The Traveling Introvert

I want to talk about volunteering, something I've done for the majority of my working life in one way or another. And yes, there are upsides to volunteering and giving back to the community, your local community, the international community and people in general. And there are also downsides. But let's talk about the benefits, first of all. Volunteering can be seen as a vital service to your community. There are many organisations that rely on volunteers to help them get done what they need, doing charities and nonprofits.

Basically, it often takes the care and empathy from volunteers to provide help the community's needs. Now, there might be a lot of different organisations that thrives on volunteers, and it can provide benefits to your life as well as the people that you are helping. It can help you build more relationships when you're part of a team connexions form learning. This affects three out of five Americans. According to Signees 2020 Loneliness Index. Loneliness needs depression and anxiety and can wreak havoc on people's immune systems and the economy.

As we have seen recently, when you start volunteering virtually or otherwise to meet new people who share your values but are different from you, from those you help and from those you work with, they are all different. Creating new relationships and opening your life to more opportunities, knowledge and understanding of the world is a huge benefit from volunteering. And the great thing is you can do a lot of virtual volunteering, especially right now. But even before I certainly did virtual volunteering and it can be such tasks as compiling data during analyst work, it doesn't necessarily have to be the kind of work we have to be out talking to people all the time.

It could just be creating a spreadsheet for people so they can see where the money's coming from or where it's going. It could be leading a coworking sessions. There are so many different ways to volunteer to help organisations. One of the other benefits is it increases your knowledge and understanding of others only volunteer. You get a clearer idea of how other people live differently or similarly to you, opening your perspective and getting a new understanding of the world and the people within it.

This increases your compassion and empathy, and this knowledge allows you to live a more positive life with more intention and knowing empathy, where people are coming from and the struggles and maybe how you can help them. It can also provide you a sense of purpose. It doesn't have to be overall purpose, but a purpose while doing this role. When you know your purpose is in life, is it to understand he one where fit best within a community, within the world, within your role and your job?

This knowledge also helps bring a greater sense of happiness and success. Most of time, because you feel fulfilled, it helps you feel fulfilled. Purpose and fulfilment do tend to go hand in hand, and volunteering can give you a sense of direction. It can help you figure out things that you do like and don't like work that you would like to do and work that you do not do well without the added pressure of it being for a job and for money and, you know, to pay the bills so you can use it in a way to test different types of roles and things that you would like to try out.

Also, I can give you a sense of pride because of what you're doing and the difference you're making in people's lives. So these are all various methods where volunteering can bring a benefit to your life. But please not let's not overlook the downsides of volunteering so many times you can volunteer and have your work taken for granted or basically have an organisation use you instead of paying somebody, instead of paying somebody to do the work part time, paying a reasonable wage, just get so used to having a volunteer.

They forget that if they actually want to have a thriving business, they should be able to afford to pay someone that will. Sometimes being a volunteer is a thankless role. Sometimes you do not get fat for being a volunteer. You don't get any praise, you don't get any recommendations. Nothing comes up on your LinkedIn profile. Sometimes it is a thankless job and you might feel that you are being taken advantage of. So just be aware when you're volunteering what you get out of the situation as well as the organisation.

Thanks for listening. This is Janice from The Career Introvert, helping you build your brand and get hired. Looking forward to speaking to you next week. Have a great rest of your week.

I'm going to talk about creating a reference system and this is something I've realised that I've been doing unintentionally for a little while now. So when I say creating a reference system, the reasoning to do this is so that you you free up space in your brain for other things. And what I mean by a reference system is, for example, when you go shopping, do you go ahead and just make a list of all the things that you need and then go shop for them?

Or do you make a list of all the things you want, go around your cupboards and those sort of things, and then go shopping? Or when you run out of something or when you're down to the last jar or 10 or kind of something, do you then go to the place where you normally go shopping online or place where you make a list and write that item down straight away, which those three things do you do? And which of those three things do you think helps free up more space in your brain for other things?

