GigifyWork

Happy Friday! If you’re looking for some fun content to lighten up your Friday night, check out @nathanwpylestrangeplanet for more fun comics like this one. What are your favourite accounts to follow for funny stuff?

Are you stuck in a job that would be great if you were someone else? We hear this often and we’ve definitely experienced it ourselves. Jobs that look great on paper can be a tricky trap. It’s easy to leave a job with no redeeming quality. If you hate what you do, and you dislike your team and your boss, the decision to leave is obvious. It’s just the matter of figuring out what you want to do next and how to go about getting there. ... However, it’s rarely that clear. For most of us, we often find ourselves in jobs that are less than ideal but still have some great perks (our coworkers are awesome, the vacation and the pay are great). We’re working in jobs that we don’t love, but we also don’t hate. People in this position often find it difficult to decide whether to leave and when is the right time to leave. If this sounds like you, ask yourself what needs are not being met in your current role and how might you go about getting those needs met if you were to stay. Sometimes, with the support from your supervisor or an influential mentor, those needs can be met with some adjustments to the job. Or, you may realize that your current job or employer can never satisfy those needs for you. Either way, the decision will become more obvious once you’ve figured that out.

Do you have a morning routine? We love this 7-minute morning routine that Christine Laperriere shared in her book Too Busy to Be Happy. Swipe for a detailed explanation of the routine. It’s a short and powerful way to start the day with focus and intention. It’s also a very effective way to transition from home-mode to work-mode for those of us who work from home and no longer have the commute to get into the work mindset. How we do it: we create a Word document where we... store the template for the morning routine at the top. Then, we copy the template and type in our answers for each day just below the template. We set our phone timer to 1 minute and move onto the next step of the routine whenever the timer goes off. On days we don’t have enough time between childcare dropoff and the first meeting to complete this routine, we definitely notice a dip in our focus, productivity, and the sense of accomplishment at the end of the day. So we’re committed to do whatever it takes to squeeze this 7 minute in every morning. Do you have a morning routine? Can you see yourself adopting this routine? Feel free to save this one and give it a try tomorrow morning!

Last week, Microsoft announced a new function in Outlook and Teams to help create space for breaks throughout the day. While remote working has brought many benefits, it also means many of us are sitting in one spot for 8-9 hours at a time, staring at a screening as we jump from one meeting to another. Recognizing the digital overload that many people are experiencing, Microsoft introduced a new functionality where organizations can set organization-wide scheduling de...faults to shorten meetings and force a break in between meetings. You can specify the length of the break depending on the length of the meeting. For example, you can enforce a 5 minute break for 30-minute meetings and a 15-minute break for hour-long meetings. Employees can also choose to adopt or adjust this setting at the individual level. We think this is a really positive step in the right direction. Do you think your organization will take advantage of this feature? . . . . . . . . #takeabreak #restisimportant #digitaloverload #burnoutprevention #microsoft #outlook #msteams #technologyisonourside #usetechnologyforgood #culturematters #goodleadership #goodleaders #organizationalculture #workculture #productivity #outlook See more

Freedom 55 is no longer the dream. Instead of killing ourselves at jobs that we hate to earn enough money to retire when our minds are still sound and our bodies still healthy? We would much rather pace ourselves, extend our working time later in life, and work in a way that allows us to enjoy life throughout our entire career, not just when work is over. What about you?

We’re noticing a weird trend in conversations about self-care. There seems to be an expectation of what good self-care looks like. And people are judging themselves for not enjoying (and therefore not choosing) the commonly accepted "proper" self-care activities. Folks are telling us they feel bad for not wanting to workout or meditate as their self-care activities. They’re feeling bad because when they have a minute to relax, they’re so exhausted that all they want to do ...is to watch a mindless TV show they’ve seen a million times, or just play Candy Crush on their phone because it requires no effort. First of all, judging yourself defeats the entire purpose of self-care. Self-care is meaningless without self-compassion. Secondly, there is no such thing as good vs bad self-care activities. You get to decide what’s right for you, your body, and your mind at that moment in time. When you have a moment to relax, pause and ask yourself, what do I need at this moment? What part of my body needs some attention right now? What would feel nice? Then, pay attention to how you feel after you complete the activity. Perhaps your eyes need some rest so lying down on your couch with your eyes closed and listening to some music is what you need. Perhaps your chest feels tight so some deep breathing or a quick cardio exercise would bring you some release. Perhaps your mind feels foggy and you can’t think straight so some fresh air and the repetitive, mindless movement of a slow pace walk would help. Don't worry about what the "experts" say. You're the expert in what you need!

