Of course I initially used this time to binge watch the remaining episodes of Real Housewives of Atlanta, Potomac, and New Jersey. And I've been mostly browsing Reddit on my free time. . . . eh all the time. But now I've kind of run out of things to do. So on to what I was doing and can do OR am doing and can dedicate a little more time to :).
Podcasts:
I've been wanting to share my podcasts of choice for a while now, but you know I never get to these posts.
Pre-COVID-19, every Wednesday commute was Pod Save the World time. My BA is in International Affairs and even if I'm no good at it I still love me some updates and insights. Love the hosts and they don't pretend to be unbiased. It's super easy to follow even when you don't have a lot of the background knowledge of current events. I actually haven't listened since I started working from home... as if this isn't the most important time to be listening. I played it in the car with my BF on our way to the North GA mountains and he really liked it. I like co-host Tommy Vietor, he likes Ben Rhodes lol. #TeamTwilight anyone.I was so excited when they announced their tour was stopping in Atlanta in April. It wasn't until I was at the box office with tickets in hand that I realized it was the Pod Save America crew going on tour. I was briefly disappointed before I just started playing Pod Save America (same network) on their release days (Tommy co-hosts there too). I was TRULY disappointed, though thankful for the seamless refund, when I realized the tour would probably not be happening.
Another great podcast Crooked Media produces is "What A Day". They post daily for an average run time of 20 minutes. It's a daily news podcast- comedic and even easier listening than the rest.
Yuri introduced me to My Favorite Murder. So popular and so 4 years late. I started listening to the show from the very beginning and a couple months later I am starting from the current show and then randomly selecting episodes from the past. I began only listening to the "real episodes" and skipping minisodes and lives. Now I realized I missed out on minisodes (hooked) and now wonder if the live shows are just as good. Probably. They played on not-Wednesdays.
My favorite MFM memory is listening on the drive back from Savannah while my BF slept in the passenger seat and maybe it was because he was sleeping beside me, but I was CRACKING UP at every other minute. I wish I remembered the episode! The only reason I don't think I can is because, again, I was driving and he was trying to stay in my chronological order, selecting the episode, and skipping to the meat of the episode. He had to do this about 3 times because I had already listened to each episode he selected. It was potentially episode 22 as he happened to remember "Sawney Bean" when he woke up.
Other two honorable mentions is The Economist and TED Radio Hour.
Books:
I've lacked in reading and the last few weeks I've been in my head like Quarantine Book Club?? Doesn't look like it's happening soon.
I recently couldn't fall asleep and nothing puts me down like a book LOL. So I went to the Kindle app to see what I could find and came across Sapiens. I just read the first couple chapters, but I'm very excited about it as I've always been drawn to human history. (If drawn can be described as reading clickbait articles about the latest mummified object found in Siberia.)
I mentioned the book to my co-worker who said she has listened to some of the book. She's an avid audio book listener, but I'm not sure if I'm ready to make that transition just yet. I want to save the little audio-patience I have for my podcasts.
Video Games:
Ya'll know this isn't me as the only video games I have ever played have been cute RPGs. I literally played the Simpsons Hit and Run game as real-life role playing for god's sake.
Well Animal Crossing: New Horizons came out if you've been living under a rock. I don't own a switch, but my sister does so I'm out there grinding as well. I began a relocating project to re-plant, fix my fence, and potentially do some terra-forming right before I came home. I rarely have strong opinions- so you know I really love this game. I debated buying myself a switch, but I know myself and won't dedicate enough time to justify the cost. So for now, I'll stick to helping build Benton from the ground up.
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| Pablo by Emily |
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| Uzzu by Melissa |
Movies:
Always lacking in this department, but this week I watched Lu over the Wall with my sister. It was interesting to say the least. I cried, but I don't think it progressed or ended the way I would've liked it to. Review here: https://variety.com/2018/film/reviews/lu-over-the-wall-review-1202806849/
Tomorrow, my family and I are renting Trolls World Tour. We watched the first one together (I really loved it!) and I think it'll be a fun cute moving to spend some quality time to.
