Welcome to the Saturday Summary.
What I’ve Written – Blog Summary
This week, we focus on our occupational wellbeing with ways to reduce anxiety, strengthen our autonomy, and kick start new ideas…just to name a few.
Layoff Anxiety. This first post of the week provides five tips for those experiencing layoff anxiety. With the current instability in the job market, I think this is a good one for everyone to read.
Career Autonomy. Why do we sometimes feel stuck in our career? This post explores what might be holding us back and provides a reminder that change is within our control.
Beauty in the Shadows. The hidden, dark side of things can be scary. I’m not a fan. This post has me exploring the flipside – what can we find in the shadows that should be brought into the light?
10 Ways to Kick Start Your Idea Machine. We all go through phases where we get stuck and the ideas aren’t flowing. This post provides 10 exercises to kick start your thoughts.
Busy Box at Work. A recent podcast inspired the idea of having a “busy box” at work to have pre-defined ways to fill time when an open slot emerges unexpectedly.
What I’ve Listened To – PodList
This week, the curated podcasts include a couple that could be helpful in this unstable job market. The one that really got me thinking was the one on making time tangible. I hope something resonates with you.
How Journaling Can Help You Through Hard Times. 20 minutes. Life Kit. In this episode, Suleika Jaouad talks about her book, The Book of Alchemy: A Creative Practice for an Inspired Life. She believes that creative expression, even on bad days, can offer inspiration and insight.
You Are the Author: How to Rewrite Your Most Difficult Chapters. 20 minutes. Everyday Better with Leah Smart. Our stories shape how we see ourselves, others, and the world around us. This episode helps identify the stories that aren’t helpful and how to start to rewrite our stories. From the book Finding Meaning: The Sixth Stage of Grief Workbook.
Sahil Bloom on the Five Types of Wealth. 41 minutes. Making Space with Hoda Kotb. In this interview, Sahil talks about his book The 5 Types of Wealth – Time, Social, Mental, Physical, and Financial. A fulfilling life is built around all five.
Making Time Tangible. 9 minutes. Optimal Living Daily. In this podcast, Julie Morgenstern highlights how transforming your perception of time, from an abstract concept to a physical space like a closet, can drastically improve your productivity. I loved this concept of viewing tasks as items with size and weight to help make smarter choices about what fits into our days.
Skip the Optional Arguments. 5 minutes. Before Breakfast. This is a great reminder of the concept of picking your battles. There are tips on ways to avoid an argument you can see coming.
What I’ve Been Up To
On the professional front, there were interesting projects and conversations on gamification in my work with Wayfarer Solutions. I’m really enjoying digging deep in this space and finding use cases from my 20+ years of marketing experience. Knowing the challenges marketers face, what solutions can bring innovation to campaigns and always on programs. I’ve also been thinking about and experimenting with the ways AI is, and can, shift how we work. One area of focus has been on developing prompts that can help people with personal branding and career development.
Outside of work, I’ve got 2 books in play – Actionable Gamification on the non-fiction side and The Chemistry of Love on the fiction side. I’ll give some headlines when I finish. Exciting news on the TV front crossed my path – Project Runway is back! I’ve loved the show for years and had an opportunity to watch the filming of the runway segment back in my days working at Saturn. So cool to see live. We’ll see what adventures and challenges this new season brings. Life also had fun moments hanging out with family and friends.
What Do You Think?
Do you have layoff anxiety? What can you do to gain more career autonomy?
Did any of the podcasts resonate this week? What idea did you take away?
Productivity season is coming (September – mid-November) what do you have planned?