Don’t conflate who you are with what you do for work. We want our life to have a purpose and we often live out that purpose through our work. We glorify people who dedicate their entire lives to their work. Steve Jobs equals Apple Inc. Mother Teresa equals charitable work. So it should come as no surprise that many of us have lost ourselves in work. Enmeshment, according to psychologist Janna Koretz, is when the boundaries between oneself and one’s career is so blurred tha...t one’s individual identity loses importance. Derek Thompson, a writer for the Atlantic, observed that work has transformed into workism, a religion, promising identity, transcendence, and community. There’s a fine line between engaging in work that has meaning and believing that our life has no purpose outside of work. So, who are you outside of work?

This gentle soul just completed another trip around the sun today! I (Huong) thought about not mentioning it as Angela doesn't like to be the center of attention, especially on social media. But I feel like it's my duty as her business partner to make her slightly uncomfortable. I'm pretty sure that's why she keeps me around ;). Anyway, in honour of Angela's birthday, I'm sharing 5 random facts about this lovely human being. ... 1. She's an awesome mom. She wouldn't tell you so, but she absolutely is. I was blown away by how kind and patient her daughter was when I first met her. It all made sense when I got to witness how Angela interacted with her kid. It definitely made me revisit how I talk to my own kid. 2. She's not good at keeping fish as a pet. I've lost count of the number of fish that have perished in that little fish tank... 3. She loves bad jokes. Bad jokes? They're only funny because of Angela's reaction to them. She laughs so wholeheartedly at them that I can't help but laugh along with her. 4. She hates letting people down. She cares a lot. Maybe too much sometimes. She wants to help in whatever way she can; and she hates it when she can't. 5. She's an amazing business partner. Our partnership wouldn't be where it is today without her brilliant mind and her patience. Drop an emoji below to help me celebrate Angela's birthday!

Does it take you longer to forgive yourself than for others to forgive you? As recovering perfectionists, we know this pain a bit too well. Whenever we made a mistake, we continued to beat ourselves up long after our bosses, clients and our loved ones had moved on. Our inner critic was loud and always on red alert. We notice a similar pattern in our clients. They’re quick to empathize and forgive others for any missteps, but they’re quick to criticize and slow to forgive the...mselves. For us, the hardest part about changing this pattern was how integral this inner critic had been to our success so far. While it sucks to have an inner voice that constantly tells us we were not enough, that inner critic had been the main motivation for us to do more, do better, and kick ass. And we kicked a lot of asses. The pivotal point was when we decided that we no longer wanted to operate from a place of not good enough. Now, whenever we notice the inner critic’s voice getting loud, we pause and imagine what it would be like if our children were in our shoes. We imagine them as grown-ups, in the exact same situation that we had found ourselves in. What would we want them to know? What options do we believe are available and totally acceptable for them in this situation? Replacing ourselves with someone we love unconditionally makes it easier to extend self-compassion to ourselves. Do you practice self-compassion? What helps you?

Just because you think it doesn’t make it true. Most of us don’t have the luxury of listening to our own thoughts as we go about our everyday life. So we sometimes repeat what our clients say back to them, in the exact wording. Once in a while, a client would say well, when you say it like that, it sounds crazy! Which of your thoughts would not hold up to the test under the light of reflection? And if you stop letting those thoughts drive your behaviour, what would you start doing?

Take a break from work with us. People keep telling us that it's hard to get up from their desk and take a proper break, especially when they work from home. It's too easy and tempting to stay at our desk when there's more work to do, and no one is at your desk asking you to come with them for a quick walk, to grab a coffee, or to eat lunch together. Yet, when people take a break, they report feeling better, more focused, and productive. In other words, taking a break... makes you better at your job. So, as a fun challenge, we're going to commit to show you how we take a break every day in our stories for the next 30 days. Join us by sharing your own stories of taking a break from work. Don't forget to tag us @gigifywork so we can cheer you on! It doesn't have to be anything big or elaborate. You can get up and do 10 squats. You can lie on the floor and do some breathing. You can go for a walk. Read a few pages of a book when you eat your lunch. Let's do it together! See more

Dreaming, after all, is a form of planning - Gloria Steinem We’re dreaming of a world where work fits around life, not the other way around. We’re dreaming of a world where the ability to work less than 40-50 hours a week doesn’t mean you have to settle for lesser-skilled and lesser-paid jobs. We’re dreaming of a world where parenthood isn’t a penalty for women and a reward for men in terms of pay. We're dreaming of a world where caregiving work is valued and compensated ...accordingly. Are you with us?

We find February the hardest month of winter. It feels like we’ve been in it for so long, yet the end is still out of sight (hmm sounds a bit like how we’ve been feeling about the whole pandemic lockdown!). Here’s what is getting us through this month. Huong is dreaming of and planning the garden. She’s looking at seed catalogues, deciding on what to grow, and starting some early seedlings, feeling all giddy and excited for the next growing season. For Angela, she’s distracting herself in every possible way - cross country skiing, attempting to master the sewing machine to make doll clothes for the kiddo, or dreaming of the next vacation...whenever and wherever that’ll be. What’s getting you through February?