Music:
I have been listening to the same songs all year. I don't know what's playing on the radio and I'm stuck in 2019. Spotify does not help with their On Repeat and Repeat Rewind music because that's what I'll play.
During work hours, I like to listen to the Dalkom Cafe playlist. My favorite song of the moment is a throwback to Amr Diab's Al Leila.
Tonight I'm trying the Release Radar playlist. Please recommend new music to me, I'm starved!
YouTube:
The only person that I follow at the moment is Guinwa Zeineddine, Lebanese-American lifestyle blogger (newly-wed, new mom, um- beautiful). She's like the only person that I've seen on social media in the last few years who's content actually interests me and makes me want to be better, but without the usual self-hate element.
On the last note of the night, I'm trying to get back into daily DuoLingo Arabic lessons. I'm desperate to get to conversational levels. . . desperate, but not desperate enough to go practice. Go figure.
Melissa
Happy New Year! Posting some art from artist, Stephanie Deangelis that I loved.
I came to the conclusion that the question of the . . . week? is "what drives me?" I say "week" because I do not have the month or year to figure this out.
Staffing/recruiting is not like an administrative role where, simply put, you have a list of tasks to complete to reach your goal. Recruiting is like sales, the more work/effort you input the more success/commission you output. This is fairly new to me. I do think it really is like sales, and I like what I'm selling :)
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| literally me at work though |
In the spirit of the New Year, my ultimate goal (as it should be) is to increase my results at work. My company (God bless em') doesn't use specific metrics against us. Of course there are expectations for my team, but not individual numbers. I want to create my own personal metrics that align with my potential and strengths. But before I can even get there, I need intrinsic motivation: numbers are not enough.
This is something I have struggled with since my freshman year of college. It began with "what" and ''why" for my degree. Then, "what" and "why" for a career field. Now that I'm in a role that I enjoy the question is just "why". I've just never been able to relate with someone that knows exactly what they want or have a motivation at the very least.
Arguments of whether or not the Myers-Briggs Personalities are scientifically accurate aside, I'm an ESFJ. I remember reading that if you fall into that personality type, your values are most likely dictated by societal norms rather than strong personal conviction. I do feel like that sounds too harsh, but the ESFJ personality is very social and can depend a lot on the people that surround them for direction and affirmation. In regards to motivation and drive, I think that we might focus more on what others want from us or where we think they would like us that we might not get the chance to develop intrinsic motivation as well as our independent counterparts.
To address whether or not Myers-Briggs Personality types are accurate- I don't know. I haven't had a chance to truly research it or to know if they even meant it to be seen as 7.5 billion people boxed into 16 categories. What I do know is that when I was younger I swore by it and just thought it was me to a T. Now, I am definitely more complex, or even different, than the profile would suggest. Regardless, if you take the test it can give you an idea of some personality traits you possess. You can read into it and get some insight into potential weakness, strengths, relationships, and habits.
For my degree, I was motivated to attend college because it would make my parents happy. And while I enjoyed academia, I did have difficulties towards the end and I think only crossed the finish line for their sake. For work, I went with the flow and got a job because it's what was the next step. I've always said I've been very lucky and I've enjoyed every single one of my previous roles, ones I've applied for and otherwise.
In school, I would work hard for group projects, but sabotage myself when it was an individual assignment. I could technically use the same motivation I always have and focus on contributing to my team, but it's just not going to cut it this time. And I get so frustrated thinking about it. I almost wish I had negative reinforcements to spark a fire under my ass. Three motivations off the top of my head- earn more money, help others gain financial and job security, improve my skills and gain experience. I want all these things, but nothing really sparks something inside.
Now I am questioning myself- do I need something to spark?? And speaking of sparks- is it that I need something that I'm super passionate about?? Maybe, but guess what? I don't have anything I'm passionate about! Lol. I am where I want to be.
