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Speaker 1: Good morning. This is Laura. Welcome to the New Corner Office,

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Speaker 1: the podcast where we share strategies for thriving in the

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Speaker 1: new world of work, where location and ours are more

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Speaker 1: flexible than in the past. Today's tip is to connect

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Speaker 1: beyond social media. We can use social media to feel connected,

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Speaker 1: and it can fill a real need, but don't let

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Speaker 1: it be the only way that you fill that need

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Speaker 1: even now. This episode comes from a letter I got

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Speaker 1: from a listener who had moved to a new country

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Speaker 1: following her spouse's job. She was working from home, and

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Speaker 1: while she noted that this had been great, I do

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Speaker 1: find myself going to social media a lot as a

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Speaker 1: way to connect to people since I don't get to

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Speaker 1: chat with anyone throughout my work day. She said, work

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Speaker 1: calls tended to be mostly about work. She found herself

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Speaker 1: slipping down the rabbit hole of social media, but it

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Speaker 1: was hard to avoid since Instagram and WhatsApp we're the

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Speaker 1: quickest way to have the equivalent of a water cooler conversation.

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Speaker 1: Any tips on how I can fulfill this need of

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Speaker 1: mind to feel connected to people without turning to social media,

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Speaker 1: she asked. Humans are social creatures, and so this listener

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Speaker 1: is absolutely right that connection is a need. Social media

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Speaker 1: can quickly create a sense of connection. You feel part

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Speaker 1: of a group when you are all mocking a funny

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Speaker 1: story in the news, or gushing over a picture, or

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Speaker 1: arguing over a clickbait headline. It's a quick hit. The problem,

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Speaker 1: of course, is that much of our social media consumption

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Speaker 1: is pretty passive. You read an article and read the comments,

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Speaker 1: you respond to some famous person's post. This person does

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Speaker 1: not actually know you. This isn't real socializing. Some real

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Speaker 1: socializing is possible online. Certain niche communities can be truly supportive,

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Speaker 1: and I don't want to minimize that, but I'd say

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Speaker 1: that at least eight of the time that is not

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Speaker 1: what is happening. So I thought our listener needed to

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Speaker 1: recognize that social media is what I might call effortless connection.

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Speaker 1: Real person interaction is more effortful connection. It's worth it

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Speaker 1: to put effort into the real connection because it can

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Speaker 1: be so much more meaningful. So one idea for her

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Speaker 1: is to proactively schedule in virtual socializing with real friends.

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Speaker 1: The upside of a pandemic is now everyone is trying

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Speaker 1: virtual get togethers. This is good news for someone who's

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Speaker 1: just moved to a new country because she can plug

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Speaker 1: in with friends in her old home as if she'd

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Speaker 1: never left. Yes, there might be a time difference, but

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Speaker 1: oh well. Aiming to get together with people for virtual

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Speaker 1: coffees once or twice a week could go a long

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Speaker 1: way toward making her feel more connected. She might also

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Speaker 1: be a will to elevate one of her colleagues into

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Speaker 1: more of a friend. We've covered the idea of making

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Speaker 1: better work friends on this podcast recently. If there's someone

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Speaker 1: who she enjoys and meetings and who seems friendly, it

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Speaker 1: might be worth suggesting a virtual coffee to get to

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Speaker 1: know each other better. Theoretically, her company should be encouraging this,

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Speaker 1: given that people aren't working in person to gather, but

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Speaker 1: she can take the initiative regardless. Work is far more

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Speaker 1: fun when you're friendly with the people you work with.

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Speaker 1: She could also start a small professional accountability group start

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Speaker 1: getting together virtually regularly with four to six people in

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Speaker 1: her industry. These sessions have a professional purpose, so people

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Speaker 1: are more likely to take them seriously and make time

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Speaker 1: for them. But it's hard to chat with people about

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Speaker 1: your goals and aspirations time and time again and not

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Speaker 1: start to feel connected. This would be a good way

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Speaker 1: to make more connections in the real world. Few people

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Speaker 1: are going to give up social media cold turkey, and

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Speaker 1: I don't think there's any real reason to. When you

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Speaker 1: start spending more time connecting to real people, it crowds

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Speaker 1: out time for social media, and it also makes social

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Speaker 1: media feel less pressing. When you see something interesting, you

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Speaker 1: are more likely to text or call a friend about it,

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Speaker 1: rather than seeing what people you don't actually know are

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Speaker 1: commenting about it. It's a pretty similar process, but it

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Speaker 1: feels far more fulfilling, and that is worth making time for.

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Speaker 1: In the meantime, this is Laura, Thanks for listening, and

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Speaker 1: here's the succeeding in the New Corner Office. The New

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Speaker 1: Corner Office is a production of I Heart Radio. For

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Speaker 1: more podcasts, visit the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,

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Speaker 1: or wherever you get your favorite shows.