#005—I was a zombie this week
Hi all, I’m so excited to be writing to you today. This week has been r-o-u-g-h. I talked about energy management two weeks ago and really felt the impact of it these past few days. In the 72 hours between last Sunday - Tuesday, I slept maybe 8 hours total. And yet, I was still trying to push myself to do the work I had mapped out on my google calendar…even though I felt like this:
Remembering my own advice, and being incredibly aware of my (lack of) energy, I took two days off to sleep, workout, read, and spend time with family. I’m back today feeling 100%. And frankly, will be way more productive now than I would have been all week if I had forced myself to work for the sake of working.
I was also pleasantly surprised by the huge number of responses I got from all of you regarding energy management.. The most common question I got was around learning how to incorporate energy management into the day-to-day.
So, today you can find some actionable advice on energy management in Final Thoughts. I’m even more determined to raise awareness for energy management after my own personal experience this week 💜
Side note - if this is your first time getting the newsletter, you can sign up here to keep getting these updates in your inbox every Thursday. As always, feel free to forward this to anyone you think could use it! And if you’re interested in getting more insights on life and work from some truly incredible people, check out the Edvolution podcast!
Now, let’s get to more of the good stuff. 🎊
💼 CAREERS AND JOB HUNTING
Mentors have been a huge part of my life and career. I’ve had good mentors and bad mentors. I’ve had mentors that have been with me for years, and others that stopped being relevant and I had to move on from.
While having a good mentor isn’t a requirement for building a meaningful career and life, it can certainly be helpful. There are so many things we just don’t know when we’re starting out, and having a mentor around to help guide you (and provide honest, constructive feedback) can be a real blessing.
I know a lot of people are reading this right now and thinking,
“Yeah, great. But how do I find a mentor? Doesn’t it just sort of happen through work?”
Not exactly. If you’re waiting around for someone to take you under their wing, you might be waiting awhile. Plus, your ideal mentor may not work at your company. You might not know them at all right now.
I’ve been thinking about this problem a lot, and I’ve realized that most people don’t really know how to reach out to someone who could be a great mentor to them. They don’t feel comfortable initiating a conversation and they aren’t sure what to say or how to build a genuine relationship with someone they’ve never met. Or worse, they know an incredible potential mentor but are too scared to reach out because they believe they don’t have any value to offer in return.
That’s why I’m going to be holding a bootcamp later in July that’s all about how to find a mentor and build a meaningful relationship.
The details to the Mentorship Bootcamp are here, and more resources related to mentorship are below!
Speaking of mentors, here is Austin Belcak’s Ask Me Anything thread around careers, side hustles, relationships, etc.
For anyone thinking about quitting their job and launching something, check this talk out from mentor Jen Shultz
Live twitter updates for Summer 2020 internship programs here
June’s Who’s Hiring thread via YC Hacker News
PearVC’s job board (mostly startups) here
Rocketship’s Startup Hiring List by location here
Asian Hustle Network -- this is an awesome FB community that I’m a part of and offers mentorship opportunities as well
Finally, if you have a chance, I’d encourage you to always pay if forward. If there’s an opportunity for you to mentor someone else, why not take them under your wing?
👋🏼 SOCIAL AND PROFESSIONAL HANGOUTS
More states are opening up (for now), but the idea of large gatherings is still off-putting to most people. Combine that with the fact that a lot of businesses have gotten much better at hosting virtual events in the past few months, and it’s clear everything isn’t going to just snap back to times Before Covid.
Virtual events are here to stay, and I think that has a lot to do with the increased focus on community and supporting each other right now. Sometimes, we don’t realize what we have until opportunities are taken away from us.
That increase in demand for a sense of community and shared experience has been one of the bright spots during all of this, and I hope that’s a trend that continues to grow.
Learn How to Play Dungeons & Dragons
June 25th, 5:00 p.m. PDT
Dungeons & Dragons is a tabletop roleplaying game where you can fully immerse yourself as a character of your own making and explore an endless expanse of creative possibilities! Us creative-folk are exceptionally adept at D&D and they don’t even know it yet! More details here.
