Andy Byrne

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Andy Byrne

🚀 Empowering Productivity, Elevating Mindset, & Mastering Business 💼 | Entrepreneurship📈 | Success Hi there!

I'm Andy, and I've spent the last 25 years working in sales, training and running small businesses and now I'm looking at ways to share my experiences with a wider audience. This page will showcase my content around productivity, mindset and essentialism. In the last few years I've flipped my perspective, and how I work to be happier, healthier and make more money overall and here I'll talk about

some of the steps that I took to turn around some of the more challenging parts of my life. I'll show how I've become more productive, focusing on things that I'm really passionate about as well as spending more time with the people I care about and what is essential in my life. I hope you'll join me as I discuss some of the systems and processes that have worked for me, as well as some of the challenges and opportunities that we all face. If you like my content, please feel free to follow me on my other social media accounts all available here: https://linktr.ee/andyssmartlife

01/06/2026

Top of Mind – 1st June
Pictured: I've been spending most of the week either designing new products or making use of Ikea pegboards to organize my tech. At the same time, I'm still trying to hit the gym regularly and eat lighter, particularly in the current heat which I find hard.

As it's the 1st of June, I feel finally like my summer break has finally begun. Although it's been a couple of weeks since the end of term and exams etc, I've had paperwork, exams and the like to finish off as well as some orders for the business so today will mark the start of me focusing on some of my own projects and organizing my stuff at home.

With that in mind, I've put up several Ikea Skadis pegboards around the house in strategic places to help sort out things. My current favourite one is under my standing desk where I've put my laptop, cables and adapters for all my tech needs and it means everything is at hand, but somewhat hidden as it's under the table.

I'll also be spending more time in the gym in the next month as I've been trying to get back into the routine and definitely have been neglecting my fitness for a long while, so fingers crossed my resolve will continue and I won't end up procrastinating or making excuses. This is combined with the fact that I'm doing my best to eat lighter and snack less which, as mentioned above is definitely better with the heat. For those who don't know, I run a little hotter than most people, so any type of heat and I struggle very quickly.

On a completely different note, I've been watching with disappointment at the number of Meta layoffs this last few weeks and it's reminded me that it's now 3 years this week since I left, and unfortunately the march of redundancies have not declined. Almost everyone I previously worked with has been impacted at this point, and it again brings up a lot of the conflict I have about AI, it's usage and the cost. While I love technological innovation, as someone who has been personally affected I am very conflicted.

25/05/2026

Top of Mind – 25th May
Pictured: A tech week for me as I'm working on my own version of Jarvis, a smarter voice assistant to replace Amazon's Alexa, while fixing some parts on one of my 3D Printers. At the same time prepping more products & Anna tries her hand at plating lunch...

With the college work behind me for the summer, I've turned my eyes towards some tech tasks in the house, and obviously as a tech guy, getting in some AI is par for the course, while Anna continues to enjoy food prepping and plating and looked after lunch this week.

For me though the assistant will be hosted in the house on my server and will have the primary function of controlling smart home devices and hopefully replacing Alexa as we're still waiting on the updated 'Alexa Plus' this side of the Atlantic. Plus I want to move away from reliance on 3rd parties and cloud solutions and bring everything back in house.

Obviously with my fondness of Ironman, I had to create it JARVIS style with a very British accent and that distinct Paul Bettany style charm and composure, so while it's early days, he's running fine on my PC and can now control the lights, heat, alarm and much more. Next step is to get him to help with some coding also.

From the business side a small hiccup as one of the tools on my 4 colour tool changer printer has stopped working and while I was able to fix most of the issue, I need to wait for a part to have the machine up and running again, so for the moment our ability to do multi-colored prints is a bit limited so fingers crossed that will arrive this week so that we can get back on track for the Stoneybatter festival at the end of June.

Elsewhere I was gutted to hear that so many of my friends and former colleagues at Meta both here in Dublin and in other sites have been impacted by the latest round of redundancies. It was really tough for me 3 years ago when it happened and I'm hoping to catch up with some of them in the next while to see what support I might be able to offer.

18/05/2026

Top of Mind – 18th May
Pictured: Anna has spent much of the week building a Lego city, while also going a stop motion animation for her class project as well as decorating her nails at a party. I've been continuing to try out new products for some of our clients and Pride month.

