Speaker 1: Good morning. This is Laura. Welcome to the New Corner Office,
Speaker 1: the podcast where we share strategies for thriving in the
Speaker 1: new world of work, where location and hours are more
Speaker 1: flexible than in the past. Today's tip is to have
Speaker 1: do it yourself lunch and learns. Lots of workplaces have
Speaker 1: lunch and learned series for employees who want informal development opportunities.
Speaker 1: The usual format is that people grab lunch from the
Speaker 1: cafeteria or gathered for catered sandwiches and here from an expert.
Speaker 1: I imagine in the future a lot more of these
Speaker 1: lunche and learns will be virtual. My husband's employer actually
Speaker 1: sent lunch to our house the other day for one
Speaker 1: such webinar, but not everyone has explored that possibility yet.
Speaker 1: In any case, if you're working from home, you can
Speaker 1: replicate the lunch and learned format and make these learning
Speaker 1: opportunities even more tailored to your taste then your employer would.
Speaker 1: If you're working at home alone, do it yourself Lunch
Speaker 1: and learn can be a great way to switch the
Speaker 1: day up a bit too. In a recent podcast, I
Speaker 1: suggested taking advantage of the many webinars that are being
Speaker 1: offered follow interesting people on Twitter or Instagram, and many
Speaker 1: will mention what they're offering to their followers. You can
Speaker 1: watch webinars as they're happening, and you can often find
Speaker 1: archived recordings of webinars too. TED talks can be another
Speaker 1: great option for lunch and learns. They're fairly short, so
Speaker 1: you can fit one or two into even the shortest
Speaker 1: of lunch breaks. They are driven by ideas, so they
Speaker 1: can be great for broadening your perspective on your work
Speaker 1: and your daily life. Search to see if there's a
Speaker 1: talk by one of your favorite thought leaders, or use
Speaker 1: playlists to direct you to sets of talks on topics
Speaker 1: like finding common ground, working from home, or avoiding burnout.
Speaker 1: You can also sign up for TED recommends to get
Speaker 1: personalized suggestions. See if a colleague wants to join you
Speaker 1: in watching one, and then you can trade thoughts afterwards.
Speaker 1: Lots of people say they'd like to read more and
Speaker 1: do it yourself. Lunch and learns are a great opportunity
Speaker 1: for reading books or articles that relate to your work.
Speaker 1: Audio books can be attractive if you're concerned about getting
Speaker 1: pasta sauce on the pages. Your public library may allow
Speaker 1: you to check out audio books and listen to them
Speaker 1: on your phone or other devices. If you'd like more
Speaker 1: structured to your learning, you might enjoy enrolling in a mook,
Speaker 1: a massive open online course. You can find free courses
Speaker 1: on topics ranging from unconscious bias to public speaking. Carve
Speaker 1: out a break in your schedule, like from noon to
Speaker 1: one pm to watch the instructional videos and do your homework.
Speaker 1: With all the great options available for do it yourself
Speaker 1: lunch and learns, you might find it helpful to keep
Speaker 1: a document on your computer with ideas, links to ted
Speaker 1: talks or webinars to view books and articles, to read
Speaker 1: mookes to take a topics you'd like to explore, even
Speaker 1: if you don't know exactly how yet, then when you
Speaker 1: sit down for lunch, you've got choices ready to go.
Speaker 1: In any case, it's wise to step away from your
Speaker 1: work for a little bit and think about something besides
Speaker 1: what you've been working on since nine am. Creating structure
Speaker 1: for downtime increases the chances that we do something besides
Speaker 1: panic reading headlines or scrolling through social media. People take
Speaker 1: breaks anyway, so it's best to do it consciously in
Speaker 1: the meantime. This is Laura. Thanks for listening and here's
Speaker 1: the succeeding in the New Corner Office. The New Corner
Speaker 1: Office is a production of I Heart Radio. For more podcasts,
Speaker 1: visit the i Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever
Speaker 1: you get your favorite shows.