the material I am learning. I go to the Edinburgh Psychology and Philosophy discussion group and that works well.

I am using this blog to digest what I am learning by writing about it and to hopefully deepen my understanding. I will try to relate what I am learning to my work life (IT consultancy and project management). Of course, if I were to get to exchange ideas and get feedback on my understanding through this site, that would be even better.