So what I've been doing for a long while is any time I think of something that we need in the house, I'll go ahead and go to my target dot com or Amazon.com or whatever site that is to whatever it is that we're using for shopping and go find that item and put it in our cart, not buying it then and there I am just adding it to our cart to buy later. And I've been doing that for quite a while. And then what I've been doing is as far as I was having a conversation with a friend the other day about content, how do I think of content and where do I come up with ideas, etc.

? And I was I said, well, I come across things all the time when I'm not thinking about content and when I'm not thinking about my podcast or my newsletters. So when I am coming across content, what I do is I have a place where I go and store the link to said content that I want to go ahead and talk about. And so this place I have, this could be a better name for it, but it's like the dumping ground.

And so it is a dumping ground of ideas. Articles means Facebook chats, things, whatever it is that have sparked interest about whatever it is that I'm going to talk about. So this is a dumping ground and it frees my brain because I'm like, OK, I'm going to remember that thing, because otherwise what I used to do before was, oh, that's a great article. Click read article, maybe have a tab that's open for months on end because I'm like, I need to come back and read that and talk about that.

And then when I do want to go ahead and create content around that thing, I can't find it. I'm not thinking about it at the time. I'm on a different, different document, a different item like it could be a laptop. I could be on the phone, can't find it, or I'll just go and do something totally different. So having one main place where I put stuff that I want to talk about on my podcast, stuff that I want to talk about in my news, that is stuff that I want to talk about in webinars is a really good way for me to keep track of content and be free my mind from having to remember what I did with that content so I can go ahead and use it later.

So I realise that now this is expanded into other areas of my life. So I use it, my shopping, I use it for creating content. And so I was speaking to a colleague about this because they found it really difficult to sit and create content because they had to find inspiration for that content. So now they have this Pinterest board and they have this Trello board and some other places where they go ahead and dump content. And it doesn't have to be just for creating content.

It can just be for it. For an example, you are talking to a client you're having is a meeting and they're telling you this list of things that they want to do in the future and mid-term and stuff that you're going to do now and you know. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And then maybe write it on a Post-it and then nothing happens. You remember some stuff because you're going to do it straight away, but the long term stuff in the midterm stuff kind of gets lost.

What did you do with that Post-it note? You need a system. So whether it's always clear or Post-it notes at the end of the day and make sure that it is inputted into a computer or a note taking Apple to do task list app, what is it you do? What is your system to make sure that you remember all the things that you need to remember that is really important will help you free up space to do other things and be more creative and just have space to breathe rather than having to remember all the things because your brain can only remember.

Say so much. Thanks for listening. This is [email protected] helping you build your brand and get hired. Thank you for speaking to you next week. Have a great rest of your week.

I want to talk about procrastination, kind of, but in a different way, how to bounce back from feeling like you've been procrastinating or lazy or that you've wasted any time in your day. Because here's the thing. We have a habit of, as humans say, it's midday, like, oh, well, I haven't studied X, Y and Z, so I'll put it off to tomorrow because I won't have time to finish it today or then before you know it, it's two o'clock.

You're like, oh, well, I could have done this other thing, but now I'm going to put it off to the next day and then it's five o'clock. You're like, oh, well, like, I'm not going to do all the other things right. Don't wait till some future moment to start something or do better. You have an opportunity to do better or to start something right now. And I think what we get trapped in with our thinking is that we have to start fresh tomorrow.

We can start fresh next week. We can start fresh next month. We're always waiting for that. But delineator, which we've made up arbitrarily in our minds what that is, and just by doing so arbitrarily in our minds, we can choose to start now. I definitely have been the person that, you know, like, oh, wait till, you know, the next set of virtual cycles starts what I'm working with coworking like, oh, well, it doesn't start for like an hour and a half, so I won't start X, Y and Z.

There's nothing stopping me from studying X, Y and Z. It's just a form of procrastination or having a start point. Something about us as humans feel the need to have a clean, fresh start point. Now you have the opportunity to wipe the slate clean and begin again. This is easy. If you have a way to mark the transition, you could use mealtimes or other daily rituals to create transitions. For example, you could be like, OK, I'm going to start after breakfast.

