A Day In The Life With ABC Radio Host, Lisa Leong

There’s no denying Lisa Leong is an exceptionally fast paced girl. Considering that she caught the ‘radio bug’ and remaining her career as a attorney in 2003, she’s been complete steam in advance.

Lisa was residing in London when she made a decision to start off volunteering on clinic radio even though continue to operating as a attorney. ‘The hospitals are so big that they have full blown radio stations,’ Lisa states.

‘I volunteered there and obtained my individual interview show: ‘Thursday Evening Therapy with Lisa Leong’. I loved it, so I invested all the spare time I experienced understanding the ropes, knowledge the tech, and volunteering on every single radio show I could. I put my demo tape collectively, chilly-referred to as my way onto London radio – and then from there I got into the Australian Movie Tv and Radio school. Then was on my radio journey from age 32!’

On reflection, she says it was this ‘series of tiny steps’ that underpinned her occupation change.

‘When I commenced interviewing men and women, it felt sooo correct. I knew in that instant that I was likely to go away the regulation and try out radio presenting. It was definitely that feeling of “flow state”,’ she adds.

Lisa claims she has a ‘portfolio career’ – which is a time period she’s picked up from 1 of her interviewees, American writer Dorie Clark. ‘This is when you have diverse strings to your bow, and it all adds up to be your work daily life! Variety of like you would have a diversified portfolio in financial investment phrases.’

Her the latest ebook, ‘This Performing Lifestyle: How To Navigate Your Occupation in Unsure Times’ is the newest accolade in Lisa’s various portfolio. It is a product or service of the ABC countrywide radio present of the exact name, which asks concerns like: ‘Why do we operate the way we operate? How may possibly we get the job done in another way?’. The e-book commenced with a LinkedIn concept from a Hardie Grant editor. And just before prolonged, Lisa and her ABC colleague Monique Ross were being co-authoring the book – taking turns creating in a shared Google Doc, finding up exactly where the other remaining off, though residing in separate states!

Down below, Lisa tells us how she receives it completed – all the when creating time for exterior-of-do the job passions, like tennis, and becoming a mum!

Very first Matter

I wake up at 5am in Summertime and 6am in Winter (It is Melbourne – brrr!). The first matter I do every early morning is following BJ Fogg’s Very small Habits “start the day” experiment (see his fab TED communicate on this)… I set my ft on the floor and I say ‘today’s likely to be a wonderful day!’ even though from time to time I do not feel it! If I *truly* really do not truly feel it, I repeat BJ Fogg’s option which is ‘today is heading to be a terrific day… in some way!’ 

I am a tremendous lark, so I Really like the mornings! It is definitely my favorite element of the working day. I feel it may well have also happened because my main radio gigs have been Breakfast Demonstrates the place I would frequently get up at 4am, so I feel my overall body has been conditioned for that. 5am is a slumber-in!

Morning

I are likely to commence work about 7am. If I am doing the job from household, I just walk into my analyze. But if it is an ABC day (Thursday, Friday, Sunday), then I hop on my electric bike at 6am, have a stunning trip alongside the Yarra River and get to perform at all-around 6.45am. I am prepared to go around 7am.  

I timebox my working day, so I will have reflected on the major points I’d like to realize (my Significant Rocks, like, answering these concerns!), then I will have allocated time in my calendar to do it. I aim on these factors to start with and attempt to do a few hours of deep do the job in the mornings. My Massive Rocks generally extend further than get the job done. In my calendar I also have blocked out my health similar activities, household time, transit situations, time for breaks, and so on. My calendar appears to be like terrifying at 1st sight, but I have color coded it, so even although it appears like issues are back to back again, all the spaces are marked blue so I know that there are breaks in there!

I have a tendency to participate in around with my morning routines and rituals depending on how I am sensation and what has taken my extravagant! Listed here is what I am carrying out at the moment…

– Tongue scraping and oil pulling
– Stretching and foam rolling routine provided to me by my own trainer Wiki
– Bulletproof Coffee: mine is composed of espresso, a teaspoon of ghee, MCT oil, a bit of prebiotic powder and a little bit of collagen powder.
– Alexander System 5 minute standing practice.
– Journaling if I really feel the need to have and have the time!

Afternoon

During COVID, I was doing the job in the initial 50 % of the day and then clocking off at 2pm. Because of to the launch of our guide in the first half of 2022, my new Sunday show on ABC Radio Melbourne, and some excess fill-in presenting, I have been performing all hrs. Therefore, I realised in Might that I was really run down. I read about Brené Brown using a ‘Summer Sabbatical’ so I am carrying out a ‘Winter Sabbatical’ the place I am paring back again my obligations.

I will consider and clock off late afternoon – I think these who know me would say that this is prudent for anyone as I am quite nonsensical in the afternoon because of my early timetable!

Night

I consider to shut down everything and end function by 7pm. No devices. This modified a very little above the last 6 months so my intention is to provide it back for the next 50 % of 2022!

When it arrives to supper, my spouse is the prepare dinner of the loved ones! We eat very merely – perhaps a roast chook and veggies – or tacos – or from time to time Darcy will cook dinner his awesome pork soup.

 To unwind, I have a scorching bath with epsom salts very significantly every night time. I could possibly check out one episode of a Television collection with Darcy – at the minute we are seeing ‘Hacks’. I can’t do violence – so we are commonly seeing some thing amusing or sweet. (Like the small Japanese little ones – they are two or 3 decades aged – accomplishing errands by on their own in the Television clearly show ‘Old Enough’).

I test not to ‘float’ into my study – often I unconsciously wander in there and spontaneously begin doing the job!!!! Maybe I need to purchase a lock and lock myself out! It is valuable to have a ‘hard stop’ in your day. I locate my great warm tub with Epsom salts does the trick on most days. That’s my contextual marker that tells my brain that the perform day is accomplished. And my laptop is not watertight so I definitely just can’t do operate in there!

Previous Matter

I ordinarily get in mattress at 8.30pm for 9pm lights out and … zzzzzz. I aim for all over 7 several hours of rest. I use a sleep ring so I have a tendency to check every single morning how I have fared!

Ideal now I’m listening to, watching, and reading…

Listening: I’m listening to the ‘Major Gun’ soundtrack. I saw‘Top Gun: Maverick’  in the cinema and it was so much enjoyment! I was obsessed in the 80s, and I am obsessed once again now!

Reading through: Brene Brown’s ‘Atlas of the Heart’ a 50th birthday pressie from my good friend GT! And then I will read through Marcia Langton’s ‘Welcome to Country’ from my close friends Matt and Minz!

I get my finest function finished when…I am collaborating and building with other people. This is the thread that backlinks all of my peak experiences by my occupation.

My efficiency tool/idea is… Timeboxing (see the very helpful ebook‘Indistractible’ by Nir Eyal) has been so practical for me, primarily as I harmony all the diverse strings in my bow. I have identified a feeling of aware, purposeful design and style truly helps me make traction during my do the job day. Timeboxing is the follow of placing a set sum of time for every single exercise in your day, down to the moment, and integrating the ensuing time blocks into your timetable.

In its place of operating on a job until it’s accomplished, you proactively make your mind up how substantially time you are going to expend on it and when. Even although it may truly feel like the enemy of spontaneity, timeboxing can be daily life-transforming in phrases of productivity. But it doesn’t start out and close with perform: you also plan time with your buddies or loved ones, time for oneself, for workout or hobbies, regardless of what it could possibly be. It’s all on your calendar.

A philosophy I dwell and get the job done by is… Lead with like.

 

You can stick to Lisa Leong on Instagram in this article, and purchase her new e-book ‘This Operating Existence: How To Navigate Your Career In Uncertain Times’ below!