Have A Routine

In a conversation recently, I recommended 'having a routine'. When my grandmother was young, laundry was done on Monday, ironing on Tuesday, baking on Wednesday and so on. Because laundry was done each week, it never mounted up to something that couldn't be done in a day (though it did take all day with boiling coppers and a wringer). Dividing your work up, and doing parts of each day, I advocated, is helpful in the same way.

'My job's not like that', I can hear you saying, 'It's something different every day'. True. But don't you have to do expenses once a month? Would it be easier if you had the form started and completed a few lines each week? Do you have filing, paper or electronic? Would it be easier if once a week you filed the small stack, or cleared your desktop into your archive, rather than looking at a huge job once every three months? Do you have email? Is it easier if you clear your email sometime in the morning and again after lunch or before you go home, rather than dipping in and out all day?

No matter your role, there are some parts of it that are easier to do 'little and often' than in one big sweep. And by allocating each of those parts a day, it's easier to get them done. It takes less mental energy too, so you have more brain cells for the big strategy stuff that you currently struggling to have time for.

Start now. Quickly write a list of the things that have come up while you've been reading this newsletter - where you've thought 'oh yes, that part of my job could fall into that category'. Then allocate each to a day of the week. Add them to your calendar in a private appointment, and when they come up, for the next month, do them. You don't have to be right - you'll tweak them a few times. Routines for work are like One on Ones for managers. Once you've started, you'll never stop.

Google, Relationships and Your Job Search

Last week's Career Tools cast gave you one hint on what to google to meet people in your area who could help you with your job search. It's pretty simple, you just google for the name of your town and the word business, and see what comes up which might be useful. In the cast, we gave three examples - Charlotte, North Carolina; Pueblo, Colorado; and Bremen, Germany - and we tried to help you understand how the results could be helpful.

Having started you off, we'd like to crowd-source a resource which helps everyone, no matter where they live. We've started a forum thread here. What we'd like you to do is to google your town and business, just like it says in the cast, and tell us what you find that you think will be helpful to job seekers. We're looking forward to seeing your results.

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