I'll do this thing after lunch. I'll do that thing after elevenses. I'll do this other thing, whatever it might be. Or you could use physical action as a divider of time. If you need to get a fresh start for your day, get up and go for a walk, do some breathing exercises, meditate. Any of these things can help your brain believe that you were leaving behind a previous state and decisions and then you are starting fresh to make better ones moving forward.

There are so many things that you can do in that way. So just think about it doesn't have to be dinnertime or lunchtime or after this meeting, it can really be as simple as. Getting up. Going outside, walking around the block or just walking down the street, coming back and sitting down again, that's your fresh slate. It could be going sitting in a corner for three minutes, centred deep breathing. Meditating a little bit, clearing your mind, stopping coming and starting again, that could be your clean, fresh slate, it could be journaling and a book, getting a book, writing a bunch stuff down, doodling, colouring, stitching, crocheting, doing the laundry, anything it can be used to help your brain reset.

And I think it's really important that we learn to do this as humans and not just wait for that arbitrary day in the month or day of the week to start a thing because nothing is worse than not starting something. You don't know what the possibilities are and what could happen once you start this thing. And I am definitely guilty of putting things off. I know from a previous month I was like, I'm not going to do X, Y and Z because I'm waiting for other people to make decisions about A, B and C.

Were these decisions linked? Sort of, but not really. It was just an excuse me, procrastinating, maybe me being scared. That's something to think about, is also why you don't want to start this thing that you are putting off, because getting to the root of that might help you also move forward. Well, thank you for listening. This is [email protected] helping you build your brand and get hired. Looking forward to talking to you next week.

Have a great rest of your week. If you have any questions that you would like me to answer on the podcast. Email me at [email protected]. Have a great rest of your week.

I'm going to talk about saying no, but not just saying no, generally when you're feeling overwhelmed or think about productivity or one of the things we get told, and I definitely agree with it to a certain extent, and I've said it myself, is to say no to sad thing and constructively saying no or, you know, I'll check my calendar or I'll do whatever it is to put a little buffer between that person asking a question.

You having to get back with an answer straight away, because a lot of the time might say yes, reflexively and then look at me like, oh, I don't know how I'm going to fit this in. So, yes, when you feeling overwhelmed and you're not sure if you can do something or maybe you just don't want to say yes to something, saying no in a way that is constructive is helpful. However, when you're at work, you might feel more pressure.

If you say now, you might feel that you can't really. So here's what kind of works, yes, you should say no more often, because it will free up your time and really work for your productivity. But in practise, this advice can also kind of backfire, because while you can set boundaries around your work, you can't straight up refuse a task when your boss asks you to take it on. So you need to figure out a better way or method of saying no, which can at least turn that no into an actual actionable solution or like a no.

But so instead of saying no, a straight out no or no, blah, blah, blah, blah, you can also say no, let me check my calendar. But instead of saying no, ask when I'm without understanding sort of where your deadline might be, it can be superficial for you just to say no straight off the bat could be there asking you for something that they don't need for two months. So setting that boundary be like, OK, when do you need this body is really, really important.

And so the other thing you can do to help expand that is, oh, you need it by this date. OK, well, let's look at my calendar and see how this can fit in. So you want to sit down with your manager or whoever else, you know, time to look over your schedule together. This only works if you've got sort of time boxing in your calendar where you've blocked out certain times for certain things on certain tasks.

So you're like, OK, here is everything that is on my plate for the week ahead. For example, here, all my task is how long it should take to do them. This is what my calendar currently looks like. Now you want me to do this X, Y or Z task for whenever it might be. Let's see how I can fit it in. Maybe this task you've already given me that you can see here that aren't as much of a priority as this new task you want to give me.

So let's work to see where I can fit some time into work on this thing that you need me to work on and then we can figure out the priorities together. Now, the great thing about doing that is you're being proactive, showing how your time is being used, because a lot of managers really just don't have a clue. And you're saying you're happy to make space and time for this task, but they need to keep in mind how much of a priority it is and it helps them rethink their priorities and what they're asking.

