Category Well-being | Laura Riordan

September 28, 2023 by Laura Riordan

Protect Your Creative Brain Space

7 tips to enhance Creativity!

Protecting your creative time is essential for personal growth and overall well-being. Several studies have shown that creative hobbies, such as art, writing and music, can reduce and even prevent stress. Often, when you are engaged in a creative endeavor, you are able to enter a flow state. This happens when you’re completely focused on a task, to the point where you think less about things that are worrying you. Being this absorbed can be rewarding and enjoyable – your brain is flooded with dopamine, that feel-good chemical that actually helps motivate you toward similar behavior.

Get Curious: Curiosity and creativity have a symbiotic relationship. It is unclear whether being curious enhances creativity or whether creative activities lead to openness and therefore more curiosity. In studies, one common personality trait emerges across the spectrum of creative people….they’re curious.
Create a schedule: Incorporate regular blocks of creative time into your daily or weekly routine. Treat these time slots as non-negotiable appointments with yourself.
Avoid multitasking: Focus on one creative task at a time to maintain flow and productivity.
Stay with it: Having clear objectives and timelines can keep you motivated and accountable during your creative endeavors.
Set boundaries: Communicate with others that you need uninterrupted time for creativity. Let them know when you’ll be unavailable to avoid distractions and interruptions.
Experiment with different creative techniques: Trying new approaches or art forms can keep your brain engaged and open up fresh avenues for creativity.
Seek feedback and collaboration: Share your creative work with others to gain insights and new perspectives. Collaboration with like-minded individuals can also stimulate creativity.

Remember, everyone’s creative process is unique. Experiment with these ideas to find what works best for you and helps you protect and nurture your creative brain time. Establishing a creative practice or creative time in your life takes time and persistence, however your brain will begin to crave this creative time and that is a healthy practice for a life well lived!

April 18, 2023 by Laura Riordan

Taking the Hit as a Gift

The Hit

A few months ago, a client came to me who had been unexpectedly laid off. It was a huge blow for her and she felt a bit of her identity had vanished. I helped her to ground back into who she was and the impacts that she had made over the years in her career. As the news started to sink in, she eventually found herself strangely happy and relieved. I helped her to see the layoff as gift. The abrupt change had presented an opportunity for her to find a more positive environment where her skills and expertise aligned; where she could feel challenged and grow.

My aikido teacher, George Leonard, called this awareness taking the hit as a gift. At various times in life we all receive hits. They can take the form of injury or accident, relationship struggles, career pitfalls, family crises or disappointments. Some are more forceful than others. When we receive the hit and label it as bad or negative we lose the opportunity to grow. If we receive the hit and look at it as a gift, we can open up to the possibility to change a pattern, belief, behavior or relationship in our life that is no longer serving us. We are empowered by this wake-up-call to act in a way that improves our health and wholeness thus embracing the pain or challenge for what it is, an opportunity.

Here are two ways that you can take your next “hit” as a gift:

January 26, 2022 by Laura Riordan

Enjoy a more successful retreat by planning for change before you go!

If you are planning a retreat this year or even a mini-vacation, it is wise to plan ahead for a potential shift in your mindset. Most of us have been stuck in the same routine and environment for so long that even a slight change in our surroundings can create a powerful internal shift. Now consider traveling overseas or attending a week-long retreat and you may blow your circuitry wide open…and that’s a good thing!

WHY DO WE RETREAT?

We go on retreats to get away from it all and collect our energy again. All of the energy that is otherwise spread out in multiple directions gets refocused for inner growth. All the noise, stress, responsibilities and distractions of everyday life melt away and we are able to get back in touch with who we are and what is important to us.

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN WE RETURN HOME?

We leave our retreat with clarity, an open heart and mind, and renewed energy. We return home rested and reinvigorated. We can’t help but want to bring these qualities home with us and perhaps share our experience with those we love. Unfortunately, for most of us, the daily environment we left behind is right there waiting for us. Our old habits and well-worn routines swallow up our best intentions to bring our retreat experience home.

7 TIPS FOR A MORE SUCCESSFUL POST-RETREAT EXPERIENCE

November 17, 2021 by Laura Riordan

Meaning Over Money

Thinking about quitting your job?

Coaching can help you find the clarity you need to make a good decision

There has been a lot of press lately about the Great Resignation that is unfolding as the pandemic establishes remote work as a long-term reality. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 4 million Americans quit their jobs in July 2021. Personally, I have mixed feelings about the benefits of remote vs. in-person work environments, however I do know that we need to continue to focus on creating a sense of belonging and shared meaning at work.

According to recent studies done by McKinsey & Co, “Among nearly 6,000 employee respondents, 40% of respondents said they are at least somewhat likely to quit their jobs in the next three to six months. The top three reasons for quitting a job were not feeling valued by their organizations (54%), not feeling valued by their managers (52%), and not feeling a sense of belonging at work (51%).”

