Saturday, October 24, 2015

Podcast Favorites

I have been listening to a lot of podcasts lately. Right now I am listening to a lot of self help, productivity, health/fitness and education podcasts.  I find that shorter podcasts are easier for me to listen to, so I tend to listen to more of those than thirty minute interviews.

What are your favorite podcasts?

The following is a list of my top ten podcasts. These are not in any particular order, but they are ones that I routinely listen too.

My Top 10 1. 5 AM Miracle
2. EduAll Stars
3. The Project Life Mastery Podcast
4. Love and Logic
5. Rapid Fire
6. Switch on Pop
7. Take Back Your Life
8. The Charged Life
9. The City Church
10.  The Productive Women

Open Loops

How many items are on your To Do List? How many projects are on your mental To Do List? How many projects are partially complete? How many projects and activities do you think about on a daily/weekly basis?

One of the podcasts I listen to calls these open loops and for me, these add stress to my life. Until I listened to 'The 5 AM Miracle' I did not know what to call these projects or why they were causing me stress.  Each week I have two lists of projects; one I want to complete and one I must complete. Sometimes my personality makes the line between want and must confusing. I don't have to clean my house but for my sanity it must meet a certain level of clean. 

I am working very hard this school year to spend time each week completing these open loops. I want to get rid of hose mental lists of projects that need to be complete or things I need to do.  I have found this helps lower my stress level, improves my memory and helps me be more productive. Not having as many things to remember or think about makes everything easier for me.

How do you manage open loops?

Tuesday, October 13, 2015

The Breakup

You know those moments that follow a breakup? The days, weeks and months that are filled with doubt, confusion and emotion. The questions...

Why was I not good enough?
Why didn't they stay?
What did I do wrong?
Why?

I find myself recovering from a breakup, but not one with a person. In May my school district and I broke up. It was a mostly peaceful split but it still took me months to come to terms with my emotions. I realize I still have issues to overcome.

Budget cuts are never fun and being a music teacher, I feel like my job is always on the line. I realize now that this experience is shading how I view issues now and that is something I am trying hard to change.

At the end of the day, it was not my performance that caused me to loose my job. I know this is a fact, but it is still tough to accept. There is still a feeling of rejection, like I was not good enough and this emotion shows up every time I have a challenging lesson. The doubts sneak in. The questions pop up.

Maybe I'm not as good as I thought I was. Maybe I didn't work hard enough.
Maybe I need to find a new profession.
Maybe I made too many mistakes.
Maybe I'm not meant to be a teacher or a coach. 
Maybe this is why I was riffed.
Maybe...

Rejection is never easy and I am slowly working my way through this experience.  How do you deal with rejection? Two things that have helped me are reflecting and writing in a journal. Rejection is a fact of life and I will learn from this experience and move on. It will not define me. Time to focus on the present and not dwell in the past. This year is full of great opportunities with a new district.