So asking when they need it and then taking a look at everything that you need to do is super helpful when it comes to making sure you have time, block time, letting your manager know exactly what it is that you're doing and making sure that you have space and time to do said work. Now, just say, like we discussed before, just saying no isn't the best option. So having these extra questions like how long do you think it's going to take?

What steps and what other information do I need to make a concrete sort of plan about this? Because sometimes you think it's going to be one thing but really ends up taking X, Y and Z time. And so if you've already shown your commitment and said, OK, this is how much time I have, and then you figure out that, oh, actually, it's going to take X, Y and Z more time, you can then get back to manager and be like, remember when up to my count I had this amount of time we thought the task was going to take this amount of time.

Well, it's not it's going to take this amount of time because of X, Y and Z. So now let's take a look again, see if the timeline is still right and if that's what we want to do and how priority it is. And this is how I will fit it into how I work. So this is a just a different way that you can work with managers to help them respect your time, be let them see what you're doing and see give a little bit of pushback if they're trying to get you to do something that is out of scope or will take too much time and make you work overtime that they won't be paying for.

So I thank you for listening. This is [email protected] helping you build your brand and get hired. Look forward to speaking to you next week. Have a great rest of your week.

day I want to talk about I can't believe I'm saying this, things that happen on some things that you really shouldn't do when you are on Zoom. So in my time, I have been running online coworking sessions and sometimes most people have their video off, which is fine and makes perfect sense. But occasionally I've been running the sessions and there's a couple things that I've noticed that even if I'm deep in work, catch my eye and therefore make it hard for me to concentrate.

If you are on video and depending on where your camera is compared to you, especially if your camera is lower down on, you are looking down into your camera. If you are eating or chewing gum while being on easy video and you were looking down into the camera, it's not a great look. And also it is very distracting if I get it, if you are working and the camera's on for accountability. But that movement of constant chewing can be distracting for people because it is a very consistent kind of movement that can back.

And also people then want to know what you mean, because there's been times where I thought someone was just like taking a bite and then realised that the chewing gum the entire time or they're having a full four course meal, then the other things that I have seen and these are stories also that people have told me about things that they have found disturbing during coworking sessions as well as in video meetings, is people who pick their nose and not just a gentle sort of like wipe or blow your nose and sneeze and wipe it out and go.

But more like, you know, digging for gold or buried treasure up there. If this is something that you do, please be aware that people can see you and might find it off. Putting other things that people have mentioned during the meetings is the camera of the camera of your angle. The angle of your camera is very important. If you are looking down into the camera, it means the camera can see directly up your nose. I didn't mean to do to nose things in a row, but so be it.

And that might not be the best, most flattering angle for you. It's also not ergonomically great if you're using the same keyboard. So something to think about when you are doing a zoom meeting, online, coworking, any other sort of thing that involves Zoom. What else have I heard about? There was also the time when and I get it, it happens. You forget that your camera comes on automatically. You set it to come on the start of a meeting and in the meantime you faffing around doing whatever.

But we've definitely had people who have gotten changed during a zoom meeting or working session. They kind of put the camera sort of when you sort of half close your laptop and you put the camera down and you think the camera can't see stuff. But the problem tends to be Kamisese, the lower half of you. So if you are, you know, bulleting where you you're great on top in the bottom. We've just got underway. We see that.

So just something to keep in mind. Just because you close your laptop, then three quarters of the way doesn't mean the camera switches off and or we get to see the lower half of you. And it could be that your dog is at your feet and we just get sea dog. Or it could be that we get to see those fancy fishnets that you're wearing or some stripy socks or underwear and a lot of leg. So these are things to take into consideration.

I highly recommend chess is better just not to have video if you're going to do anything and or double safety is to have a little cover of your camera that you can flip over it so that it can cover it. So you know for sure that your camera is not on or it can be seeing stuff because, you know, stuff glitches. Just because you press that button on zoom, sometimes it doesn't always work or there's a delay, etc., etc.