That last sentence made me realize something. Being where I want to be, I can truly use it as a start line to plan for my life for the next couple years. Evaluate what I really want and how this fits into that future. Instead of making my job the only priority and shaping my life around it, I need to gear this role towards helping me paint the bigger picture. I guess that's kind of obvious- but I'm really struggling here people! I guess I need to spell it out for myself. It'll still be difficult because I obviously don't know what I want, but I think that's where I need to start.
I began this role in fall of last year and can use the end of the year as the official end of the beginner phase and mindset. I definitely want to start with creating input metrics to follow. Look into that bigger picture shit and see if I can find something that's like THIS, I want THIS.
*SCREAMS INTO THE VOID*
I wish I had spent my evening reading, relaxing, feeling aesthetic, but I've been watching Real Housewives of Atlanta and scrolling through Reddit instead. I also bought a great smelling candle at TJ Maxx, but it burns so slow and low I can't smell it . . .
I'm not mad though 🙃
Edit: I have a conspiracy theory that there are people planted on ZipRecruiter whose sole purpose is to get scheduled for interviews AND NO SHOW. Have a great weekend.
I don't think I've mentioned it here yet, but I was promoted a couple months ago and now I'm in a recruiting role. I work at an employment agency so we're always recruiting for a variety of positions and clients. Of course we find qualified candidates for our clients is by searching on those job/resume databases and calling them and see if they are interested in the opportunities we have available.
I remember once I was at home after a long day and I'm like, "man! what can be an easier way to get great candidates?" And I sat there and this light bulb just lit up in my head and I thought- what if, now bear with me here, but WHAT IF we could have an online platform where we could write a description of the responsibilities and duties the position would entail, we could write the location of the company, as well as the schedule and financial compensation. THAT WAY IF YOU FIT THE QUALIFICATIONS, YOU'RE AVAILABLE TO WORK THE SCHEDULE AND YOU CAN MAKE THAT COMMUTE AND YOU'RE OKAY WITH THE HOURLY RATE YOU CAN APPLY AND BE CONSIDERED FOR THE POSITION. And then it hit me that that already exists and it's called an AD.
Why did it feel like a brand new idea? Because job postings work like 50% of the time. This isn't at the people that are shooting a bit higher and are applying for a position that requires a more experience than they have.
I'm talking about you Carol, who can't work past 6PM (even though it said the schedule was 12PM-9PM) and can't go below $19/hr (even though the ad says it was $15/hr). And when I contact you, you tell me oh no no you can't do all that LIKE YOU WEREN'T THE ONE WHO APPLIED TO THIS POSITION?
I remember once I was at home after a long day and I'm like, "man! what can be an easier way to get great candidates?" And I sat there and this light bulb just lit up in my head and I thought- what if, now bear with me here, but WHAT IF we could have an online platform where we could write a description of the responsibilities and duties the position would entail, we could write the location of the company, as well as the schedule and financial compensation. THAT WAY IF YOU FIT THE QUALIFICATIONS, YOU'RE AVAILABLE TO WORK THE SCHEDULE AND YOU CAN MAKE THAT COMMUTE AND YOU'RE OKAY WITH THE HOURLY RATE YOU CAN APPLY AND BE CONSIDERED FOR THE POSITION. And then it hit me that that already exists and it's called an AD.
Why did it feel like a brand new idea? Because job postings work like 50% of the time. This isn't at the people that are shooting a bit higher and are applying for a position that requires a more experience than they have.
I'm talking about you Carol, who can't work past 6PM (even though it said the schedule was 12PM-9PM) and can't go below $19/hr (even though the ad says it was $15/hr). And when I contact you, you tell me oh no no you can't do all that LIKE YOU WEREN'T THE ONE WHO APPLIED TO THIS POSITION?
I'm not mad though 🙃
It's been about three months now and I am so happy in my new role. I still have days where I question if I'm good enough for the position, whether I can deliver those results, is my progress fast enough? Really my goal is to be a well oiled machine and do it all. I think I've realized that my strength (or what comes easiest), is the administrative side. I love charts, workflows, and audits, but I don't want to focus too much on that and get discouraged on my recruiting abilities. I'm getting there though! Hopefully we can start 2020 with a bang.