Another life hack won’t solve your problem. When it feels like there’s just too much work to do, or too many emails to read, you may be tempted to look up the latest hack that promises superhuman powers to deal with the growing list of to do’s. How to clear your inbox in 10 minutes or Get a full week’s worth of work done in just 3 days!. Here’s the thing...those hacks assume that the problem is you...that you’re just not working hard enough, or using the latest and grea...test tricks to do it all, faster, with time to spare. But what if the problem isn’t with you at all, but with your impossible workload, your limited support network, your complete exhaustion? Hacks won’t fix those things. They’ll only mask them and make you continue feeling like you just need to keep trying to do better. Don’t get us wrong. We love a good life hack from time to time. But not if it’s a distraction from where the real solutions can be.

GigifyWork explained #3: How do you say your names? GigifyWork: GIG-uh-fai WORK. Angela: AN-jel-a. Huong: Whoong. ... Now you know ;).

Do you ever feel like your calendar rules you instead of the other way around? GigifyWork explained #2: how we help our clients take back control over their most precious resource: time. One of our favourite exercises is called the ideal work week. In this exercise, we ask our client to create a list of all the activities that they would like to complete in a week. For example: work, eat, sleep, workout, visit with friends and family, cook, clean, organize, hobby, etc. Then,... we ask the client to identify the minimum number of hours that they’d like to commit to each activity. Then, the fun begins as people try to slot the activities into the 168 hours they have in a week. What we like about this activity is it puts the client back in control to make sure they are spending their time intentionally. It also helps us quickly identify areas where the client may need a bit more support: prioritizing, honouring their boundaries, asking for what they need, managing their own or others’ expectations, etc. It was inspired by our own experience of figuring out a schedule that would work for us. And now we love working through it with our clients and watching how they start budgeting their time like the precious resource it really is. So, what are you spending your time on?

GigifyWork explained #1. In the next few posts, we’re going to answer some of the most common questions about us, what we do, and how we do it. First up, who is behind GigifyWork?... Hi! We’re Angela and Huong. Between the two of us, we have close to 30 years of experience working in the private, public, and not-for-profit sectors. We’ve worn many hats, picking up lots of skills and knowledge along the way in career development, coaching, facilitating, strategic communications, marketing, service development and delivery. We’ve experienced the freedom and loneliness of working as a team of 1. We also know very well the challenge and excitement of managing multiple portfolios and teams. We’re both career-driven working parents. Our work was our first baby. Then our real babies came along and taught us an important lesson about balance. We are both known for our down-to-earth, laid back nature, preferring a casual beer over the fire in our backyards with some close friends over a fancy dinner any day of the week! We share a passion for helping people find success and fulfill their ambition on their own terms. We firmly believe that people deserve to have time not just for work, but also for life, love, and play. So, we created GigifyWork to provide people with the information, tools, and coaching support to define and build their personalized balance.

As Mr. Miyagi said, balance is key. One key thing we’ve learned over the years is that balance not only looks different for everyone but it also changes at key points in a person’s life. Do you ever feel like balance is some amazing destination that you need to get to? Once you’re there you can bask in the glory of mastering this whole ‘balance’ thing? Well, the first lesson is that balance isn’t a ‘set it and forget it’ kind of thing. It’s something you need to learn, redef...ine, assess, and adjust throughout your life. Balance is something we all have to determine for ourselves as we move through life’s phases - what seems like a good balance for us as students doesn’t apply when we’re deep into a career, or entering parenthood or preparing for retirement. Mr Miyagi would remind us that balance takes practice and is something that takes patience and perseverance. But assessing our personal definition of balance could build some muscle memory and make us stronger and better at it. ‘Wax on, Wax off.’

While coaching has been gaining in popularity, many people have not experienced it and they are not sure what to expect when they hire a coach. At its core, coaching should feel like a conversation with a trusted confidante. A coach holds a safe, neutral, and solution-focused space for you to work through whatever is most pressing for you. But it’s not just any conversation (you have your besties for that ;)). It is our role as the coach to provide a structure to the conversa...tion so you walk away at the end of each session with more clarity than when we started, and with some action items to start moving in the right direction. In a coaching session, we will listen, ask questions to help you explore your problems from different angles, and challenge your thinking when necessary. We’re also your accountability partner, making sure you honour the commitment that you’ve made to yourself. Last but definitely not least, we are your ally and your cheerleader through this journey. Having said all that, the best way to understand coaching is to experience it. That’s why we offer a complimentary 30-minute session. Use the booking link to grab one of the few spots left before the holiday break! https://calendly.com/gigifywork/info-session