The Traveling Introvert

Let’s talk about some things that can help you ease into a new job and avoid feeling overworked for those first 90 days and ways to help you avoid burnout. 

If possible, look at a calendar, and at 90 days mark, schedule at least a three-day weekend. It’s often the case that at a new job, the new mental processes and all the new learning will have you feeling burnt out at about 90 days. Also, consider the same for 30 days and 60 days if your job allows. Keep federal holidays in mind and use them as rest days as well to avoid burnout. 

Set the tone early on for the type of boundaries and recharge time you would like that allows you to work best. This could be as simple as telling your manager you would like to, for example, avoid early meetings on Mondays. Set these expectations early on. 

Be intentional about meeting people. It doesn't have to be a live Zoom meeting. It can be prerecorded video or audio. Meeting with people daily via zoom can be tiring, so be intentional when meeting with others.  Make the meetings productive and ask questions that allow you to better support your team.

Think about the communications you use. It could be a web series or podcast; get creative.

Find a mentor, mentors are great for getting information, getting people talking, and for pointers you can use moving forward. 

Be clear with what works for you and set aside downtime. These are the keys to a successful first 90 days. 

Today let’s talk about employers and red flags. There are tell-tell signs from employers that might indicate to you that it’s best not to accept a job offer from them or look for a new job if you are with the company currently. 

The first one is the sink or swim method. At first, it might seem like the company has a good onboarding process, but once work starts, you are left to your own devices to succeed or fail on your own. Avoid companies like this because if you are not appropriately trained, chances are others aren’t appropriately trained, and customers aren’t happy. 

Also, if the entire staff is either young or old, this is a red flag. It can mean that it’s hard to move up in that company, and everyone has been there for a long time if everyone is older. And if everyone is younger, it means people aren’t sticking around and just moving on. 

Always in an interview, ask, why is this position now open? Is this a new position, or is this a position someone left, and why did they leave? The answer can be a great indicator if the company will be a good fit.

Another red flag is when a company says, “everyone here is family. We are all like family”. Generally, this means you are overworked without pay and expected to do everything and anything without complaining because “we are all family.” 

Avoid companies where in the interview they ask you if you are the type of person that leaves at the end of the workday or leaves when the job is done. This tends to indicate that the company doesn't have enough staff, and you will be overworked and expected to pick up the pieces. 

Another huge red flag is when companies say they offer “competitive pay” and won't tell you how much they pay until they give you an offer. This is a big indicator of low pay. 

Poor communication during the hiring process is also a red flag. If it’s messy from the beginning, it can indicate overall disorganization within the company. 

Don’t allow companies to rush you once an offer is made. This could mean they want to snatch you up before you have had a chance to “shop around” and compare job offers. 

Let’s talk about how your attitude or mindset can affect your performance. 

Studies show a positive correlation between a positive attitude and performing your best. Multiple studies back the idea that a negative attitude leads to poorer performance and quality in work. 

A positive attitude encourages constructive thinking, gives you a more optimistic look on life, and it can lead to more energy and motivation to reach your goals. Practice positive thinking, and you should see a noticeable difference in your quality of work. 

Here are some tips to get you started:

Expect Success: successful people expect success, even when they fail. Failing is still a success. A positive attitude and drive will push you forward. 

Look for inspiration: we are surrounded by inspiring things. Be open with your mind. The more variety, the better. 

Build up your perseverance: a person with a positive attitude will persevere through hard times. Don't get discouraged when things get hard. Focus on the overall outcome to motivate you to keep you going. 

Open your eyes to opportunities: keep your eye out for opportunities. Figure out what opportunities are good to take. When you focus on the positive, you will notice more opportunities come your way. 

Never stop learning or moving forward: most successful people are lifelong learners. They are always looking to improve and learn in their current field or in new and different ways. 

Believe in yourself: The critic in your head can make this challenging. But a positive attitude leaves less room for self-doubt. 

Become more solution-orientated: a positive person thinks of a solution to a problem instead of harping on the negative and seeing setbacks as failures. Instead, stay positive and see “failures” as opportunities to improve and come up with a solution. 

The more you seek to improve your attitude, the more success you will experience. 

