What a whirlwind November has been. We are starting the last week of the month and I can’t believe it flew by so quickly. We started the count down to Christmas and the winter holidays, and I really don’t know how I will get all the work done in the next three weeks until I will be off.
This month I also finished my Master’s Degree and had my final Master’s project presentation. I am so happy to have finished especially since now I can get more free time and overall I simply can’t believe how over a year has passed since I have started this journey. Bottom line is, whatever it is that you want to start doing, start now. Time goes by anyway so you could as well make use of it wisely.
It might sound counterintuitive but the Masters also helped me with managing work and work/life balance a bit better. While it created more work per se, it did bring me a purpose, or an objective let’s say, that I needed to fulfill outside of working hours. As it’s been a challenging year, with lots of changes, late nights, deliverables and demanding clients, the studies forced my brain to focus on something else in the evenings and on weekends so I would not stress about work all the time
The Weekly Reads
Decision making skills. Being able to quickly ponder things and make a decision is a key skill in any working environment or industry. Career Contessa shares the decision making skills to have in order to be able to quickly and thoughtfully analyse all options and pretty much always, make the right choice. If there is one thing I’ve learned – at least in my business experience – is that if you add an element of quickness, you are always on the win.
Tech background. The Every Girl has shared the November tech backgrounds. Love this one, it’s so pretty and has the perfect gloomy and cozy vibe for this time of the year.
Career Awareness. I really liked this article on career awareness and how important is to be fully conscious of your career direction and decisions and play to the strengths, skills and attitudes that you have. Knowing your strengths, the direction you want to take with your career, all of this plays a huge role. But if I may add to it, don’t get frustrated if at the beginning you don’t know it from the start. It can take time and some experience to learn all of this about yourself and understand what your strengths are, what you enjoy to do and what fulfills you. I think soaking in as much career advice as possible from successful people you look up to but also allowing for your own experiences to shape your thinking and awareness is what allows you to be fully aware of it and then consciously act on it.
What I am listening to. I loved listening to this Goop podcast where Gwyneth Paltrow interviews Kerry Washington. It must be one of my favourite interviews I’ve ever listened to. It’s such an intelligent, authentic and fun interview; Gwyneth asks great questions and Kerry is a wonderful guest. If you listen to/watch one thing this week, please make it this interview and thank me later!
Easy dinners. I love a good post with meal prep ideas – even though I never end up cooking them. The Every Girl shares 20 easy dinner ideas that you can prep in advance and this time I am taking note for real.
Mentoring 101. I read an article on mentorship on Cap Hill Style a few weeks ago and really wanted to share it here. The topic of mentorship is such a relevant one and I feel like sometimes the way it is presented in the media, it brings a certain distance to it from the real life and you get the feeling that unless you cold email successful people and invite them for coffee you’re doing it wrong. What the article does very well, is that it breaks down how mentorship can happen on the day to day and on very different levels as well. For example, I have had a fresh graduate start in my team recently and while I am the direct line manager, I also see this as an opportunity to mentor her and share all of those pieces of career advice I wish I had gotten at the very start.
Thank you for reading and I hope you are having a great week!