. So thank you all for listening. If you have any stories of things that people have done during zoom meetings, that or coworking sessions that you would like to share, please email me at [email protected], helping you build your brand and get hired. Thanks for listening and have a great rest of your week.

, I want to talk about processing time, there's been a lot of changes in the world in the past year or so, and I'm sure everyone has been dealing individually with changes in general. And to be fair, changes happen all the time. And sometimes when you don't realise that you feel like you're being lazy or unproductive, you might feel like just staying in bed for the day or reading a book or whatever it is that you like to do to help yourself feel better.

And for the longest while I was talking to a friend of mine, as always, these episodes, so many of them are inspired by a really good friend of mine. And we're talking and I was like, I don't want to do this. I don't feel like doing that. I have a couple of things that are up in the air in the moment. And so I don't want to move forward with these other things because things are up in the air.

And I said, this is just me using these things up in the air as an excuse to procrastinate. And she was like, you're not procrastinating, you need processing time. And I was like, yeah, but blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Move on a couple more days. And I'm complaining again that, yeah, I put this thing off and I'm putting this other thing off until these things get sorted.

And I should have some closure at least next week. And she once again was like, yes, I understand what you're saying, you need processing time. And I was like, oh, OK. And then I had a second friend be very much like, you need to do the pros and cons of this and you need to figure out this and this. And if all things are equal, which would you choose? And I was like, oh, I guess I need to.

And it's a process that because so much of my life, I have fallen into things by accident. And to be fair, whatever happens next, I would have fallen into it by accident as well. However, I never really realised I have the luxury to process and understand that I need to process. And even if I don't end up making a decision and the decision gets made for me, at least me processing everything that's going on is hugely important to my well-being and my ability to go ahead and do other things.

And so processing time, ladies and gentlemen, is what I want to talk to you about, giving yourself the time and I see yourself, your brain, the time to process. And that can mean many things. The brain filters through a lot of stuff. You have a lot of inputs coming in at you throughout the day, from email to social media to just being outside to talking to someone. There's a lot more inputs today than they have ever been.

And you have that along with whatever you're dealing with at the time. Maybe something's happening with your children at school, maybe works making a change. Maybe there's something happening in your personal life. You as an introvert, you as a human being, need to take the time to give your brain space to process. These things, and I don't think it will happen in a day very much like, oh, I've gone and I've written down all the things that are on my mind, I processed I can move forward.

Now, that is not how your brain works. Your brain is like, oh, you've written all the things down. That's great. You'll have some space. Now I want to fill up with stuff. Don't let your brain fill it with stuff. Sit, meditate, go for a walk, take deep breaths, pause, chill, relax. Think about nothing. Think about everything. Let thoughts float, don't feel the urge to write them down.

Just float back and do other things and then come back again an hour or two hours or a day later and focus again on that thing and process and think and float. You need a couple days where all you do is sit and eat cherries and strawberries all day while crocheting. Go for it if you need to colour, if you need to journal whatever it is, don't try and shove all these other things in your head. So I had a day off and I was like, oh, I need to plan the day off.

And I was like, my wait, I shouldn't plan a day off. I used to have it and I don't know, I got out of practise where I had one day a week, which just like do what my mind and my body tells me feels good at the time. And I stopped and I didn't realise I had stopped doing that. So don't feel you were being lazy. Don't feel that you're being unproductive. Remember that you need time to process everything that is coming at you.

Take that time to process. Don't be hard on yourself and you will find that life is easier. Thank you for listening. This is [email protected] helping you build your brand and get hired. Have a great rest of your week.

introvert today I'm talking about what to do when you have an introvert hangover. This is what I currently have I I had a busy couple of weeks that involved seeing humans in the flesh because there is a difference between an intimate hangover and a Zoom hangover. I know a lot of people during the pandemic got very zoomed out and, you know, fed up of them. And I get that and how I dealt and it's kind of easy to deal with that.

You just have less same interaction or change the way you have your same interaction. And obviously in the past year or so, I spent less and less time amongst other humans, are having to do with other humans in person. And I thought I was being smart and doing a soft re-entry into having to deal with humans in person. I had a weekend where I saw some people in small doses and I had an evening where I had a break. I was all by myself and then saw some other people in small doses and then had another break.

