9 Tips to Focus Your Job Seeking Efforts During Much Uncertainty
Posted on April 15, 2016 by Mary Franz LCSW , One of Thousands of Leadership Coaches on Noomii.
This article offers 9 tips to help focus your job searching efforts during times of uncertainty.
A job provides a sense of belonging, security and identity. Many people define themselves by what they do for a living. Attachment to a job is accompanied by feelings of control, known expectations and loyalty. A threat to job security threatens much more than loss of income.
For the worker who has been given notice that their job will end in a few months or is currently without work due to the company closing, there’s a lot of change and uncertainty. Uncertainty feels stressful.
During times of change people experience a variety of physical, cognitive and emotional responses. Physically a stomach starts to ache, sleeping is disrupted, headaches start, muscles hurt and you hear yourself saying, ‘I feel so tired.” Your partner or kids answer back, “You’re always tired.”
Thoughts can be disjointed or fearful, dreams can be distressing, it’s more difficult to concentrate and stay focused.
Emotionally, there can be more anxiety and worrying. With feelings of sadness, people can withdraw; anger and irritability can be normal responses to the felt helplessness and loss of control.
This article offers 9 Tips to Focus Your Job Searching Efforts During Uncertainty. They are…
1. Clearly define what inspires you—notice that there is a big difference between taking action from inspirations vs. desperation.
2. Strengthen your body. Exercise reduces stress. Take that walk, go dancing tonight..why wait, dance now!
3. Feed your mind…good stuff. Are you watching depressing news or movies? Read a good book, attend a positive seminar, listen to uplifting music, learn to blog ;)
4. Control your focus. Energy flows where attention goes. Are you focusing on lack or opportunity?
5. Inventory your friends. Doom and gloom is contagious. Skip awful conversations around you.
6. Quiet your mind. Meditate. Slow down. 10-15 minutes of meditation can relieve hours of stressful build up.
7. Rid yourself of escaping activities: overindulgence in TV, sleep, alcohol or food. Fill your day with variety, colors, fresh air, furry or non-furry pets, smiling people, young and old…you get the idea…
8. Make a daily gratitude list. It’s like spreading happy all around :)
9. Change your attitude. Realize that everything that has happened in your life thus far is here to serve you, teach you and help you grow.
And here’s a great challenge for being resourceful…
Sometime in the next 2 weeks, take 3 days and go to a place where you can have uninterrupted time. Come up with 20 new ideas each day to grow your income, create new results and improve your life. Don’t leave the spot until you have 20; no editing, do it fast!
Now you have 60 ideas (20 ideas x 3 days). Pick 3-5 ideas that feel the most powerful to put into action based on ease of implementation, rate of return and speed of return.
The takeaway…
Stress and uncertainty are a normal part of life when a job searcher/crafter is recently unemployed due to a company restructuring and/or closing. There are tips to focus your job seeking efforts. Remember, It’s not only about resources…It’s about resourcefulness. Get busy.
I’d like to ask you…
What are ways that help keep your focus during uncertainty?
Are you bogged down with job searching and/or job crafting? Let’s talk about making some strategies to lift you out of the bog and into the sunlight of finding work you love. Request a free Love My Work Strategy Session now. Go to www.marycoaching.com now.
