Wellness Podcast

In this episode, I define what meditation is, talk about my own (sparse) experience with it so far, give some examples of why it is "good" for us (think improved attention, emotion control and decreased anxiety/depression?). I give a couple of examples of different kinds of meditation and an action item for you all and for me: Try to meditate just 3 minutes each day this week! The book I mention is called Peak Mind, by Dr. Amishi Jha.

In this episode, I define "Imposter Syndrome" (doubting your abilities, feeling like a fraud), I give some examples and talk about 3 ways to do battle with it. 1) Name it 2) normalize it and 3) Fight it through self affirmations, reading/learning (when we really don't know something), fake it til you make it? and know that every successful person has failed many, many times. I mention Brene Brown's work and a book by James Clear called Atomic Habits.

In this episode, I talk about the definition of trust, and how to be a trustworthy person, using the BRAVING framework from Brene Brown's book, Dare to Lead. (Boundaries, Reliability, Accountability, Vault, Integrity, Non-judgment and Generosity). Action item: find one BRAVING element that you can work on this week and try it! (I am going to work on Vault- not sharing secrets/information that is/are not mine to share).

In this episode, I talk about fixed vs growth mindset (from Dr. Carol Dweck), and how I've applied a growth mindset to fixing my house, to differing degrees of success depending on the thing. Sometimes, we failed completely (we had to call an electrician for the light) but other times, succeeded completely (painting!) or partially (fixing the porch), but we had a lot of fun and learned a lot. Failure is OK especially when we learn from it. Action item: think of something you've been afraid to do because you are "not good" at it or afraid to fail, and try it anyway!

In this episode, I talk about how when we think we are multitasking, we are often just switching back and forth between two (or more) tasks quickly, not actually "multitasking." I talk about a couple of books, one called Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that Can't Stop Talking, and Peak Mind: Find your Focus, Own your Attention, Invest 12 Minutes a Day, and the Happiness Lab, a podcast by Dr. Laurie Santos, who all mention the myth of multitasking. There are a few examples of how we cannot multitask and a few examples of how we actually can (but it has to involve one thing that is more automatic, that we aren't really paying attention to). Action Item: Find ways in your life in which you are pretending to multitask and try out "monotasking" to see if it works better!

In this episode, I talk about a "traditional" vs "nontraditional" path, give an example of my own nontraditional path to tenure, and talk about why this will be the last episode of this podcast until the fall! This episode is a little more about letting go of the "rules" of life that are not helpful to us, like that we have to go to college at age 18 or we have to stick to one career path. Action item: don't be too afraid to jump off that (metaphorical) cliff if it is what you need/want to do, and follow a nontraditional path if you like, there is no shame in it.

In this episode, I talk about my favorite metacognitive study tips! Even if you aren't a student, these tips can be helpful for learning/remembering things at work or home as well. First I talk about what to NOT do to study (re-read the entire chapter! Re-read your notes). Then, I give some tips on how to study/think/learn better, including chunking study time, using concept maps, spaced versus massed practice (from James Lang's awesome book, Small Teaching), writing notes by hand rather than on a computer, retrieval/recall practice (think flashcards or Quizlet!) from Bloom's Taxonomy, rewriting (not recopying) your notes, etc. Action item: Pick a few tips you like and use them to study (or learn something new even if you aren't a student!)

In this episode (Title from Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure), I talk about being kind to each other, especially to those who mess up. The teller at the bank, the Dell fixer guy (or whoever), let's just assume that they are trying their best to do their jobs and if they aren't doing great, let's give them a break just this once. And if these people work with us or for us or we work for them, let's also also try to support them to figure out what is going on and maybe help fix it, rather than just blaming them. One of my favorite quotes about kids (but also works for adults): "They aren't giving me a hard time, they are having a hard time." Action item: If someone near you makes a mistake this week, let's try to forgive/accept (fix) where possible and move on, even and especially if that person is YOU.

In this episode, I talk about how actually, quitting can be a good thing- not when we quit something because it is "too hard" but when we quit because the thing is not serving us anymore. I talk about how, in the past, I refused to quit things even when I hated them and there was no reason to keep going (books, mostly). I suggest as my action item, re-assessing what we are doing and why, and what we can quit to help us through the rest of the semester (for students) or just to help us in general! I am vowing to quit worrying about cleaning my house so much for the next couple of weeks!

In this episode, I talk about actually 8 tips and tricks, both from this article: https://www.ucdenver.edu/student/health-wellness/healthy-happy-life and also from my own experience as a person who has had significant trouble sleeping for the past couple of years due to all the things. Pick one (or a few) and see if it works for you!