Let’s talk about making time for fun and creativity. 

It’s easy to block out time for work and events you know are happening, and it’s even easy to block out time for rest. But are you also blocking out time for fun? Not vacations or parties. But just something you find to be fun. 

Start allowing for some mental white space in your calendar. This time is for sitting, daydreaming, and being creative without distractions from your phone, work, or social media. Truly just sitting with you and your thoughts. 

When you are thinking about your schedule (even if you work a 9-5), think about when you can schedule some creative white space and some fun time.  

Before creating a schedule that works for you, consider the following.

Know your priorities and your overall goal: This way, when you are scheduling, you keep an overarching goal in mind of what moves you forward. 

Learn to say, No: No, or you could say “let me check my schedule.” Knowing your priorities makes it easier to say no, and it makes it easier to know when to say yes. Stepping back and saying, “let me check my schedule,” allows you to take the time to evaluate if this is something that will advance you towards your overall goal. If not, say no. 

Focus on impact: Focus on the impact your choices make on your life and aspects of your life. When you see the effects good choices make, it’s easier to say no to things you don’t want to do. 

Understand how long tasks take: We tend to be bad at scheduling out how long a task might take. When scheduling a task, don't lie to yourself, be honest about how long your task will take. Give yourself a time buffer as well. 

Group like tasks together: If you are already out at a doctor's appointment, consider adding any outdoor errand to your schedule while you're out. Or, if you're already online posting, your social media use that time for your page engagement. Make the most of your scheduled time. 

Use the right tools: whatever the right tools for the job are, make sure you know what those are and be ready to use them when needed. 

Establish a system and a routine: when you do something in a specific order day in and day out, you are less likely to make mistakes. 

Schedule everything: work, sleep, eating, downtime, white space, and fun time. When you really want to do something having it on your schedule and committing to yourself can be very helpful.

Self Compassion

Let’s talk about the importance of showing self-compassion. It is important to remember that everyone is going through something, whether we know it or not, and we need to learn to be more compassionate towards others and ourselves.

There are times in our lives where we are hard on ourselves. When you do this, you lack self-compassion. The way your inner critic speaks to you would never be an acceptable way to speak to others. Don’t allow yourself to speak that way about yourself either. 

Here are some tips for self-compassion:

It can help to give your inner critic a name. Example “Beatrice”, that way when you are having negative thoughts about yourself, you can tell “Beatrice” off by name with an appropriate speech. 

Avoid negative self-talk, internal and external. It’s okay to accept responsibility for a mistake. But name-calling is not an appropriate response to making a mistake. You wouldn’t talk to others that way, don’t speak to yourself that way either. 

Practice self-kindness. Give yourself the same encouraging, patience, and understanding advice you would give friends or family when it comes to facing a dilemma in your life. 

Stop comparing yourself to others. Everyone has different abilities and experiences. Don't focus on what others are doing and live your life and enjoy what you have. 

Recognize when something is a learning opportunity. Sometimes unexpected results can yield something great. Don’t be hard on yourself when you make “mistakes”; instead, learn from them. 

Look at your budget and see if you have something set aside for personal development. It can be something as simple as a coloring book. It doesn’t have to be just professional development (but it certainly can be). 

If you are having difficulty being kind to yourself, you might consider professional help. Many people who suffer from imposter syndrome find it hard to be kind to themselves. A professional therapist or counselor can help with that. 

Lastly, be patient. Change doesn't happen overnight. Craft a plan that allows you to tackle your self-compassion issues over time. Deal with one thing at a time. 

Creativity 

We as humans all think of different ways of doing things, we daydream, we work in or out of the home. So even if you don't consider yourself a creative person, we all are all creative by nature.

Solutions start with creativity. The ability to form an idea that brings new and different value to a problem is creativity. There is no need to reinvent the wheel, but thinking of creative ways to help you and those around you daily can be of great benefit. Here are some ideas to get you thinking creatively. 

Get rid of the fear of failure. Creativity is about trying new things. There is always a risk in trying new things. Just because it doesn't work now doesn't mean it won't work in the future. The more you harp on the failure, the less room for positive growth you give yourself. Embrace the lessons that failure gives you. 