And then I was on our way home. We had brunch with a friend, which was wonderful. And then we made a last minute decision to go see another friend. And then we ended up spending, I think, an hour and a half there speaking to this other friend. And it was it was worth the trip. But what I realised was my mind already thought, hey, I'm on my way home and. Was almost in wind down mode when we ended up seeing this other person, and so I got back from that trip and passed out and that was a few days.

And then I had a couple of busy days because, you know, after you've taken some time off, you always try to catch up. So at a couple of busy days with some slightly stressful calls that I had to make, and then I went to an event outdoors. But it featured a lots of people that I didn't necessarily know and no one that I knew very well. And this event was from about five, six, six ish in the evening.

And I did not get home until about 1:00 and then the very next day. I slept, didn't even want to talk to the other person that I live with, and I thought I thought I to be OK, but I got up and I was grumpy and I was tired. But it wasn't a tie due to lack of sleep, like I wasn't a yawning tired, it just presented to me just feeling very drained and tired and grumpy. And then that same day, I also had to go to another.

Rent and hang out with a couple of people for a couple of hours, and I got back that evening and yes, was hanging out, but it's kind of that when you're at home and you need to be productive, but you just can't. And then this is now manifested into data where I'm just sort of napping, playing games, not sure what to do with myself because I know I should be working. But at the same time, I'm foggy brained.

I don't have the energy. I'm not going to produce good works. What the hell am I doing? So I would love to know. Dear listeners, how does your Internet hang over present in you? Do you get grumpy? Do you get hungry? Do you get short tempered? Do you have foggy brain? Do you like how does it present in you? And also what do you do to counteract that? I realised I was foolish to not give myself enough alone time and felt guilty and wanted to perform societally.

Also realised that my my levels have obviously dropped the ability to deal with lots of people for more than a few days or what have you. You know, it's a muscle that muscle has exercised, atrophied, petrified. That would so what I am going to try and do over the next week or so is to nap read. I did a lot of meditation that was useful, and I'm going to do some work and I need to plan and check my schedule and see what other things that I've got planned and make sure I have downtime in between.

And I'm just trying to figure out what works best for me in my current situation to help recharge myself. Whatever that might look like and how I might feel about it could be do nothing, but I feel bad doing nothing. So that's a whole counter-intuitive thing for me. So those of you who are out there who are thinking about going out and seeing humans and you haven't seen them in a really long time, be aware of the overwhelm and be aware of the impending possibly you might not get it, but just be aware that it could happen.

Hang over that. I mean, they haven't had alcohol hung over in a really long time, but this almost feels worse. Thank you for listening. This is [email protected] helping you build your brand and get high and have a great rest of your week.

Introvert today I'm going to talk about staying with your employer for sentimental reasons, and this has come up due to a couple of clients that I've been working with and. It's a case of I've got a client, she has been working with a Start-Up for eight years, she was an employee in about four or five. She's been with them through thick and thin. She's helped build processes, build the company that she's not a co-founder and worked 60, 70 hour weeks well, obviously at 40 an hour pay.

And basically her life was consumed by this organisation. And she did rise up the ranks along the way due to experience within that organisation. It was like her first job and also due to just knowledge, she went and pulled together and created processes and documentation and programmes and figured out how to basically run this type of logistics company. And now it's got to a stage where the company is heading in a direction that she doesn't agree with. There are people have values, and this company, when she started with them, were very much in line with her values.

But now, as time has moved on and the company has gotten bigger, they have moved away from those core values and she's tried to tug them back time and time again, to let alone no success, to the point where she's wondering why she is the only one talking about the company's core values anymore. She has some options of she started a business on the side that she's got, but she's staying with the organisation right now because of stock options.

And because she doesn't want to leave under bad terms, she would like to have a six to 12 month transition to go part time and then transition out of the organisation. And the CEO apparently agreed with this. However, as time has gone on, because she set up her particular department to be able to run without her and someone else is taking charge of her department, even the transition over for that, she wasn't she was cut out and it was just between the CEO and this new person and any other things that she's done.

