Coffee Break with Janeta Glavan

August 1, 2022

This week is already great because we start by getting to know Janeta better. Let’s find out together what she likes and dislikes and what helpful advice she has for us.

How did your career in EveryMatrix start? What’s your favorite thing about working here?

I started 9 years ago as a customer support agent for our former B2C operation – Jetbull. I had my first interview at the old EM villa, and my first working day was the first day we moved here at Lipscani 102 😊 .

I really appreciate my colleagues; you’ll always find someone who will help you get your motivation back during difficult days. There’s no challenge we can’t overcome together.

What was your first job?

I have had various jobs through school and university (like promo staff, waitress, language tutor, correcting/reviewing bachelor/master thesis for others etc.) but my first real job was technical incidents support for a French telecom company.

What’s one of your biggest work pet peeves?

People have the tendency to forget that we are all sailing on the same boat and when there are holes, if we do not get together to fix them, we will sink. We should focus more on improving the ‘togetherness’ feeling across the teams.

Are you an early bird or a night owl? Give us your top productivity piece of advice.

Both. Night owl for studying and complex projects, early bird for personal routine, daily operational tasks and decision-making.

Number one from me for productivity – get enough sleep.
Second – I realized that, at least for me, there is no such thing as multi-tasking, and when I thought I was multitasking I was actually delusional. That being said, you should make sure you prioritize depending on deadline, impact and dependency on others for completion.

Plan your day as much as you can, and since some jobs are less predictable than others, set some ‘buffer’ intervals during the day where you can deal with the unexpected.

Set time for dealing with emails, separately for chats and calls.
Try to schedule your meetings/calls for one part of the day so that you can have time to focus on the remaining part.

And last, but very important, when working on complex projects, take breaks. Our brain cannot be creative if we do not give it time to regroup and bring its best self back.

What personality trait do you most attribute your success to, and why?

Success has different meanings for each of us, but I guess assertiveness, in its positive sense of focusing on win-win, is a trait that helped me a lot. I wasn’t always assertive, but the trait can be taught and learned.

Having self-confidence and standing up for what I care, expressing myself openly while respecting the fact that others might not share my views helped me build better and stronger relationships with the people around me.

It is always important to remember that we do not read each other’s minds (yet) and how we communicate matters. Being genuinely concerned about other people’s needs while also not forgetting about your personal needs leads to healthier and long-lasting connections between people.

What would you tell your younger self?

Enjoy life, don’t rush to grow up and don’t be afraid to take on more challenges – you are capable of more than you can think of. 😊

What is your biggest guilty pleasure?
Detective tv series! I will give up my sleep if I find one that catches my attention (not very good for productivity though 😊).

Name one thing everyone should add to their Bucket List.

Living in a different country and culture would be the number one thing I would recommend. If you cannot move for an extended period of time, use traveling in a different way – take the local experience in each place you go rather than the standard touristic one.

It will help you realize that the world doesn’t work in absolutes. There isn’t only white and black, or good and bad. This will also expose you to a totally different perspective, building your tolerance and making you accustomed to experiencing new things.

What would you do if you were gifted a million dollars, no strings attached?

I would create a place where kids from foster care, elderly people from asylums and animals from shelters live together – this way, each one of them would be able to give and receive the love and care they deserve.

If such a place (most probably) already exists, I would donate money to it. Then I would give some to my family and some I would invest in something that would make me earn and contribute more than that 1 million.

Share a photo of your favorite pet!

I don’t have a pet of my own, but my team has a lot of cute friends at home.