I have been witnessing this sentiment in my work with mid-level managers through the BetterUp coaching platform. Once compensation needs are met, people are motivated to stay in a role when they feel a sense of belonging, shared values and a pathway for growth. If these factors are missing in your current role, it may be time to look elsewhere. However, before jumping ship, it is smart to understand more about who you are and what makes you tick. Take the time to explore from within and find the clarity you need before jumping onto the Great Resignation train.

Ask yourself if you may be able to expand your scope of work to be more in alignment with your goals.
Can you make a bigger effort to invest in what is working instead of what is not working?
Is there a bridge you can establish between your current role and where you wish to go?

These are some of the areas of focus I explore with clients making career decisions. If you are wondering if coaching could help you, I am happy to have a conversation. Please click to learn more.

in Articles / Back to Work / Executive Balance / Executive Shift / Featured / Uncategorized / Well-being 0 comments

October 21, 2021 by Laura Riordan

Bringing Moments of Joy into the Virtual World

Many of our opportunities for moments of joy at work have disappeared while working from home. The spontaneity that we took for granted talking about a fun weekend around the water cooler or seeking advice from a colleague in the next cube is gone. We are working together, but not quite connected. How can we start to bring a little more joy to our work and gain connectedness in an inherently disconnected world?

October 21, 2021 by Laura Riordan

Having trouble Focusing?

Focus Sessions can help you get back on track

A few months ago I received a call from a former client out of the blue asking what I knew about adult onset ADD. She wondered if there was such a diagnosis as she was certain she had it. She described her symptoms as mildly anxious and irritable but moreover she was experiencing a total lack of focus for more than a few minutes at a time. I have been hearing a similar sentiment from clients, peers and friends over the past few months.

As life in parts of the world is getting back to “normal” many of us seem to have lost our ability to focus. I had to admit that day (and many days lately) despite the fact that I was alone in my home office, had already gone for a run and had my favorite coffee, I too was having trouble focusing. Then I saw an email from my friend Megan Flatt at the Let’s Collective about a new offering called Focus Sessions. I signed up for the free trial week immediately and blocked out Monday morning on my calendar.

August 12, 2020 by Laura Riordan

Tetris anyone?

I feel as if these last 5 months I have been playing a big game of tetris trying to keep up with a constantly changing landscape due to the pandemic. With the recent news about some schools beginning the year online, I am jostling my pieces around yet again. On a hike with a friend yesterday she noted that we are not just dealing with the familiar tetris game shapes, but now are being thrown triangles, circles and the occasional rhombus. How do we keep arranging our various tetrominos (yes I looked that word up) before we reach overwhelm and it’s game over?

March 30, 2020 by Laura Riordan

Using Prosocial Emotions to Lift Us Up!

We are learning, stretching, growing even if it feels that we are isolating and folding in on ourselves. The global pandemic is creating a new normal in the world that includes social distancing and voluntary isolation. Many of us feel some anxiety and potentially the beginnings of depression as we are uncertain about our future and cut off from our fellow humans.

To combat these feelings, we can cultivate positive and prosocial emotions. Prosocial emotions provide a sense of belonging to something bigger than ourselves and offer us a way to connect and lift each other up. These emotions include curiosity, surprise, amusement, gratitude, kindness and awe. Interestingly, these emotional states also spark creativity and lift us out of boredom which may be feeding the depression settling in. Try some of these action items to boost your mood and lift others up!

February 12, 2020 by Laura Riordan

Everyday Awe

In the wake of some recent tragic deaths I have been doing some soul searching about my place here on this beautiful planet we inhabit. I am also about to turn 50 and realize that I have been blessed to live an abundant life thus far and plan on experiencing and participating in so much more! I am struck by how, during these times of contemplation, we can feel small and understand how precious life really is. I learned recently that this feeling is actually associated with the emotion of Awe and that experiencing Awe can make us feel more connected to one another and the natural world.

Awe experiences are self-transcendent. They shift our attention away from ourselves, make us feel like we are part of something greater than ourselves, and make us more generous toward others.
Dacher Keltner

What exactly is Awe? It is a complex emotion that gives you a feeling of vastness and connection at the same time.

October 22, 2019 by Laura Riordan

For every two parts happiness add one part meaning

If you want to find more fulfillment in your work follow this equation

Passion projects aside, the search for fulfilling work does not need to center around your personal happiness. It is important to feel good while in your work environment and for your work to be in alignment with your values, but happiness as a goal for work may be leaving you a bit shortchanged. Here’s why, happiness is found in the present whereas meaning transcends time to include past/present/future.

The Hit

Here are two ways that you can take your next “hit” as a gift:

7 TIPS FOR A MORE SUCCESSFUL POST-RETREAT EXPERIENCE

Thinking about quitting your job?

Focus Sessions can help you get back on track

Meaningfulness is something we invest energy in without expecting a return.