Daisy Swan - Los Angeles Career Coach, Career Counselor and career strategy

You are viewing an archived issue of the newsletter.
Click here to have future issues delivered to your inbox.

Summer at Last

Will you be taking some time off to refresh and renew? Or are you ready to shift your perspective, to see things in your work and life with a new awareness?

Recently, I was a panelist and guest of The Society of Composers & Lyricists (SCL), in a conversation about Downtime Productivity. You know, that time that you have when things are a little quiet at work � no matter if you're working for someone else, or for yourself?

We all have those lull times when we might slip into a sort of sleepy boredom/depression, or maybe it rears its head for you, like a frantic anxiety of, 'OH NO! Why is this happening??!' On this May 20th panel, we discussed these common reactions to downtime. So, what to do? Read on for some helpful tips.

How Work and Home add up to you

Four tips to live with - and learn to love - downtime productivity, when it strikes:

1) Give yourself a break and nurture yourself back to health. If you've been working hard for a while it may be time to take your foot off the pedal, and coast a little bit. This downtime won't last forever, so if you need a little extra sleep, some time to read and reflect, do it!

2) Keep a list of all of the projects that you wish you could work on, when you're in your busy times. When the lull comes, turn to your list and start having some fun 'getting' to these projects. This list can steer you clear of wasting time watching daytime TV, or aimlessly shopping online! And you'll have interesting projects to talk about with friends and colleagues.

3) Talk to your peeps. Great time to reach out to your former colleagues, friends, and new sources of professional information. Do you have time to go to a conference? Go! An association meeting, or a meet-up about specific areas of interest? Go! Now's the time to engage.

4) Learn something new. We all need to be lifelong learners these days, and the options for taking a class are plentiful. Community college, extension programs, online�or a combination. Degree, certificate, or one-time workshops provide an excellent way to update your skills for the work you do now, or you can work on developing that 'Plan B' skill set that will serve you when you're ready to transition to the next chapter of your life.

New season, new classes.

As you probably know already, I am all about taking the holistic approach to work and life. How can we possibly separate these areas of our life? Not with 24/7 media and technology nipping at our heels.

I'm very much about having a healthy nervous system so I teach (and practice) mindful awareness practices (MAPs) classes. My next MAPs class begins Tuesday, July 1 in El Segundo (7:00 PM - 9:00 PM). Summer is wonderful, but it can also throw some people off of their usual routine, creating more chaos. I do hope you can make it to this class.

Unplug

I'm also happy to announce that I'll be teaching a workshop called Mindful Career Transition, on Sunday, July 20 from 1:00 PM-4:00 PM, at Unplug Meditation Studio in Santa Monica. Have you ever heard yourself say, 'I still don't know what I want to be when I grow up?' Or, 'I'd do what I love to do, if I only knew what that was?' This class is designed to help you tune into you, to hear more of yourself by becoming quiet enough to listen.

Mindfulness meditation is a wonderful way to become more familiar with who you really are. In this workshop, we aren't just navel gazing! You will learn how to meditate if you don't already, and I'll be providing interactive and written exercises to help you connect with your ideas and possibilities. I'm all about practicalities, too, so I'll be offering what I know, as well as resources to keep you moving forward after the workshop.

Early-bird Registration: $45.00 per person (register by July 6); $55.00 per person, thereafter.

Here are some books I've been enjoying:

Lately, I'm re-engaging with "The Artist's Way", by Julia Cameron, for a good creative pick me up.

Other suggested summer books:

"The Creative Habit: Learn It and Use It for Life", by Twyla Tharp (Author), Mark Reiter (Contributor)

"Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less", by Greg McKeown

And for a fun summer read: "Gone Girl: A Novel" by Gillian Flynn

As always, you can also find a wealth of resources on my web site like other suggested books, motivational quotes, links to helpful sites, my newsletter archives, and more. You can even sign up to receive a FREE Values Exercise; the signup box is located right on our home page. And please do to tell your friends and colleagues about my FREE Values Exercise, or any of our other resources, services and offerings.

And don't forget that with my one-on-one coaching services, I'm also here for your individual coaching needs. Please feel free to reach out to us at any time with questions about any of my coaching services: [email protected] or 1-877-872-3929.

Have a successful summer!

Best,

Daisy


Keep up with Daisy

Daisy Swan



Daisy S. Swan, MA, CPCC
Career Coaching and Healthy Life Strategies
4132A Del Rey Avenue
Marina Del Rey, CA 90292
1-877-872-3929
www.daisyswan.com

© 2014 Daisy Swan