Time management can be tough when left to fend for yourself on the job hunt. In the workplace your daily routine was very different from staying at home and it’s easy to lose track of where your time is going if you don’t watch it closely. Online job hunting is an excellent tool in your search but it’s also an easy way to get distracted and vacuum suck up of valuable time.
The best way to battle burning minutes if not hours of time on the internet is to give yourself an indicator of how quickly time is passing. As you read one article after another you might not realized 45 minutes or more has passed by because it only felt like 15.
The easiest way to keep yourself on target is a timer. You can set one on the oven, on your phone or use an egg timer. Allot a certain amount of time for each task and set the timer to alert you when you need to move on to the next one.
Personally I don’t like the abrupt “ahhh” factor of a loud noise interrupting my train of thought so I have some less abrasive methods to keep my time management on its toes.
So if I’m going to use a timer I want it to actually mean something. Often times I’ll pick up a bag in the baking isle at the grocery store, muffins, cookies, brownies, any of the just add water mixes that cost about a dollar. When I’m about to do a search that should only take me 10 – 20 minutes I pop a batch in the oven. The sweet smell warns me before the timer goes off and I have a treat to reward myself for a job well done. If you need a little longer time for what you’re doing throw together a quick crock pot recipe and you’ve got at least an hour before your nose knows it’s time to move on.
Another useful timer is in the laundry room. I have a 3 basket system with wheels so my dirty clothes are constantly sorted and ready to go. If I need an hour to write cover letters then another one to send email follow ups I’ll send a cycle through with a break to switch loads in the middle. If you do loads of towels or intimates you won’t need to fold them right away and you can just unload the dryer and move on.
Other less demanding ideas are to create a playlist of songs that runs for so long. When you get to the last one you know you need to transition. Or you can watch reruns from the 80s on Hulu.
Are you looking for a job in the Manhattan area? Be sure to visit ManhattanJobs.
By Heather Fairchild - Heather is a multimedia developer, business owner and work-from-home mom.
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