In between marking exam papers I've found a little bit of time to do some coding on some projects I've been working on to make the workflow of the business a little more streamlined. I'm pushing to get the whole process optimized and as much automated as possible over the summer so that when I go back lecturing in September MH will have everything she needs to keep going efficiently.

I'd be lying if I said I still feel under pressure this summer to get lots done and the prospect of having no college work for the period is a bit daunting, but I have to keep telling myself that it's the first couple of weeks into the summer break and I can't get everything done all at once, but there always seems to be more to do for my ADHD brain.

Meanwhile, Anna was back at school after a week off, but her social calendar is no less hectic and she had a packed day on Saturday with GAA in the morning, Gaiety class immediately afterwards, then a birthday party for the rest of the afternoon. She's definitely the one keeping the most busy of the three of us, but she's enjoying it all and that's the main thing.

At the same time she's also taking on challenging work herself for her class project. She decided early on after our trip to the Science Museum in Belfast that she wanted to present her project as a stop motion animation, so with teddys in hand and information about Alexandria Virginia she created a 5 minute video about the town where her aunt and uncle live along with editing it and putting text and stickers on the computer.

This week I'll be sorting through 3D files and perfecting some of the older models for easy printing while also continuing my journey to learn Blender 3D software to help me create more...

11/05/2026

Top of Mind – 11th May
Pictured: A week off school meant lots of board games, movies and yummy food as well as lots of crafts at home while for 3D Print Dub, I've been experimenting with rainbow filament and trying some creations for Pride this year while also getting in the gym!

With the final assignments that I needed to mark getting in on Friday and Anna having a random week off there was lots of buzz around the house this week as she had multiple play dates as well as spending time doing amazing crafts and showing her skills as a wordsmith at Scrabble along with Nightmare Before Christmas Monopoly.

While I frantically corrected papers and juggled designing and printing products we all still managed to have a couple of movie nights and we also all rewatched the amazing Arcane on Netflix which is now a new favourite of Anna's. The week off also meant some later nights which we'll have to get out of the habit of doing when school is out as it knocks us all back the next day.

For 3D Print Dub, we've had some steady orders coming in for April and May and hopefully that will continue over the summer to offset the income from not lecturing during the break and I've had some time to design and develop some new products and we're looking at events coming up such as Pride as well as the Stoneybatter Festival in June.

We did lots of stuff for the Festival last year, so we're hoping to have an even bigger presence this time around particularly since it's the 10th anniversary of the event so there's lots of buzz and excitement around the area and with the volunteers already.

Elsewhere, so far I've been pretty disciplined at getting to the gym regularly since the end of term. While not every day, I'm operating the 2 day rule which means I can't miss 2 days in a row and this seems to be working for me even with lots going on. I've been absent for a while so I'm starting easy for the first while with a 2.5k run and a 5k cycle both at a low pace and intensity until I'm back to form.

04/05/2026

Top of Mind – 4th May
Pictured: Anna learning 3D modeling and digital graphic design, while over the weekend we have a low key celebration for Marie-Helene's Birthday with sushi and games. More new products for the business and our little Ghostbuster out in force ice-cream et al.

Strangely for the 4th of May we have nothing Star Wars planned this year. A contrast to last year where Anna wanted to do some of the movies for the day that was in it, but at least over the weekend she did get to experience the Arcane animated show on Netflix and is now hooked on something new. This was prompted by a book about the show I got for MH for her birthday on Friday.

Friday also meant some delicious food from Musashi which is always a favourite as we can have a little sushi as a treat and between that and some board games it was a quite, but really nice celebration.

Anna has also taken to trying to learn graphic design and 3D modelling, and as a result I've been spending time showing her how to use Adobe tools, Fusion 360 and more. It's a little frustrating for her at times, but slowly but surely she's getting the hang of it and the ultimate goal is to design some products that she can sell at this years Stoneybatter Festival.

With lots of requests over the last few weeks, I finally got around to creating a miniature Poolbeg lighthouse as a new product for the shops. We've already had these in Stock Design on Stephen's Green and a couple of Etsy orders, so hopefully they'll do well over the next few weeks. At the same time I'm also prepping for the festival and the hope is we get a stall and can show off our creations.

