First Thing Monday #10
This week we discuss phishing scams from your "boss," what even is Starfield, and why you need a wind down routine at the end of the day 🐠🌟🍃
🍂 Good morning party people! It’s our 10th week here at
. Thank you to all our subscribers who read First Thing Monday every week!☑️ FTM is a weekly newsletter that includes a recap of all the news Millennial and Gen Z leaders need to know to help make better decisions about their careers. Each issue also includes four tips for developing better relationships in your workplace. Weekly issues come out on Monday mornings!
❓ Have a work question or topics you’d like us to discuss? Drop me a line 📱 misterfantastiksubstack@gmail.com or leave us a comment below!
I’m Jon Cochran, a consumer goods executive with 15 years of experience leading sales, marketing, and product development teams and working with brands like J.Crew, Hilton, and Mattel. I want to provide resources to help you take control of your career and maximize your satisfaction in the workplace.
⏰ What to read before your first meeting:
The Next Wave of Scams Will Be Deepfake Video Calls From Your Boss (Bloomberg): I fell victim to an email scam involving a business owner, phishing, and Apple gift cards back in 2018. The sad thing was that the whole scenario felt so real! We can’t let AI fool us like this!
How Glossier Tried and Failed to Become a Tech Company (Business of Fashion): This story is for anyone interested in start-ups with visionary CEOs who have big dreams. Trying to execute those big dreams can come at the cost of prioritizing core products and customers. The Glossier products remain great, though; I still buy the Milky Jelly Cleanser!
Leaders, your Gen Z and millennial employees might quit in 2024. Here’s why (Fast Company): The disconnects between leaders and workers here are around pay, remote work, and AI. The gap between employees and employers seems to widen with each new survey. Why can’t we all just get along!?
How to Not Overwhelm Participants During Open Enrollment (Plansponsor): Who also hates open enrollment? Your HR team. Remember that their workload is in a busy season over the next few months and they are doing their best.
Move Over, Twitter, er, X. LinkedIn Is the Cool Place to Be. (Medium): In a world of X, Threads, Blue Sky, blah blah blah, LinkedIn at least gives you a place where you can celebrate how awesome you are at your job in a less cringey way than humblebragging like it’s 2015.
🚰 The Water Cooler
I updated my Spring 2024 Story highlights on @fantastikmoods to include the latest from New York and London Fashion Weeks. Excited to see what the rest of the shows reveal for next year.
Have you run out of TV? NPR’s 2023 fall streaming guide can help. I can vouch for Season Four of the Righteous Gemstones! Looking forward to Loki Season Two.
Here’s a primer for Bethesda Games’ Starfield. Make sure you check out the potato room.
📖 Reflections for this week:
For yourself: Okay, time to check in with yourself. What are you doing outside of work to relax? I’m a big fan of a mid-day nap, anywhere from 45 minutes to 1.5 hours depending on how much time I have. And thank you to Rihanna, I just purchased some of her Fenty Skin body scrub. The smell instantly relaxes me!
For your boss: When was the last time your job description was updated? Does it reflect the work you do? If it’s been a while and your job description doesn’t fit, take a pass at drafting a job description for yourself first. If you feel inclined, get this draft into a place where you feel comfortable sharing it with your boss. Work together with them to develop your job description and your boss will feel included in the process. And you’ll both have clarity about your role!
For your direct report(s): What do you think about when it comes to workplace training and development? For me, it’s almost always a class. But that’s because I’m thinking of myself first. Different generations have different preferences for professional development. As you create development plans for your direct reports, be sure to consider what learning methods they prefer when you offer resources. What works for you may be different from those you supervise.
For your co-workers: A few newsletters ago we discussed how to celebrate birthdays on your team. Another important date? Hiring anniversaries. In this economy, any sort of long-term relationship you have with a job is something to celebrate. Acknowledging hard work and dedication means a lot to many people. Check to see what your team does to celebrate anniversaries. And if you don’t do anything? There is no time like the present to start!
⚡️ And one last thing…
I want to return to the idea of relaxing and think about how we let go at the end of the day. Many folks who read FTM spend time in a hybrid work situation: some time is spent at an office, and some is somewhere else (often a home). While the length of the commute might be different, the need to wind down from the day is necessary regardless of where you spent the work day. Creating a wind-down routine can be helpful to turn off your work brain and chill at the end of the day. Here’s what I do:
Complete one small task: this could be a phone call, one final Slack to the team, or a response to one last email. The goal is to end the day on a high note. A small win at the end of the day goes a long way!
Write out your to-do’s for tomorrow: don’t spend time trying to rush through more tasks at the end of the day. When I’m tired, I get sloppy so this step is important for me! Take a few minutes to write out your to-do list for tomorrow. You’ll have more energy to tackle everything then. This list also can take your mind off the running list of things you need to do because you wrote them down for tomorrow.
Clean it up: straightening up and cleaning your workspace keeps coming up here at FTM! In this case, take a second or two to put away your cups, pens, notebooks, etc. At the start of the Pandemic, I worked from the dining room table so cleaning up after work was critical if we wanted a place to eat dinner. This task also sets you up for a clear desk tomorrow and that just feels good!
Do an action that means “closing time”: now it’s time to shift out of work mode. Pick something you can do every day that symbolizes the transition from work into the evening. For me, it’s closing my computer. If I’m working from home, it’s taking a shower after I close my computer. Regardless of what you choose, honor that this action brings the close of business for you and you’re done with work until tomorrow.
Start the evening on a good note: I never realized until recently, but when someone asks, “How was your day?” what do they want to hear? Even kids hate to answer, “How was school?” Let’s stop asking these questions each evening. Instead, you could ask what good or exciting things happened that day, then engage with your family and friends in a conversation about it. Take the focus off yourself and connect with them to begin your evening.
What do you do to wind down after the work day?
See you next week!
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