How to Get Through the Workday When the Headlines are Awful

How to Get Through the Workday When the News is Terrible 22 Mar 2021 --- 𝙎𝙪𝙗𝙨𝙘𝙧𝙞𝙗𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝘼𝙨𝙘𝙚𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙤𝙙𝙖𝙮! ✨ https://www.youtube.com/c/HBRAscend ✨ 2020 was a rough year. And the start of 2021 doesn't feel like it's getting any easier. So how do you stay focused at work? 00:00 2020 was a rough year. 02:05 How do you unplug from social media when it's your day job? 03:19 How do you tell your team that you need a break from talking about the news? 04:37 How do we, as BIPOC navigate these kind of situations? 05:52 What if we are in a predominantly white workspace? 06:50 How can we stay focused at work when chaos strikes? Should we? 07:41 How can we practice protecting our mental health while staying productive? 09:16 What You Need to Remember We talked to Dr. Angela Neal-Barnett, a professor at Kent University and the director of the Program for Research on Anxiety Disorders Among African Americans (PRADAA). She shared her advice on how we can stay focused at work when the news is painful to watch and being recirculated all around us. She also shared her thoughts on how events, like what happened in Washington, D.C. in January of this year, can affect the Black and brown communities, and what we can do about it. Here are some ways to help you stay focused: When you leave work, you have to leave work. Close the door, put away your laptop, and truly log-off. You have to create that balance. Manage the time you’re spending with technology, and if at all possible, unplug. Remember that people cannot read your mind. If your coworkers are distracting you, politely tell them you are busy and will catch up with them later. __________________________________________________________________________ We’d love to hear from you! Tell us about your content preferences in our 10-minute survey: https://hbp.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_2ldQ5v6xeoxKHrM?source=social_youtube Ascend is the go-to place for young people around the world trying to navigate where your work meets your life. Run by a team of global editors at Harvard Business Review (HBR), we aim to give recent grads and early career professionals guidance on how to make sense of today’s workplace — from getting started on your first gig to becoming a manager for the first time to just being yourself at work. Sign up for Newsletters: https://hbr.org/email-newsletters Follow us: https://hbr.org/ascend https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/hbr-ascend/ https://www.facebook.com/hbrascend/ https://twitter.com/HBRAscend https://www.instagram.com/hbrascend/?hl=en Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices