PDProject

PDProject

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PDProject episodes

  • S2 Ep8: Managing the madness
    SHOW NOTES:
    • Quote 1: "Time, the potential to get things done? " - We often adopt incredibly selfless attitudes towards time which leave us constantly scrambling to get things done on other people's schedules. Surely the focus of our time should be on adding value to ourselves?
    • Quote 2: "What is on your time is on your mind " - Our emotional and physical energy is invested on the things we spend our time on. A visualisation of how little we focus on ourselves comes from our calendars; how many of our events are self-focussed?
    • Quote 3: "What is on your mind should also be on your time " - With pressing responsibilities and a rigid calendar, we often have to block out our lingering thoughts to get everything done. The pathways for emotional expression need to be pathed, open and well-travelled. As inappropriate as it may seem, sometimes the time for that is now.
    • Quote 4: "Pressure - what gets things done. " - Loading up that task-list is often treated as inconsequential, especially if it is the tasks we don't mind doing. What seldom changes though is that the pressure we put on ourselves is what drives us to strike those tasks of, and this has a cumulative effect. Whether we enjoy it or not, the reminder that more output correlates to more pressure still stands. We need to assess the extent to which we heed it.
    • Quote 5: "Procrastination is an emotional regulation problem." - We are too quick to assume that it is more discipline, more time management or a better workflow system that allows us to keep on top of our task lists. More often than not, our efforts would be better placed focussing on managing our emotions rather than our time, it is they (our emotions) which keeps us going.
    • Quote 6: "Often, we don't burn out because we have too many things to do, we burn out because we forget why we do them" - A lot of us have our pull, but what is our push. Once we have a why, we can bear almost any how.
    • Quote 7: "Once you have put the work in and set your boundaries, you can tread that water forever." - If we don't set our boundaries and enforce a manner in which we are comfortable to be treated, we invite people to walk all over us. The same applies to our workload; it is on us to decide when we stop and take a break because our task list certainly won't.
      • 1 hr 4 min
    • S2 Ep7: Career Development
      www.pdproject.co.uk

      SHOW NOTES:

      Episode 7 - Career Development
      • Quote 1: "That will look good on your CV" - As important as our career considerations are, we cannot allow them to take precidence over experiences inspired by genuine interest.
      • Quote 2: "You cannot sacrifice the person you are today for the person you want to be tomorrow" - We need to remain loyal to ourselves. As much as that represents being loyal to our long-term interests and striving to our potential, it also reperesents being loyal to the person you are today. That means not sacrificing the now for the person you want to be because they don't exist (yet).
      • Quote 3: "Assume no, not yes" - When it comes to following any sort of prescribed path it is easy to seek comfort in having a pre-fouraged, tried and tested path laid out for us. What may prove helpful is assuming we are not progressing. This allows for a reorientation reflective of the path we would choose for ourselves today rather than one we foresaw a number of years ago. For how many of us do our GCSE choices reperesent the last time we chose a path based solely on what we wanted to do?
      • Quote 4: "Letting motivation precede commitment" - We often wait until we are presented with an interesting and enriching path before we wholeheartedly engage with it. Sometimes commitment is what we need to open ourselves up to the virtues of what we are doing and only then will motivation introduce itself.
      • Quote 5: "Fix the small things" - For those times where we lack direction, applying ourselves to the manageable problems around us can provide an immense amount of feedback - be it how we best like to tackle our problems, what isn't for us or even what we are inclined to deal with first. With time, this can create an image that may start to look like a direction.
      • Quote 6: "Collecting data" - Sometimes it takes climbing to the top of the ladder to realise that it was pirched agains the wrong wall. As much as it may seem as if it would be a tremendous waste not carry on, it can provide an invaluable insight into where to place our ladder next.
      • Quote 7: "Aims, visions and trajectories" - The more we plan and create goals the greater our chances of dissapointment. This often dissuades us from creating detailed visions of what we want from our future. We cannot allow our goals to manifest as another measuring stick to compare unfavourably to. Rather they can be a tool that helps us mediate the disparity between the situation we find ourselves in and where we want to be. They can, if we let them, provide us with a trjectory that we can begin embarking on today.

        • 1 hr 10 min
      • S2 Ep6: Support Networks
        www.pdproject.co.uk

        SHOW NOTES:

        Episode 6 - Personal Pursuits
        • Episode 6 discusses the guest speakers' journeys through university within the context of managing their support networks. In an unedited format to aid transparency, we discuss our psychologies, social vulnerabilities, experiences and ways in which we can help ourselves whilst helping others.
        • Quote 1: "I think all of your friends should be your counsellors." - Although we cannot replace professional support, the aim should be to create a proximal network of support in which those around you can be along for the ride.
        • Quote 2: "What if pride is wanting to control others' perspectives of you?" - How much more would we share if we weren't concerned with preserving our image? We could all benefit from unpacking our personal blend of pride.
        • Quote 3: "We are our own professionals, there is a vantage point that professionals don't have; our experience" - When it comes to mental health, we should not ignore the person going through it and how important that vantage point is.
        • Quote 4: "Finding your way of making some sort of micro-movement" - Even if it is writing a letter rather than speaking face-to-face, we need to the first, manageable, step to letting others in.
        • Quote 5: "My self-dependence and self-resilience meant I was probably the friend that needed the help the most." - We often only help those who look like they need it the most, but that can leave those prone to helping everyone else without anyone to return the favour.
        • Quote 6: "We can wait until someone else provides the solution or we can think ‘what can I do today?’" - We can be the solution to each other’s problems, that can start with a smile or asking someone how their day went.
        • Quote 7: "What if people are doing the best that they can? We'll never know whether people are doing the best they can or not, but when I assume people are, it makes my life better" - When others react in a way we wouldn't appreciate, it often leaves us resentful. What if instead, this was a sign that they themselves are in need and don't know how to handle the situation?
          • 57 min
        • S1 Ep5: Progressive Extremism/The Snowball Effect
          www.pdproject.co.uk