She now has a new role within the organisation, but it hasn't really been clarified or talked about. And so she's finding it hard to get anything done because anything that she says is not perceived as important anymore from what she was doing before. And she is staying with the organisation. She wants it to go. Well, there's another person who worked for the organisation who also has been there for a couple of years, again, wants to leave in a professional manner, wants to do a transition.

And yet what is happening with this organisation is no decisions are being made, no information is being put across. Communication is very bad. And at the end of the day, most people that leave this organisation are escorted out. Basically, they are seen as dead to see suite of this organisation. They tend to blame whoever leaves for not sticking it out because. The culture of hustle and got to work harder, and if I can do this than everyone else can do this, which is pretty toxic and which is why people are leaving, they are tired and fed up of feeling underappreciated and underpaid, along with all the other things that are happening within this organisation.

And so my question to these people are, what's stopping you from leaving now? And they both and some others have said, because I believe in the organisation, because I want to leave in a professional manner. And most people seem to think that living in a professional manner is giving notice and then seeing what is said and comes down from on high. And if he says, yes, that's great, awesome. But if On High has a reputation for not making decisions and not saying anything, people are left on the hook.

So there are some people who have been left on the hook for over a month when they're trying to leave. Don't get yourself trapped in a situation where you think that you are worth more to the organisation than you really are. If you want out for your own mental health, get out. Don't wait and rely on other people to get you out. It's not worth it. Both of these people are burnt out, they're tired, and now they're just frustrated and leaves a bad taste in their mouth that they would not recommend working for the organisation, which isn't great PR.

So just a cautionary tale. For those of you who might be thinking of leaving your current employer, they won't care. I mean, some will, but most jobs won't care if and when you leave. So we do it when it's right for you. Thanks for listening. This is Janice at The Traveling Introvert. Looking forward to speaking with you soon. Have a great rest of your week.

today I want to talk about some popular sort of self care and self love advice that is actually quite toxic. So this came about because a coach that I follow was very vulnerable and open about something that had happened. And one of the things she mentioned that had held her back from realising that this thing was happening is because she her mindset was very much about stay positive and no toxicity. And it's just a mindset thing.

While all the time her body was giving her signals that something was wrong. And so this led me to dig a bit deeper about some things that we hear a lot. And one of those things is positive vibes only stay positive. People use it because they think it's uplifting, but it's actually quite dismissive. Often people say when people voiced sadness, frustration, emotional fatigue and anger, basically any other emotion but happiness, a positive attitude, yes, of course, can get you a long way, but took it, acknowledging it and letting yourself and others just feel those emotions is really, really important.

And then some other things of there, how not to give a word in here. You know, you shouldn't care what people think. Of course, it's fine. You can enjoy a certain type of music, but not care about how your actions affect other people. It's basically just wrong. And it fortunately, it means that many people just take it to mean I don't care what happens, even if it might hurt other people in order to self care and self-love, it's important to consider what consequences your actions have on the world around you.

It's almost like a narcissism of self-help. Basically, it boils down to everyone else is wrong. You were always right. And the only problem you need to fix is that you care too much about what other people think. And that's that's not correct. And then. There's some other things that come up. So the kind of thing where you are, huh, this is a really common one is a find, a job you love and you never work a day in your life.

I mean, kind of. Sort of, but not really. Even if you do get a job that you love, it's going to suck sometimes because nothing is great all the time. I mean, that's why you get paid to do what you do. This advice makes you feel like a failure when you've had a bad day at work. Plus, there's a lot of value of working for a living and finding your satisfaction on a more personal level.

So, you know, it's really, really important to just think about these things, because not every day is going to be wonderful, but every day is going to be perfect, no matter how much you might love your job. Stuff sucks sometimes because that's just the way the world works. And so that's really interesting about these sort of positivity things that kind of keep people down and the blood is thicker than water, especially when it comes to our family.

