(Unplanned post Part 1) It’s time for another unplanned spontaneous post. I don’t know exactly where this is going but it will be clear by the end. So recently I’ve been struggling with low energy and burnout. I’ve been in a job for 9 months while holding onto a part-time job. The main job isContinue reading “Life Decision”
Author Archives: Jon Red
Thank You
This post is simply to thank all readers of this blog. So, thank you for reading, sharing, and commenting!
To show my appreciation, I invite you to suggest the next topic (not already outlined in the series posts) in the comments section. I will write a post on the first topic that I have knowledge or insight on.
COVID-19
We left the country for 3 weeks and my wife got Covid! Although initially it was stressful and looked like an awful situation, there have been many benefits. Although I’ve tested negative every day so far, at the end, I’ll detail my daily symptoms.
R&R 2
In R&R, I wrote that I was transitioning between jobs. At the time of writing, I was six months into the job and I’d hit a wall. The timing of my holiday was perfect.
Anonymity
Recently, I’ve become aware that people who know me personally may have discovered this blog and it made me realise that it’s possible others will too in the future. If you know who I am or wonder why I choose anonymity, this is for you.
Happy New Year! (More of the series to follow in the coming weeks!)
Happy New Year everyone! I wish you a year of love, growth, and fulfillment, ever moving closer to your goals and dreams. I mentioned that I want my posts to be actionable and I referred a lot to Triggers and Tools in the previous posts. For now, please refer to the old version here. AnContinue reading “Happy New Year! (More of the series to follow in the coming weeks!)”
Merry Christmas!
I wish you a healthy and happy Christmas from the bottom of my heart! May your coming year be full of meaning and growth! With love from JR
Recalibration
You may have noticed I went dark for a while. I am currently in a transition period, the process of recalibration, learning how to go from teacher to manager. This has challenged the systems I had in place to protect my mental health. More on that later – a bit of background first and someContinue reading “Recalibration”
Recalibration (bionic reading)
You may have noticed I went dark for a while. I am currently in a transition period, the process of recalibration, learning how to go from teacher to manager. This has challenged the systems I had in place to protect my mental health. More on that later – a bit of background first and some lessons I have learned at the end. Background – From Teacher to Manager (Imposter Syndrome)Until just before my post on R&R, I had a highly productive schedule, using the early hours of the morning from 4 or 5 am to around 10 am to read, study or write. After that, I would have breakfast with my family and then cycle to work. This was working really well. I was tired but productive, achieving, increasing my self-esteem and staving off depression. Since then, I have transitioned from being a teacher to a regional manager. This means a big schedule change. My previous teaching hours were between 1 pm-9 pm. I now essentially have a 9-5 office job. My day off was Tuesday. Now it is Saturday & Sunday, but my part-time job was on those days until the academic year ended last week, so I worked three weeks with no day off. I also have to drive to work, which means less exercise and more stress (peak hour traffic, abrupt lane changes and stopping = a mini-heart attack every day!). The naive part of me thought the transition would be business as usual, just with some schedule adjustments. To stay productive, I thought it would just be a case of getting up earlier but I had not taken into account the stress of the new responsibilities and the lack of days off as I changed jobs.My first few weeks have been quite intense as I learn about my new role. AnxietyI have had very little time to feel depressed. What I have struggled with is anxiety.Here is what anxiety looks like for me: racing thoughts, increased heart rate, headaches from stress, impaired concentration and forgetfulness, incredibly focused concentration, and a general feeling of impending doom. In my main job, I have gone from being responsible for teaching around 8 classes to representing the whole company and being responsible (and first point of contact) for around 18 schools. This, and my lack of experience leaves me constantly questioning the decisions I make on a daily basis. I have the title, but I sometimes have the feeling of ‘Imposter Syndrome’.Continue reading “Recalibration (bionic reading)”
Bionic Reading
This is an experiment for my readers. Be sure to open this page for full effect. I recently became aware of a concept called Bionic Reading. The idea is that by focusing on the bold parts of each word, your brain will finish the word. The aim is to “encourage a more in-depth reading and understanding of written content.” I will be trying it out on future posts too and would love your feedback. Should I keep doing it? Why/why not? Comment below if you find this helpful or not! Post emboldened with the help of: https://api.bionic-reading.com/convert/ For further information, see: https://bionic-reading.com/ (I am not affiliated with nor sponsored by them).
R&R
An uncharacteristically short post… I am currently having a week off as I transition between jobs. I had been feeling off and particularly unproductive in the 3 weeks before this holiday. I have been fighting the urge to be productive, so I set no alarms. I wake up when I wake up. Often that happensContinue reading “R&R“
Muddled (unplanned)
I am just going to write and see where this goes. Writing is my way of unscrambling my thoughts and reprioritising what is important. TLDR: You cannot do everything you want at the same time, listen to your body, rest. For regular readers It has been an intense couple of weeks. I have been pushingContinue reading “Muddled (unplanned)“
