In bed in the middle of the night a few weeks ago, I was very abruptly woken by what sounded to me like someone tapping on my side glass door.

With only me and the cat in the house at the time, my senses were on high alert.  Even the cat pricked up his ears.

No-one taps on my door in the middle of the night.  I live on a secure gated community site.

So, I’m sure you can imagine the thoughts racing round my mind.  Do I ring the police?  Do I stay where I am?  Do I get up and look out?  Did I lock the doors last night?

It took quite some time of listening hard to feel that the noise was not repeated and that I couldn’t hear anyone prowling round outside.

But it was certainly a disturbed night.

Fast forward a week.  In bed in the middle of the night.  I was suddenly woken by the sound of voices and someone walking past my bedroom windows (ground floor) waving around a torch.

Now this is getting difficult.

No doubt there’s someone out there this time.  But why the torches?

This time, I got up and tentatively peered through a crack in the curtain.

The site is in darkness.  The security lighting has come on.  Everything is black.  I live about 1 min walk away from forest, so when I say black, I mean black.

Residents’ alarms started sounding.  Oh, this really is not good in the middle of the night.  Someone tried the entry phone for the building.  More voices.

Suddenly the lights round the community green came back on.  Power cut over. And I went back to bed.

Just got myself in when I heard voices in the living room.  Wow – this is so not right!  Now in total panic.

Then the electronic noise of the bleeping on the washing machine sounded.  Somehow the tv and washing machine have miraculously reset and switched on all by themselves.

Trust me voices in your living room in the middle of a dark night are not good.

Of course in the light of day, all is well, and for anyone on the outside things seem just normal.  But if you’ve had an experience of things that go bump in the night, take a moment or two to reflect on the impact of that on yourself and your work the next day.

Our clients, our employers may expect us to do our normal “thing”.  But remember – it’s good to talk.

So thank you for listening.