And this is where you should feel obligated to be loyal to your family no matter what. But if they're toxic and abusive, then there's no reason for you to keep them around in your life, especially if it's detrimental to your own well-being and mental health. And not only that, you know, there's a family, you have the family, you choose. Not everyone happens to have blood relation, so they choose a family. So part of that is also the definition of family is can be a very grey, muddy area with a lot of people.

So these are some things that are brought up time and time again that can be detrimental overall to how you feel and what you do. You shouldn't necessarily be thinking about these things in such a way that you forget about other people and how your actions affect other people, what you do and what you say affects other people. Yes, being positive is great, but that doesn't mean that you shouldn't be able to feel a whole range of emotions. And as some people also just would like to feel, no emotions, no emotions at all would be great because emotions get you into trouble emotionally.

You get hurt. Emotions lead other people to see what you're feeling and thinking. But being able to work through those emotions and have them is part of the joy of being human. So just a little rant, I guess, about toxic positivity. Thank you for listening. This is [email protected]. If you have any questions or anything you would like me to answer in this podcast, email me at [email protected].

or to do lists, apps. More to the point, we all have this running list of things that we need to do in our lives. Some of it may be work related. Some of it might be personal, some of it might be family related. But in general, I don't know anyone who doesn't have a running lists of tasks and or things to do, places to be.

Stuff to do, things to remember. And what helps us not keep it all in our heads is to get it down somewhere so people have a journal, a book, a calendar. Some people have lists, they have project management tools. They have all sorts of different ways to remember all the little things that they need to do and a lot of the times. Get told that we should really dump everything in one place, so have that one tool to rule them all, for example, like they want to be everything to everybody and think it was a great tool.

But sometimes your mind doesn't work that way because there's a difference between being reminded to take out the trash, for example, to be reminded that you have to record a podcast. There are two very different things and being reminded to take out the trash, you can probably be reminded about that a couple times on the same day or over a three day period. And that is fine. But record your podcast you probably have to do on a certain day just to make sure your editor can get stuff in and everything like works out in a certain way.

But having those two reminders in the same app or doing the same thing at the same time might not be best for you and your brain. So I know a lot of people will use a project management tool for managing bigger projects, so to speak, bigger things that they need to do and then have a to do list type app where they can put in their personal to do this. And I know that to do to do list, for example, has multiple apps, multiple like you can have personal and business and colour code and different labels on all of that, but sometimes your brain just doesn't work that way.

So one way that can help you is like separate these two things is using one app, I don't know, like tick, tick or what have you. And remember, the milk or whatever is useful these days for business stuff. And another app I like to do or whatever it might be for personal stuff. And that way you can separate these two things in your mind. And not only that, you can set up alerts differently. So if you want alerts for your personal stuff to keep bugging you until you do it, you can have that set up in one app.

And if you want business stuff just to let you know what your overall day is supposed to look like, you can have that in a different app separating these things and making them different colours and having different icons and maybe having them in different places on your phone or maybe your personal reminder thing is only on your watch or your phone, but it's not on your desktop. Those little differences are a key reason why you should have two different to do list type apps for the kind of works that you do and personal stuff because you can just tweak things, notifications and how you input information in a very specific way by having these two separate things.

And yes, it means you download another app and yes, it's another thing to remember, but at the same time the benefits can be huge. And also, you know, think about the kind of when you're thinking about these kind of apps, how do you like to input information? I have personal, like voice notes. I the kind of person needs to write out a detailed plan to do this. And these kind of apps are very, very personal.

I need to figure out what works for you. You might need to try a couple to find ones that work for what you need, the type of reminders you need. Do you need things to run concurrently parallel? Do you need to have it? So if this thing happens, this next thing happens? Doesn't need to time as all of these things think about what you would love in an ideal application, then see if you can find it. So I would love you, dear listeners, to let me know the types of to do list apps that you use because there are so many and there are new ones coming out all the time and some are also being defunct.

So let me know. Email me at [email protected]. How can you build your brand and get hired and also be a little bit more productive? Thank you for listening. I look forward to hearing from you and have a great rest of your week.