Anna continues her Ghostbusters obsession and is currently finishing off another animated show and can often be seen sporting her Ghostbusters uniform out and about and apparently this will be incorporated into her Gaiety end of term show this time around.

For me, I'm almost half way through marking all the papers etc for the end of term, and look forward to finishing up.

27/04/2026

Top of Mind – 27th April
Pictured: Anna in the spirit for a trip to the Dublinia Viking Museum, as well as sewing new outfits for her toys and teddys. NCI students showcase their amazing work, both in my digital technology class but also the capstone businesses they've created...

Last week was really all about the end of term for me, with my students submitting and presenting their end of term assignments and presentations. The work in my Digital Technologies for Business class was really impressive and the websites and through processes around integrating technology were really high quality.

Along with this the final year marketing students showed off their final project to create a business from start to finish and many are now looking at selling their products over the summer and hopefully beyond. The lecturers and all the students involved in this capstone assignment really went above and beyond this year and the standards were excellent so I'm looking forward to seeing where these ideas and the experience takes these soon to be graduates.

At home, Anna was in a Viking mood as her class took a trip to Dublinia and she go into the spirit with her own helmet, never afraid to stand out or do something different she walked around for most of the day with it on.

She also continues to hone her sewing skills as she made outfits for some of her teddys and toys, and even had a mock wedding complete with tux and wedding dress for two of them to showcase her creations.

I focused on getting my ducks in a row for the end of the semester as there's lots of assignments to mark and exams to correct, but I wanted to leave each module on a high note where possible and allow the students some time to pick my brain about anything they liked.

On top of this I've been busily creating new products for the home business and we've already had some orders come in for a brand new creation even before it was fully finished so momentum continues and hopefully we'll make the most of the summer,,,

20/04/2026

Top of Mind – 20th April
Pictured: A pizza break over the weekend to relax and treat ourselves. My classes take on some new exciting technology, while orders roll in and more filament is ordered for the business. Meanwhile Anna is enjoying the improved weather at home and school.

The weather outside is slowly getting warmer and brighter, and there's definitely some looking forward to the summer break. Me, I'm heading into my last week of lecturing this week, and with only exam and assignment marking left it'll be an interesting summer for me as I figure out what to do with myself above and beyond the home business.

Fatigue is also kicking in for all of us, as we've had so many activities and work to do, so at the weekend we took the easy approach and ordered pizza and watched a movie. I think all of us needed the downtime and Anna wanted to continue her run of the Mission Impossible movies at the same time.

In work, I had my emerging technology session on Wednesday afternoon with my 2nd year marketing students. I brought in everything from VR and AR glasses to ethical hacking tools for them to play with and ask questions about. It's always a fun session and some of the ideas an questions are brilliant and it's great to see them thinking about the real world and business applications of some of the devices.

Some new orders and existing customers reordering for 3D Print Dub, and it feels like I can't order filament for the printers fast enough so another batch arrived just in time to get everything ready for the shops and no sooner had it been delivered, I was ordering more for this week. It's ticking over nicely now, so hopefully that will keep us with some income for the summer months before I go back lecturing in September.

As the sun is occasionally popping out these days Anna is spending a little more time admiring the outdoors. Still not a huge fan but loves the blossoming trees on the grounds of Grangegorman and we've got some little flowers appearing in the garden.

13/04/2026

Top of Mind – 13th April
Pictured: The Lord Mayor of Dublin visiting our little business to hear all about our 3D printing. Taking in a burger and pool with Anna at RIOT, taking in Project Hail Mary and I finally got around to rewiring the alarm on the house to make it smarter...

Last week while we all had the time off work and school there was a mad scramble to get the house ready for a special visitor on Friday morning. We were so delighted to welcome the Lord Mayor of Dublin to see how we do our little 3D Printing business and, fingers crossed, we may be able to produce something for the Mansion House in the near future so watch this space.

Anna also got to show off her Dublin Bike Week winning poster to him and admire the gold chain of office while we talked his ear off about everything 3D Printing related.

