Carolyn Birsky
How To Take Care Of Yourself Post-Layoff

If you’ve been reading the news or your LinkedIn feed, you’ve likely seen the layoffs happening across the tech industry. Maybe you yourself have been impacted. Whether this is your first layoff or you’ve been a part of one before, the experience can be quite disheartening.

You go from having a full work day to hours on hours of open time. You had a group of colleagues you worked with daily and suddenly you’re no longer interacting with those folks on a regular basis. There are moments when your new found freedom feels amazing - and others when it’s absolutely brutal.

So how do you support yourself through it?

Below are some ways in which I’ve been taking care of myself throughout my own layoff journey. Hope you find them helpful too!

How To Take Care Of Yourself Post-Layoff
Carolyn Birsky
Start, Stop, Continue, + Support

In business, there is an exercise called Stop, Start, Continue. The purpose of the exercise is to enable teams to give feedback, clarify priorities, and create agreed upon next steps. By putting all of these ideas out in the open, it’s easier to get everyone on the same page about what action needs to be taken. It’s often used at the end of project sprints or the end of a quarter to help teams self-evaluate and improve upon processes for the next project or quarter ahead.

It can also be a helpful exercise for your own self-reflection.

Start, Stop, Continue, + Support
Carolyn Birsky
How To Support Your Grieving Team

We’re all experiencing grief right now. It might look and feel a bit different from what normally comes to mind when we think of “grief”, but ultimately that’s what it is.

We’re grieving the loss of life - both the actual loss of life of those who have died of COVID-19, as well as the sudden loss of our “normal” lives. It feels like overnight the world we knew changed and we’re mourning what we once took for granted like meeting friends for dinner, going to the gym, or even shaking hands with someone we just met. Many of us are grieving the loss of stable income and aren’t sure when we’ll be able to find jobs again.

We’re also grieving the loss of the futures we had in mind for ourselves - whether it’s postponing a wedding or graduation, changes to who is allowed in the delivery room when giving birth, the move we were supposed to make, or the new job we were supposed to start. We had plans and dreams that suddenly seemed to have vanished or have drastically changed on us.

Nothing feels certain - other than the fact that we’re experiencing grief.

As we deal with our own grief, it’s important to remember that in many ways this is a collective grief. Every single one of us is affected by this pandemic in our own way.

This is particularly important to remember when it comes to work.

How To Support Your Grieving Team
Carolyn Birsky
What I'm Loving Lately: Quarantine Edition

How are you holding up, friend?

I hope you’ve been finding ways to have fun and appreciate the good things in life amidst all of this uncertainty. To help you feel inspired and hopefully discover some new things to keep you occupied in quarantine, I’ve pulled together a list of things I’ve been loving lately.

Each item on the list is something I’ve personally been using for inspiration, stress management, or just for fun.

What I'm Loving Lately: Quarantine Edition
Carolyn Birsky
The Do's And Don'ts Of Working From Home

Over the past week, several friends and clients have mentioned the difficulty they’re having adjusting to working from home. Maybe you’re feeling that way too?

As someone who has spent a few years working from home and on distributed teams, I thought it might be helpful to share my best do’s and don’ts of working from home to help make your adjustment easier.

Here’s what I’ve found to work well.

The Do's And Don'ts Of Working From Home

self-care

How To Take Care Of Yourself Post-Layoff

How To Take Care Of Yourself Post-Layoff

If you’ve been reading the news or your LinkedIn feed, you’ve likely seen the layoffs happening across the tech industry. Maybe you yourself have been impacted. Whether this is your first layoff or you’ve been a part of one before, the experience can be quite disheartening.

You go from having a full work day to hours on hours of open time. You had a group of colleagues you worked with daily and suddenly you’re no longer interacting with those folks on a regular basis. There are moments when your new found freedom feels amazing - and others when it’s absolutely brutal.

So how do you support yourself through it?

Below are some ways in which I’ve been taking care of myself throughout my own layoff journey. Hope you find them helpful too!

Taking Care Of Yourself In The Midst Of Uncertainty

Taking Care Of Yourself In The Midst Of Uncertainty

To say that things feel uncertain right now is an understatement.

We’re in the midst of a pandemic and trying to understand how we continue with our lives while staying home, what this all means for our economy, how we support one another, and how to parse through lots of mixed messages in the media. With many companies instituting work from home policies, universities moving classes to a virtual format, and restaurants closing, everyone is trying to adjust to a new “normal”.

We don’t know what will happen next and how long things will feel out of sorts, which is leading to lots of stress - the sort of stress that leads to people hoarding toilet paper and hand sanitizer.

