Strexting

Give it away, give it away now!

*Shout out Red Hot Chilli Peppers with throwback tune of the week!*

Welcome back to 5 Minute Refresh, the Friday refresh for awesome humans on the clock!

Follow along on Instagram too @thebigrefresh

Short on time? Skip the warmup, and jump straight to the questions at the end.

The Warmup

Yo! Did you catch the hottest new word on the street?

Strexting.

What in the blazes is strexting, you ask?

You should ask your inner narrator lol.

Strexting
(noun) /strek.sting/
The ancient art of experiencing an internal catastrophising implosion over a perfectly ordinary text exchange.

You know, like when you text to say you forgot to pick them up a coffee…

…and they write back “k”…

…and you KNOW they are FURIOUS with you so you better buy them flowers + a spa voucher + show up under their balcony to serenade singing their favourite Italian sonnet…

…but that won’t be enough because they’ve prob already blocked your number, and Insta, and told everyone that you have bad morning breath…

…and you hear the PING of another text and your heart hammers…

…and you read “luv u”.

So, you exhale.

And write “luv u MORE!!!”

And they react with a thumbs up.

Why a thumbs up? Why not a heart?

Did I freak them out with the caps on MORE???

Is three exclamation marks too many?

Or not enough???

Why do they treat me like this, knowing how this makes me feel?

Maybe we need to break up…

PING

Oh shit it’s my boss.

Do you have an update on the Joelski Report?

An update???

It’s not even due until next Tuesday!

On track – will have a draft to you by Friyay 😊

OMG WTF is wrong with me why would I write Friyay????

Why would I use an emoji???

Quick edit it…

Read 2.47

Nooooooo!!!

I’m going to get fired.

Performance managed out, or targeted redundancy, or sent to work from the basement with John that guy who cooks tuna in the microwave and leaves banana peels on his desk…

PING

Thanks.

Oh no.

Thanks with a FULL STOP.

I better get on Ethical Jobs ASAP cos I’m done for.

I know, I’ll text Anna she always knows what to do.

Yo!

PING

Woah that was fast!

Yo.

Gah ANOTHER FULL STOP.

I bloody knew Anna was cut with me.

Or maybe she’s jelly I got invited to Gary’s party and she didn’t.

Maybe we’re not even really friends anymore.

I feel like she’s always talking about me to everyone…

…probably saying I’m too anxious and weird and always freaking out about everything and insecure and…

PING

You good?

“You good!” she asked!

That’s good!

Or is it…

…like is it “you good?” with that nice upswing inquisitive note on the good, like I hope you’re well and I care to hear about it?

Or is it like first day in prison staunch out “You good?” like WTF are you looking at fishy fishy fish?

…

What is she writing.

…

…

…

WHAT ARE YOU WRITING????

…

PUT ME OUT OF MY MISERY ALREADY!!!!

PING

Miss u.

PHEW!!!

Miss u TOO!!!!!!!

*******

Exhausted just reading this?

Me too.

Identify?

Me TOOOOOOOOOOO.

Let’s try noticing our inner narrator this week…

…when it’s wise, when it’s a worrywart, and when it just needs a little shoosh.

I’ve got a trick that’s going to help!

You in?

The 5 Minute Refresh

If you're new, here's the drill - this is your 5 Minute masterclass in YOU.

Set a timer on your phone or computer. This week, you have EXACTLY 5 minutes to answer the following questions.

Smash out your response, hit send (if you want), then have a marvellous weekend. I'll write back to you in the next few days 😊

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Question:

Think of your inner narrators as different characters – what are their names, what do they look like, when are they useful… and when might it be wise to kindly ask them to shoosh this coming week? 

Have a lovely weekend everyone -and don't forget to celebrate your wins!

Nick

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PS: If you find Five Minute Refresh useful, please feel free to forward onto your colleagues, friends or family members – I’ll reply to anyone, once per week 🙂