Anna was back at her Gaiety acting class on Saturday so a bit of pottering around town followed along with getting her a burger in RIOT along with a 'kid cocktail' and a game of pool. She's fast growing into the rock chick life and has decided that the smash burgers there are the best in town and managed to finish off a massive bacon double cheeseburger.

We all ran through all of the emotions on Sunday evening, not because it was back to school the following morning, but because we went to see, at long last, Project Hail Mary which was stunning, funny and emotional in equal measure and Anna definitely felt all the twists and turns. This is one of the best movies that's come out in years and I'd highly recommend that everyone see it in the cinema for the full experience as it's really a movie meant for the big screen.

Elsewhere I've been busy with some small projects around the house. Since we moved in I've wanted to make the alarm system smarter without having to pay a subscription, so with the help of some voltage converters, a micro controller and a lot of patience, I now have a completely smart, monitored alarm that I can expand and control. Inner geek is happy!

06/04/2026

Top of Mind – 6th April
Pictured: A flying visit to Belfast to visit the Science Museum, along with our funky hotel. At home we had a lovely Easter lunch with Mammy Phil and experimented with a new setup for our 3D printers in advance of a guest visiting the business this week...

With a half-week at college, we decided to take a flying trip up North to let Anna visit the Science Museum W5, so when I was finished lecturing for the day I met Anna and M-H at the train station and we headed up. It was early evening when we arrived so after a short potter and some dinner we turned in for the night in our funky hotel 'The Moxy' right smack in the city center.

The following morning was up early so that we could spend the whole day in the museum and we were pleasantly surprised at how much there was to do, from building models of suspension bridges to doing green screen news reports on 'alien invasions' and huge interactive physics machines, there was definitely plenty to keep us all entertained.

Anna loved the trip so much and in particular our hotel as it was really well decorated and we could play table football during dinner, so the only challenge was she was practically heart broken to head home.

For the rest of the weekend though we took it easy as we all needed some down time from work and school so movies and episodes of Anna's new favourite, Young Sheldon, were on the cards along with Easter eggs and Lego.

During all this I rearranged half the house to put all our 3D Print Dub stuff together as we have a special visitor coming to see our business on Friday morning... Watch this space for more detail... It does mean for the first time all 3 printers are in the same place at the same time and we can have an overview of all our filament, tools etc.

Other than that we also caught Mammy-Phil for Easter Brunch in Café en Seine on Sunday afternoon, and we're planning on keeping the rest of this week focused on the business and me doing some jobs around the house where possible.

30/03/2026

Top of Mind – 30th March
Pictured: Anna showing off a jersey from Uncle Dave, along with Lego houses with amazing detail, while I show off my IKEA skills building new shelves in her room. Elsewhere I catch up with friends over drinks and work on some 3D models on the new printer.

With the Easter break as well as the end of term rapidly approaching I took a few days to try and power through some jobs at home including putting new IKEA Kallax shelves in Anna's room so that she can show off her book collection. Between 3 of us we made light work of the job and now she's busy rearranging everything so that she can have more space and make the place look 'cool',

While I worked on building, repairing and doing odd jobs around the place, Anna was busy with Lego creations and her eye for detail is really impressive. Uncle Dave sent over a Man United jersey for her too which I have mixed feelings about and now Anna is really interested in football along with everything else.

Aside from shelves I spent the weekend fixing a couple of broken items in the house as well as prepping content for classes and even updating a load of servers and virtual machines, so I can't feel like I didn't have a productive few days, but definitely feeling loosing the hour of sleep due to the clocks changing.

As a break in the middle I got to do my usual social thing in RIOT on Wednesday evening and managed to catch up with a few familiar faces I hadn't seen in a while, but again tiredness from juggling everything meant that it was an early enough night and a well needed lie in the next day.

Multi-colour 3D prints have been the main focus of 3D Print Dub this last couple of weeks as we get used to the new printer and prep some designs for clients. It's a little quieter after the St. Patrick's Day rush, but hopefully with the summer and tourist season around the corner we'll pick up again.

This week with Easter on the horizon a day trip to Belfast to the Science Museum is the upcoming highlight for us all.

Address

Smithfield
Dublin

Telephone

+353856969133

Website

http://www.andyssmartlife.com/, https://linktr.ee/andyssmartlife

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