Don't stick to the status quo of what's been done before. Learn from what's been done but make it your own. Don't be concerned about what others think about your idea or that you might be doing something differently. Thinking about others will only cloud your thoughts about your ideas. 

Creativity doesn't follow a set schedule. Reduce outside pressures and fill your workspace with materials that encourage you to be creative, be that color pencils, post-it notes, fidget spinners, whatever might help you be more creative. 

Give yourself time to be creative. If you are constantly procrastinating and pushing up on deadlines, your mind doesn't have the opportunity to be creative and sit on ideas. 

Figure out how you best process ideas and come to conclusions. Consider how much space and time you need to get a job done, and then give yourself ample time to be creative. Your career and business will appreciate it. 

Tips for remote team leaders

Let's talk about some ways to be a better remote leader. 

First, hire people who can work independently. There is no need to micromanage a team when you can trust that they are getting the job done. Hire candidates who have taken ownership of their work in the past. 

Over communicate, and encourage others to do the same. Communication is different when working remotely. Consider a shared google calendar for the entire team (including CEO). Find ways to make sure everyone is in the know. 

Cultivate spaces where people can share what they are working on regularly. And make it so that others can hold each other accountable. Be it with long projects or a project of the day.  

Understand that life happens, people get sick, people need off days, the doorbell might ring, you could hear kids in the background. As long as the work is getting done and the interruptions are just occasional, be understanding. 

Be flexible about how you communicate. Not everything needs to be a "cameras on" zoom meeting. A quick form of communication is often a more effective way to get the job done. 

Build systems that account for downtime, for international teams or different holidays, etc. Find ways to communicate without interrupting your team's downtime. 

Practice empathy and check up on your team regularly. As the team leader, this is your responsibility. Actively listen and work to cultivate a healthy working environment. 

Ask for feedback. Just because it works now doesn't mean it will always work.

Let's talk about traditions. 

What are some things you do during the holidays or the year solely because other people have done them before you, whether alive or dead?

Traditions can be held dearly to us.  But they should be able to grow and change in a way that best suits our lives. Like themes, they should be flexible. When we learn more, we should change the way traditions fit into our lives. 

For example, instead of holiday cards this year, I chose to send voice memos with a personalized message to the close people in my life. Many people appreciated this, and it can be a one-off tradition, or I can choose to do this again. Traditions don't have to last 20 years. You can choose to incorporate one-off traditions into your life. 

Think about the things you do every year because it's expected of you and not because you like to do them. Reconsider these traditions and change them in a way that best fits you. Make your traditions add value to you, don't just think about what happened in the past; consider your future. 

Don't forget to join me on January 2nd, on https://www.bullhorn.fm/thetravelingintrovert

We are coming to the end of 2021, and it’s a great time to talk about Themes. These aren’t goals or resolutions for the New Year. But instead, overarching themes for your New Year or even next season. 

Traditionally you might start a New Years’ resolution, but these goals tend to be strict and ridged on the intended action. Say “work out every day” or “lose 10 lbs by x date”. And when we miss a day or don’t achieve our goal, it derails the entire resolution, and we then have “failed.” Instead, a theme is a word or short sentence that guides you through the year or season to make more decisions towards your said theme. 

My 2021 theme was Year of Discovery, so I chose activities that would let me “discover” something new throughout the year. As long as you move forward in choosing activities within your theme, you won’t fail. 

Themes help you avoid burnout. The broadness of themes means you can choose something different daily and still move forward with your theme. You will feel more accomplished at the end of the summer or year, having chosen activities within your theme. 

Themes are easy to pivot and change as well. If you think you like learning via reading books but come to find you prefer to listen to books with your theme as “winter of learning,” you are staying within your theme and keeping motivated. 

Theme can also be made seasonally to avoid the feeling like you have all year to get something done. It shortens down your time frame and pushes you toward your theme faster.

Themes are a different way to look at things and change your frame of mind. 

If you want more info on Themes check out CGP Grey

Join me for a live version of this podcast on Jan 2nd on World Introvert Day at 3 pm EST. Download the Bullhorn podcast app and follow the podcast to get notified when I go live.