#009—Are you spending your time well?
Hey everybody, I’m going to dive right in today. I heard this quote on a podcast recently, and it really resonated with me:
“Don’t spend your time on the biggest problem; spend your time on the biggest opportunity.”
I haven’t stopped thinking about it all week. It’s making me reflect on every hour of my time: am I focusing on this because it’s an inconvenience, or because it’s an opportunity?
And it’s made me realize how much time I used to spend on just solving problems all day. And fortunately, I can now clearly see that somewhere along the way, I shifted my focus onto opportunities. I’ll share more on this in Final Thoughts.
Speaking of opportunities, Darlene and I have poured our hearts into the 10-Day Think Better Challenge. This is us when we finally launched it this week:
We’ve had hundreds of people (almost all strangers!) sign up since we went live Tuesday night! If you haven’t already done so, join the challenge now:
Now, to this week’s updates 🎉
💼 MEANINGFUL WORK AND JOB HUNTING
On Monday, I was talking to my husband about how I’ve been feeling over the past month. Even though work has been better than ever—I’m working on exciting projects and feel good about what we’re achieving—I was still feeling depleted day-to-day and I couldn’t understand why.
I just got home last weekend, after one month in Florida visiting my family (+ newborn nephew!). And I noticed that, as soon as I got to my apartment, I started feeling better. It dawned on me that while we were in Florida, I was missing the infrastructure and support system I’ve built in LA.
I loved my family time in Florida but I’ve built my home in LA with intention—to fuel me. I was relieved to feel the sense of joy, motivation, inspiration, and all the good vibes that I hadn’t been feeling all month.
I told my husband all of this and he had an interesting response.
When he visualizes himself accomplishing his goals, he focuses less on the goals themselves and more on these feelings. The joy. The motivation. He focuses on manifesting these feelings in everything he does.
So, when he visualizes himself in two weeks (or two years), he focuses on how he’ll be feeling in those moments. Every day, when he reflects on his work, his contributions, and his conversations, he checks to see if they brought him the joy he visualized for himself. If not, then he knows he’s not on his best path.
That really got to me. Sometimes, we focus too much on what we’re doing and not what we’re feeling. Hope this serves as food for thought for many of you.
And for those of you wanting to become better collaborators at work, here’s the Future of Teamwork newsletter that shares tips every week
Check out Jobspresso - lists of remote jobs across tech, marketing, customer service, etc
Who’s Still Hiring via Levels.fyi does a good job keeping their company / jobs lists updated - I know with all of the changes, some lists have become outdated so check this one out
If you’re actively freelancing or have a side gig, get your name out there with services like Fiverr
Elpha continues to be a great resource for women in tech - this Career Growth section has some great discussions happening!
👋 SOCIAL AND PROFESSIONAL HANGOUTS
Our personal ecosystem—not just what’s around us, but who—is critical to keeping us mentally healthy and strong. I realized that while I was in Florida. I simply wasn’t working in the same ecosystem I have here in LA. And it was throwing me off.
All of our social connections, professional and personal, contribute to our ecosystem. We can feel out of whack without our connections and socializing.
If that’s something you’re struggling with, I’d encourage you to try some of these virtual hangouts, even if they don’t seem like they’re right up your alley. A little socializing goes a long way.
Bring Your Own Lunch: On The Job Hunt
July 24th, 10:00 a.m. PDT
Hosted by career coach and Ladies Get Paid founder, Claire Wasserman, Bring Your Own Lunch (BYOL) is our weekly series for the community to gather. Whether it's navigating our careers or just staying afloat during this time, we need to learn from and lean on one another. Details here.
Trivia Night via Zoom
July 24th, 5:00 p.m. PDT
Join this online trivia night via Zoom! You can sign up as a full team with friends, a small group, or as a free agent (we'll help you find teammates). Details here.
Virtual Workout Squad
July 26th, 9:00 a.m. PDT
Two instructors, two different exercises (boxing + pilates) and two times the fun! Details here.
Workshop: Accountability While Working From Home
July 29th, 12:00 p.m. PDT
Working from home has the potential to reduce our productivity, morale, and sense of accomplishment. Learn how Accountability and Success Partnerships are increasing productivity by 95% from Maker Bee Consulting, an accountability partnership firm focused on helping you accomplish your goals while improving your quality of life. Details here.
Women’s Summit
August 10th - 11th; $1 ticket registration ends July 24th
Learn from a powerhouse line-up of female multi-millionaire entrepreneurs, Fortune 500 Executives, and New York Times Best Selling Authors. This is a one-of-a-kind, dynamic live two-day event with a custom virtual platform that will get you as close as possible to the experience of an in-person event. And if you register by this Friday, 7/24, you can get a ticket (usually $97) for ONLY $1 by using the code "P5FLASH." If you are serious about increasing your income, impact, and influence- you don't want to miss this! Details here.
⭐ FINAL THOUGHTS
I want to come back to the quote I mentioned earlier: “Don’t spend your time on the biggest problem; spend your time on the biggest opportunity.”
So, as I was reflecting on this quote, I realized that last year, I had already made the switch from problems to opportunities. And it was because my husband (and favorite mentor!) had talked to me about Leverage. It’s a mental model that relates to strategically choosing to do things that have the maximum ROI (opportunity).
Every night before bed, I used to spend time thinking about all the problems I needed to solve the next day (or begin to solve). But that line of thinking put me in a reactive state, constantly running around putting out fires as I moved from one problem to the next. It never seemed like I was achieving much.
But once I started considering which opportunities would help me create the most leverage, I became more proactive. And I found that I was accomplishing more without all the fire-fighting and worrying about potential problems.
This was a huge breakthrough for me in the way I think, and I am so proud to think back to it. So, I wanted to share the quote again with you:
“Don’t spend your time on the biggest problem; spend your time on the biggest opportunity.”
And of course, this is just another example of how mental models have changed my life and made me better.
If you’re interested in embracing mental models like I did, come join the 10-Day Think Better Challenge with me and learn about 10 new mental models. I promise it will help you get 1% better every day.
Be kind to yourself and others,
Shireen