          SHOW NOTES:

          Episode 5 - Progressive Extremism/The Snowball Effect
          • Episode 5 discusses  the topics of Progressive Extremism/The Snowball Effect. Guest speakers talk about their experiences with working towards large goals, as well as identifying the motives driving them towards them. The episode also touches on how things can snowball, positively or negatively, from the smallest and least expecting of places and managing this, such that your current trajectory remains in alignment with your needs and wants.
          • Quote 1: "Optimise for happiness" - The PDProject Team
          • Quote 2: "What is pulling you? What is pushing you?" - Tom Purves
          • Quote 3: "Passion without a handbrake gets you nowhere." - Tom Purves
          • Quote 4: "If you are not 80% sure that you will be able to achieve your next step, peg it back" - The PDProject Team 
            • 34 min
          • S1 Ep4: Personal Finances/Student Debt
            www.pdproject.co.uk

            SHOW NOTES:

            Episode 4 - Personal Finances
            • A minimalists approach to finance - Matt D'Avella
            • "...what you deserve is to not be in debt, what you deserve is financial freedom" - Matt D'Avella
            • Be aware of "lifestyle creep"  - increased income should not necessarily always correlate to increased spending. Finding a comfortable level of living and maintaining that, regardless of pay rises, allows us to build the financial buffer needed to absorb those rainy days or build towards a better financial future.
            • Knowing when you are most vulnerable financially and protect yourself. Be it from pay day, student finance incoming or the winter sales.
            • Viewing money as an enabler, what doors are you shutting further down the line with your spending habits today?.
            • From the most basic investment that ticks the boxes, does this extra expenditure really provide any additional value, or would extra value be achieved by having more money in your bank account further down the line?
            • University of Bristol Student Finance - For advice on student finances, budgeting and emergency loans.
              37 min
            • S1 Ep3: The Personal Development Mindset
              www.pdproject.co.uk

              SHOW NOTES:

              Episode 3 - The Personal Development Mindset
              • "My Personal Development Mindset was born from tying to make me better suited to the life I am currently living, and since that is constantly changing, there is always room for personal growth" - Yunus Skeete
              • Comparisons can be a blessing, but more often than not they manifest as a curse. A common pitfall is drawing comparisons with us when we are at our weakest. Not too often do we look down the ladder, at those less fortunate than us. Rather we only focus on those who appear to be doing better than we are. This can lead to an immense amount of pressure and a negatively skewed perception of where we sit amongst our peers.
              • "We could all benefit from living a life for the person you are today. Investments in our future are crucial, but make sure you optimise for today's happiness as well as tomorrow's" - The PDProject Team
              • "It is what it is" - Mali Gunter. Seeking comfort in our current situation affords us a degree of rest bite from self-imposed pressures. This is something we are not privy to when we constantly compare reality to our ideals.
              • "Keep it moving - move what you can and leave what you can't for another day" - The PDProject Team
              • "If we don't start, we don't fail" - Failure paralysis
              • "It is not about how we start, how we finish is always more pertinent" - The PDProject Team
              • "Success as a game of numbers" - The PDProject Team
              • "Life is about expending the least amount of effort" - Mali Gunter
              • "Effort implies value, so invest in your life wholeheartedly" - Gruff Kennedy
                36 min
              • S1 Ep2: Productivity
                www.pdproject.co.uk

                SHOW NOTES:

                Episode 2 - Productivity
                • Trello - smart tasks and lists
                • Matt D'Avella - Six books that changed my life
                • Quote 1: "Productivity is not necessarily about increasing output" - The PDProject Team
                • Quote 2: Stop-Start lifestyle - "You are not busy because of the amounts of tasks you start, you are busy because of the amount of tasks you never get around to finishing." - The PDProject Team
                • Quote 3: "There's a secret that real writers know that wannabe writers don't, and that secret is this; It is not the writing part that's hard. What's hard is sitting down to write. What keeps us from sitting down is resistance." - The War of Art by Steven Pressfield
                  • 30 min
                • S1 Ep1: An Introduction to the PDPodcast
                  www.pdproject.co.uk

                  Disclaimer: This episode discusses the  first year journey of Charlie (a university student). This journey covers topics including depression, anxiety and sexual assault.  Although details are omitted, this may not make for comfortable listening for some.  If you have experienced similar or would like to know more, we would encourage you to consider consulting one of the support networks available, links to which can be found here.

                  SHOW NOTES:
                  Episode 1 - An Introduction to the PDPodcast

                  • Bristol Futures - Personal Development Planning
                  • Bristol Futures - Time Management
                  • Bristol Futures - Study Skills
                  • Charlie's Blog - Heartbroken Dropout
                  • Quote 1: "If you don't create your own definition of success, someone else will do it for you" - The PDProject Team
                    • 34 min

                  About PDProject

                  From the publisher's feed

                  The Personal Development Project is a platform dedicated to growing intune with ourselves and others to make being us just that little bit easier.