It’s totally normal and natural to feel out of control right now given the level of uncertainty we all face. At the same time, there is also a lot in our control too.

Setting Boundaries At Work

Setting Boundaries At Work

Today I want to talk about something that I’ve noticed a lot of people struggling with lately: boundary setting at work.

With emails, texts, and tools like Slack, we’re in constant communication with our coworkers. This can be a huge benefit when you’re trying to meet deadlines or have a team working from various locations. In these moments, technology is amazing!

At the same time, it can be hard to disconnect after hours or even focus during the day with lots of different apps constantly pinging you. If we’re not careful, this constant connection can inadvertently lead to a culture of working too many hours, pressure to respond immediately to messages, and a feeling of overwhelm.

Two Years Of Compass Maven

Two Years Of Compass Maven

It’s hard to believe, but Compass Maven is officially 2!

Time is a funny thing - it can feel fast and slow all at the same time. In some ways, it feels like setting this website “live” and sending out my first newsletter happened even more than 2 years ago. In other ways, it feels like yesterday.

What I'm Loving Lately: Summer Kickoff Edition

What I'm Loving Lately: Summer Kickoff Edition

Happy Summer friends!

Okay, maybe it's not technically summer yet, but Memorial Day Weekend always feels like the official kickoff to me. Parades, pools opening, warmer weather, frosé all day - you know, the signs that summer is coming!

In an effort to help you make this the best. summer. ever. for your personal and professional development, I've put together a list of the things that I'm LOVING right now!

WELL-Rounded Podcast Interview

WELL-Rounded Podcast Interview

Hey friends!

I'm a big advocate of my clients taking time to celebrate when they reach their goals (rather than just moving onto the next), so I thought I'd take my own advice today and celebrate reaching a goal of mine!

At the beginning of the year, I made a goal to be on at least 5 podcasts in 2018 (hence why it may seem like I've been on the podcast circuit as of late). As an avid listener and some one who enjoys connecting with new people, I absolutely LOVE recording podcast episodes! They're a fun way to have really interesting conversations with awesome people! 

September Is The New January

September Is The New January

Well, it's that time of year again, when we say so long to summer Fridays and trade in our bikinis and flip flops for toasty scarves and pumpkin spice lattes. We may get a few more warm days, but the weather is very noticeably changing. Have you seen how quickly it's getting dark in the evenings now?!

Beyond the obvious shift in weather, the changing of seasons brings a shift in energy as well.

Summer's energy is very carefree - all about doing things that bring us pleasure, whether that be travel, lying on the beach or impromptu outdoor dinner parties with friends. Fall's energy, however, is much more focused. Now that our summer plans have come to an end, our focus shifts to getting back to our normal lives and routines. That "back to school" vibe is in the air, and even if we're no longer in school ourselves, the energy is still around us.

For some of us, this transition can make us feel a bit sad - like we're saying goodbye to an old friend. However, I happen see it as an opportunity.

Give Yourself Permission

Give Yourself Permission

I've seen the phrase "Give yourself permission" a lot recently. From podcasts to social media posts, it's like it was a message I needed to hear. Give yourself permission. The synchronicity of it has not been lost on me and it's made me think about how much of our lives revolve around seekingpermission, rather than granting it to ourselves.

It started when we were kids: permission slips sent home so we could go on field trips, asking our teachers if we could use the restroom during class, asking if we could sit with someone at lunch. While these examples may seem small, they add up over time.

We've gotten so used to seeking permission from others that now, as adults, we often forget how to ask ourselves permission to do things. 

Are You Listening To Your Body? (Free Cheat Sheet)

Are You Listening To Your Body? (Free Cheat Sheet)

Your body is freaking brilliant.

While you may have a love/hate relationship with it at times, the sheer brilliance that your body contains is an undeniable fact. All day, every day, your body is giving you cues. It tells you when it needs food, when it needs sleep, when it needs to pee, when it needs you to just stop moving already (or even when you should really get off your ass for a few minutes).

But how much do you actually listen to your body?

Why You Should Take A FAKE Sick Day

Why You Should Take A FAKE Sick Day

About a year ago I was working with my friend and health coach, Michelle Cady of FitVista, on a sort of health reboot. I was super overextended from working full time, going to coaching school at night, working on business ideas, being in a relationship, and generally trying to keep up with friends and maintain a social life. In the midst of all of that, I was trying to fit in exercise and eating healthy. I was on a vary obvious road to burnout (even if I couldn’t see it at the time).