Excerpt from Six Fundamentals to Building a Lifelong Career, an Amazon Kindle E-Book Exclusive
A job search demands a lot of different tasks, so how in the hyperlinked world are you going to keep focused? Again, the answer is good time management. For most of us, that means blocking out a space and time when you won’t be interrupted. It also helps to follow some basic habits that keep you from distracting yourself. Here are five:
1. Get Off the Grid for at Least an Hour a Day
That means closing your Web browser (or temporarily disabling it on the computer), not answering the phone (again, unplug it or power down your cell), and turn off distractions like TV or radio. While all the instant communication tools today are incredibly helpful in a job search, they can interrupt the thoughtful work you need to do. Give yourself some time to focus.
2. Check Email No More Than Three Times a Day
While all the instant communication tools today are incredibly helpful in a job search, they can interrupt the thoughtful work you need to do. Give yourself some time to focus. Email has a subtle built-in urgency because it arrives minute by minute. Most job and career emails require thoughtful consideration, and I have never known an employer who said, “I’ll only look at replies that arrive in the next three hours.”
3. Start a Small Activity-Switching Ritual
Stretch, take five slow breaths, snap a rubber band on your wrist, say aloud what activity you are finishing and what activity you are starting. This is purely an awareness-raising exercise, and it makes switching a conscious choice, not an unconscious reaction.
4. Track Your Activities
Keep a notepad handy and note the time and activity every time you switch. Share the list with your partner — another consciousness-raising exercise.
5. Divide the Day into Uninterrupted Time and Free-for-All Time
If you think of a must-do activity during uninterrupted time, write it down and return to the note during free-for-all time.
These disciplines take effort but the result is gaining those hours of focused time. As with many jobs, the few hours of truly focused effort is where most of the work gets done.
(Doug Hardy was editor-in-chief of Monster.com. An expert on human capital topics and author of eight books, he was recently named No. 10 on HR Examiner’s Top 25 Online Influencers in Talent Management.)
A job search demands a lot of different tasks, so how in the hyperlinked world are you going to keep focused? Again, the answer is good time management. For most of us, that means blocking out a space and time when you won’t be interrupted. It also helps to follow some basic habits that keep you from distracting yourself. Here are five:
1. Get Off the Grid for at Least an Hour a Day
That means closing your Web browser (or temporarily disabling it on the computer), not answering the phone (again, unplug it or power down your cell), and turn off distractions like TV or radio. While all the instant communication tools today are incredibly helpful in a job search, they can interrupt the thoughtful work you need to do. Give yourself some time to focus.
2. Check Email No More Than Three Times a Day
While all the instant communication tools today are incredibly helpful in a job search, they can interrupt the thoughtful work you need to do. Give yourself some time to focus. Email has a subtle built-in urgency because it arrives minute by minute. Most job and career emails require thoughtful consideration, and I have never known an employer who said, “I’ll only look at replies that arrive in the next three hours.”
3. Start a Small Activity-Switching Ritual
Stretch, take five slow breaths, snap a rubber band on your wrist, say aloud what activity you are finishing and what activity you are starting. This is purely an awareness-raising exercise, and it makes switching a conscious choice, not an unconscious reaction.
4. Track Your Activities
Keep a notepad handy and note the time and activity every time you switch. Share the list with your partner — another consciousness-raising exercise.
5. Divide the Day into Uninterrupted Time and Free-for-All Time
If you think of a must-do activity during uninterrupted time, write it down and return to the note during free-for-all time.
These disciplines take effort but the result is gaining those hours of focused time. As with many jobs, the few hours of truly focused effort is where most of the work gets done.
(Doug Hardy was editor-in-chief of Monster.com. An expert on human capital topics and author of eight books, he was recently named No. 10 on HR Examiner’s Top 25 Online Influencers in Talent Management.)
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