Food For Thought – FinnSpirit

Home Sweet Work From Home

Happy Monday!

Today like many others, I officially started working from home indefinitely to protect myself, family, friends and others during COVID-19 outbreak. I am incredibly grateful to have the option to do so. To help with the transition from working in an office to home and to create a bit of balance between work and home life, I created myself a workspace that is both productive yet beautiful and peaceful to me.

The move to work from home means I will personally gain between 10 – 15 hours that I commute every week. For many of us that spend a lot of time commuting and/or are simply used to always being on the go, the next little bit may be exceptionally challenging and lonely as we socially distance ourselves from others to help flatten the curve.

Thought I would share some ideas to help you embrace these changes in routine and all the extra time you may find yourself with over the next few weeks and potentially beyond.

Professional and Job Search Ideas

Review and revise your CV
Make your CV Applicant Tracking System (ATS) compliant
Practice your interviewing skills even if you don’t have an interview scheduled
Develop or revisit your own personal brand
Update and complete your LinkedIn profile
Connect with others on LinkedIn by sending personal invites
Join groups on LinkedIn and follow others
Comment on LinkedIn posts and articles
Write and share your own articles and posts
Learn a new brainstorming technique like Mind Mapping®
Reflect on where you are at in your career, where you want to go and love what you do
Research companies you are interested in potentially working for to learn more about them
Find opportunities to learn formally and informally – read, listen to podcasts, webinars, lives, zoom chats, etc.
Sign up for a course you can complete virtually
Become a virtual mentor and help someone else

International Women’s Day

“A strong woman stands up for herself. A stronger woman stands up for everybody else.” – Unknown. Happy International Women’s Day to all the strong women who are advocating everyday for themselves and others.

Constant Kindness

“Constant kindness can accomplish much. As the sun makes ice melt, kindness causes misunderstanding, mistrust, and hostility to evaporate.” – Albert Schweitzer

Tracks

“You may not have covered your set tracks but it’s never too late to start.” – Chinonye J. Chidolue

Leaf

“Never say there is nothing beautiful in the world anymore. There is always something to make you wonder in the shape of a tree, the trembling of a leaf.” Albert Schweitzer. Discovered this leaf on my car this evening when leaving work. We are slowly saying goodbye to another season.

Fall

“Life Starts All Over Again When It Gets Crisp In The Fall.” – F. Scott Fitzgerald

Embrace Differences

To be different, I went on a search for a white pumpkin in the pumpkin patch. Instead I ended up with the most unique pumpkin I had ever seen. A reminder to find beauty in differences.

Seven Fallen Feathers

“If we want to talk about reconciliation, we need to first talk about basic human rights for every child in this country” Tanya Talaga – author of Seven Fallen Feathers.

Thank you Tanya for sharing the story of the seven fallen feathers who went missing in Thunder Bay between 2000 to 2011 at the Health Quality Transformation Conference today. Thank you for sharing the words of Pearl on her last conversation with her brother Chanie Wenjack before he boarded the plane to Cecilia Jeffrey Indian Residential School in 1966 and went missing after running away a month later. Thank you for sharing the stories of inequality and inequity to the indigenous communities in Northern Ontario. I am thankful I was able to experience this incredibly powerful and moving speech. It moved me to tears. Every Canadian should add Seven Fallen Feathers to their reading list.

“Keep learning and keep reaching out your hands because that is the only way we are going to make this country work.” @tanyatalaga

Caregivers in the Workplace

Anyone who has been a caregiver to a loved one knows it can be a 24/7 role. Trying to be a caregiver while working full time without supports is exceptionally challenging. Over three million people in Ontario identify as a Caregiver. This number is likely to increase as our populations ages. Employers need to recognize what the caregiver demands are and have conversations with their employees about it. Let’s start having healthy conversations about education and support for our caregivers.

World Mental Health Day

In any given year, 1 in 5 people in Canada will personally experience a mental health problem or illness. Many of these battles cannot be seen. I suspect these numbers are pretty similar around the world. I love this 10 Keys to Happier Living from Action of Happiness in the UK. Commit to sharing how you are feeling and help promote mental wellbeing in families, schools, workplaces and communities.