Hi Friends,

I really didn’t feel like writing this newsletter today.

It was an (im)perfect storm of a wide open unplanned Sunday, having the apartment to myself, a literal stormy day, a show I wanted to binge to the end, a full busy work week ahead, and well, just no motivation to do anything I “should” be doing.

Those Sunday Scaries slithered in and started to take hold.

After Uber Eatsing (that’s now a verb, just go with it) my 2nd meal of the day, the negative self-talk started to creep in - thoughts like: “you should be catching up on your personal life and business chores” and “you’re letting your rare unplanned time go to waste” and “you’re being lazy & lazy people don’t run successful businesses” - thoughts that may ring familiar to you too.

But today, I caught myself in that shame spiral - something I’ve learned to diagnose when “should” starts running my inner dialogue.

I paused the show and asked myself: With my body so obviously craving rest, what are the things I need to do to show up for myself today?

Today that looked like this:

• allowing myself a couple more hours of rest & satisfaction of finishing the TV show I started - not allowing any more guilt or shame to take hold

• completing two Sunday evening client sessions

• writing & sending this newsletter to you

Having navigated the spiral and come out on the other side, tonight I share with you some strategies for at least scaling down the Sunday Scaries through my own lived experience - applicable for job searchers and the fully employed.

Clarify 💡

Call it fate or something else entirely but my first client this evening began her session asking for guidance on self-motivation and organizing herself in a somewhat chaotic new workplace - two things just hours ago I was struggling with a bit myself.

Having just practiced this myself - I shared my framework for clarity when feeling overwhelmed:

1. What do I need to do?

   • Reduce your mental burden and list everything you feel like you need to accomplish - does not need to be in any particular order

2. Why am I doing it?

   • This is where you prioritize and often can truly sort through all the tasks we carry over week over week by default and sift through the noise.

   • I start by sorting all listed tasks by subject and then thematically assigning the ‘why’ and equating that to a priority level.

   • I’ve found that it’s important for each person to develop their own method for assigning the ‘why’ based on how you think - what works for me may not really make sense to you, and that’s ok!

3. When does this need to be finished?

   • After sorting out the tasks that don’t have a strong enough why (priority level), decide on a due date.

   • Due dates without time scheduled to get the work done will likely be pushed out time and time again so block time to accomplish work and if there’s not enough time, rethink your priorities for the week.

   The vicious cycle of pushing deadlines out creates a cycle of shame and gives more and more datapoints to yourself that you are not reliable - we don’t want that!

   As much as I’m writing this newsletter to share (hopefully) valuable tips with you, I do it equally to show up for myself and strengthen my muscle of accountability.

Connect 🤝

When I feel myself begin to dread the work week ahead, the quickest antidote is creating time for connection where you are lifted up and can lift others up.

This might be Monday Night Football with friends (we’re baaack! 🏈), a walk and talk with your mom, lunch with a work friend, you get the idea - it’s time to get out of your head and get perspective on what’s going on with those around you.

When you make time for connection, you gain perspective and feel less alone.

This week, I’m looking forward to creating connection by hosting the 6th edition of my Laid Off to Leveled Up Job Search Webinar. Since starting this series, I’ve connected with hundreds of job searchers and have learned as much as I’ve given to this community. If anyone in your network is on the job hunt, please have them join on Thursday - I’ll share my own lessons from navigating layoffs along with the wisdom from this growing community about the market, what’s working and what’s not:

It’s free and the recording will be sent to all registered.

Confidently Communicate 🗣️

Clear intentions & priorities for your work week, carved out time for connection, and blocked time to execute prioritized work are independently good strategies for organizing in the midst of what feels like chaos - And life can feel like that often.

These strategies combined WITH an accountability partner increase the likelihood you’ll show up for yourself and get your shit done by a lot (some studies cite up to 95%).

So don’t just tell yourself what you’re going to do - tell someone who cares and will hold you accountable. It could be your manager, your partner, your best friend - it could be me, I’m an accountability partner to anyone looking to transition in their career - between roles or reach the next level.

I’d love to hear from you what tips from this week you plan to try - just reply back!

Until next Sunday,

Jess Storiale