How To Advance Your Career

Time to read: 45 seconds

Our puppy's litter when they were itty bitty.

Last year, I joined the Alumni Board of the College of Communication at Ohio University, where I completed my PhD. One of my dreams was to work with larger groups of young people, so when this opportunity came up, it was a clear YES!

For two semesters, I've had the chance to do career workshops with classes of juniors and seniors. The students are STRESSED OUT about their future, and my goal is to calm their fears and teach them to trust the process of their career and lives.

I thought you might also enjoy the content about trusting the process of your career and life. So for the next few weeks, I'll share one nugget at a time to help you advance your career, change jobs, refresh your attitude about your current job, and just generally feel calmer.

If you know someone who could use a solid dose of career advice, please forward this newsletter to them. They can join us here.

If you have specific career questions you'd like me to address, email me and tell me all about it. I want this newsletter to be relevant to you!

 

Feeling Overwhelmed? Do These 4 Things…

Time to read: 53 seconds

My pup on an airplane

Are you feeling overwhelmed? Personal things. Work things. Too much news. Darker days here in the North. If you're overwhelmed, keep reading to find some relief. If you feel great, this is information for another day.

Here are four things you can do right now to manage your overwhelm.

  • Take a break: If you are truly overwhelmed, like your brain is short-circuiting and you can't think, you must stop. Take a walk. Go home for the afternoon. Snuggle your dog. Give your brain a chance to reset and refocus.
  • Make a list: When you have a lot on your plate, writing it all down helps you break each thing into smaller, manageable bites. Checking items off the list feeds your brain and motivates you to continue. Sometimes, I write my list in small chunks of time, meaning the things I will get done in the next hour in the order I will do them. For example: gym, walk dogs, scoop litter boxes, shower, write newsletter. (That's my actual list from this morning.)
  • Choose your #1 priority for the day: Make it the one thing you will (must) get done today. Make it something you can complete in one day, not "write the great American novel" or "design the project plan for xyz." Your priority might be, "call Mary to get the financial data for the project plan." My #1 priority today is this newsletter, and I'm doing it right now before the day runs off.
  • Focus on one task at a time: When your plate is full, it's easy to be all over the place, distracted by all the things. Narrow your view and focus. When it's time to walk the dogs, you only walk the dogs. Then shower. Then the newsletter. That's exactly what I'm doing now. A friend just called and I ignored it to finish this newsletter.

And now my #1 priority is done, and I get the dopamine hit of checking it off my list. Then I can move on to the other hundred things on the list today. Anything else is a bonus.