Finding Your Purpose as a Non-Nine-To-Fiver
June 29th, 10:00 a.m. PDT
Join Jen Shultz, Founder of The Non-Nine-to-Five™ where she will teach you:
How to quit your job (if you haven’t already)
How to Stand on your own 2 feet (once you’ve quit your job)
How to Find your purpose as a Non-Nine-to-Fiver™ Details here.
How to Get Comfortable w/ Uncertainty
July 2nd, 6:00 a.m. PDT
It’s all about how to turn the uncertainty of our times into an advantage. The objective of this event is to outline the mindset and behaviors you need to adopt to get comfortable with uncertainty and pivoting. Uncertainty and pivoting can be experienced as an exciting challenge if we have the mindset and skills to resolve it. More details here.
Virtual Magic Show
July 9th, 1:00 p.m. PDT
Magicians Doug McKenzie & Ryan Oakes have built an arsenal of interactive magic effects that can be presented on any online platform. Participants do not merely watch magic, they experience magic — right on their screens, on their phones and in their own hands. The tech-based duo has been seen on CNN Tech, and their new virtual magic show has been written up in Forbes, The Telegraph, and Quartz. More details here.
Money & Relationships, Breaking the Taboo
July 14th, 3:00 p.m. PDT
Financial wellness engineer, and CEO of BridgeTech Enterprises, Kassandra Dasent, will share her insight and actionable advice on how you can get real with loved ones about money and net positive results. More details here.
👯♀️COMMUNITY CORNER
I read every response I get to these emails, and I’ve noticed they come in all shapes and sizes. Some people reach out to tell me about a particular point that really resonated with them. Others send resources that I put here in the Community Corner. And some people email me just to update me on their life.
That human connection—even though we’ve never met in real life—is what a vibrant and engaged community creates. It’s good for everyone, and I think we need more of it now than ever.
So whatever you’ve got, always feel free to reply to this email and send it my way. Here are some of the resources people sent last week:
Spotify launched curated Daily Wellness playlists that feature a mix of music podcasts and meditations
Dropbox is offering digital care packages featuring folders of art, recipes, music, meditations, and interior design.
A journal prompt to help you think through every emotion you might be feeling right now.
Check out TheUntethered Soulby Michael Singer. He also gave an interesting interview here - shared by Patricia Mou whose main takeaway was:
“What you think you want is the job, the school, the title - but what you truly truly want is acceptance, fulfillment, love, joy, and peace. A sense of wellbeing.”
A PDF guide to Philosophical Meditation for once a day, 20 minute stretch of time!
⭐ FINAL THOUGHTS
Like I mentioned in the intro, people really seemed to resonate with the idea of energy management.
But a lot of you replied with the same question: “How do I actually do it?”
The short answer? Awareness and iteration.
For example, I implemented energy management in my schedule by tracking my energy for an entire month. When I felt a burst of energy, I’d note it, along with what time it was, what type of work I was doing, and what environment I was in. (Side note - if you want a template to track this, let me know!)
After about four weeks, I started looking for daily and weekly patterns. They weren’t hard to find:
I used to pack my Mondays with meetings, thinking the start of the week was when I’d have the most energy for them. But the pattern I saw was that I didn’t seem to have the appetite for meetings come Monday. I was most energized when I had time to think and strategize at the beginning of the week.
I had also been using my Fridays for “think days,” but again, the patterns showed that wasn’t when I got most of my strategizing done. Come Friday, I was more energized to do tactical work.
So, I flipped my Mondays and Fridays and I noticed that I started and ended my weeks feeling more energized.
None of this is to say that your schedule is always set in stone or that you’ll immediately notice what needs to change. That’s why I suggest doing consistent check-ins, being aware of the cues your body is giving you—energy vs. lethargy—and iterating when you need to.
I also spoke about energy management with Austin Belcak - he has great first-hand experience with energy management from working at Microsoft while running his own successful business—listen to our conversation here via the Edvolution Podcast!
Hope you enjoyed this week’s Edvolve Together. If you’re enjoying it and want to express your appreciation, please feel free to spread the word and lmk your thoughts/feedback by simply replying to this email! I always love to hear from you.
Take care and be aware of your breath,
Shireen