My company is majority women (100% women when I started in January) and my core team are two other women. They've both said that when they started they were a bit hesitant about working with all women, but we get along SO well and I legit love both of them. Even when I was at the front, part of the admin team, we were tight (still are but don't interact as much). I can't imagine going to work when you don't get along with your coworkers (I'm sure ya'll can). Love my manager and the rest of the staffing team so externally everything is great- just gotta work on myself.
My company is majority women (100% women when I started in January) and my core team are two other women. They've both said that when they started they were a bit hesitant about working with all women, but we get along SO well and I legit love both of them. Even when I was at the front, part of the admin team, we were tight (still are but don't interact as much). I can't imagine going to work when you don't get along with your coworkers (I'm sure ya'll can). Love my manager and the rest of the staffing team so externally everything is great- just gotta work on myself.
Edit: I have a conspiracy theory that there are people planted on ZipRecruiter whose sole purpose is to get scheduled for interviews AND NO SHOW. Have a great weekend.
I'm 25 and I've just now truly discovered the wonders of caffeine.
Well yes and no. I realized long ago that drinking a cup of coffee could easily send me into an anxiety filled episode (I don't usually deal with anxiety so it does strike me as strange). Apart from the fact that anxiety sucks, the waves hit me long after I've finished the drink and I'm left wondering why the hell I feel a sense of impending doom.
On the morning of my 21st birthday, I was sitting in Costa in Muscat and soon after drinking a caramel macchiato I had the most wonderful quarter-ish life crisis. It was lovely. Just this past Sunday night I was crying on and off for about 20 minutes reflecting on my job, my future, all of the above. Yes, I did look manic. It didn't help that I was watching a 10 year old YouTube video of a sweet 93 year old woman cooking Depression Era meals. Cue the reflections on age, death, world poverty, and humanity. All because I couldn't resist drinking the most delicious vanilla iced coffee in existence (Sunny's Bagel and Deli on Barrett Parkway). Oh my gosh it's so good. As my sister put it, "It's like I'm drinking satin."
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| sausage egg & cheese everything bagel, cuban sandwich, and the best damn iced coffee |
I know some of you may say, "but Melissa- on more than 73 occasions I've seen you throw down a large Dunkin' Donuts iced coffee like it ain't no thing". Relax ✋, I've also asked myself why I can manage when it comes to DD. I've come to the conclusion that the cream and sugar contents just overshadow the amount of coffee in the drink (and that's probably while I love it so much #DunkinDonutsOrDeath).
But, there is good news! I've discovered my caffeine threshold and *gasp* it increases my productivity at work (although I'm still debating on whether it's really affecting me or I have a placebo effect going on- probably the first one).
I was at work one day and just thought I could really go for an iced black milk tea or Thai tea right about now. Soon after, this little light bulb just went off in my head. So I stepped into the break room, placed a black tea k-cup in the Keurig, brewed it and added a little sugar and a creamer single and voila ..... black milk tea. It took me a fraction of a second to go from "oh my god my wonderful invention" to "oh my god this is literally just how your average Brit takes their tea."
Regardless, I haven't looked back and that cuppa is my perfect recipe for a boost of energy without the jitters. I don't drink it daily because deep down I still fear it, but I am very satisfied.
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| ignore my huge stirrer |
Another source of caffeine deliciousness has been from the mobile espresso bar pop up we've had at our building for the last month or so. They were only in our building once a week for the month of October, but due to demand they will be there about 2 or 3 days out of the week- yay! I always get their chai latte, it's so creamy, rich, and always the perfect temperature. I can't describe it, it's a total pick me up. A few weeks ago I went to Starbucks because I was thinking about a chai latte and . . . . I couldn't even drink it- it was SAD. But with Fuel Coffee's chais I genuinely have to stop myself from getting a second before they leave at 2PM. As a mobile bar, Fuel Coffee does all kinds of events and I'm really just thinking of any occasion I can host so that I can book them (thank you Carlos for existing and making my morning each Thursday).
Coming Soon- My Podcast Playlist
