Job search is a job in itself. We are sure you have heard the statement many times but it’s a fact and it needs to be brought up often. Job search can take quite a bit of time and the added stress when you are unemployed is even greater. If you are looking for a job while you are employed, you at least have means to pay the bills, put a roof over your head and food on the table. However, if you are unemployed the stress is ten times greater if not more. As with anything else, while searching for job make sure you keep stress under control. Stress is natural but learning to control that stress so it doesn’t lead to catastrophe is the key to landing a job sooner.
Here are 5 ways to help you deal with the stress of job searching.
Layout a Plan
Plan out your job searching tasks and make them for a certain time of the day. This will keep you focused on the task at hand and keep you from getting stressed out with all the work. Create a routine for yourself and stick to it. Pick a time of the day that works for each task. For example, use the mornings to look through the classifieds or online jobs. Do this for about an hour or so and take a break. Then use the afternoons for meetings/interviews.
The point is to set aside a certain amount of time for each task and create a routine. Make adjustments to your personal life, relaxing, and family time. Pick what best suits you and write it down. Actually write a plan out. Delegating tasks into chunks will relieve a lot of the stress of trying to keep up with your job searching tasks. With a plan in place you will be more focused and you’ll know what to expect.
Avoid Perfection
There is a lot of pressure to make your resume and presence perfect when searching for a job. While you want to make yourself and your skills look good, trying to constantly attain perfection is only going to stress you out. Fine tune your resume and put in only what you need for that particular job. Then leave it at that. It doesn’t have to be perfect, it just has to be good. If you are constantly revising and trying to make it better then not only are you going to stress yourself out, it’s going to delay other tasks you could be doing.
Also, no one is perfect. You’re going to screw up sometimes. The best thing to do is to move on. Learn from your mistakes and keep going. Focusing on your mistakes is only going to make things worse and stress you out.
Find Your Personal Cheerleaders
Your close friends and family can be your personal cheerleader while searching for a job. They can also be a downer and cause stress as well. Pick out the people that are supportive and use them to help you deal with the stress of job searching slot4d. A good cheerleader is someone that is willing to listen and give sound advice. Support from others is one of the best ways to relieve stress from job searching. A lot of times all they have to do is listen. Just getting some things off your chest will help reduce stress.
There are also job search support groups that may be a good idea to look into. These groups can supply endless ideas and possibly even job opportunities. A lot are also run by career professionals that may be able to help as well by providing valuable information. Being in a support group, with others in your position, can be beneficial simply from having other people in the same position as you. Find people and areas that help support you and your work that is job searching. Having a team of personal cheerleaders will greatly reduce your stress.
Get a Workout
If you don’t already have an exercise routine, now would be a good time as any to get one. Your body and mind are both affected by stress. Exercise will help relieve both of them. It doesn’t have to be anything in particular but make it something that makes you break a sweat. Even just a simple walk will help. The exercises help relieve the stress as well as help you deal with stress when it comes.
It also helps get rid of pent up frustration. Sweat out the stress from job searching and make it a daily routine in your schedule. The benefits of exercise are good for many things.
Get Some “You” Time
Most important is to remember to take time for yourself and relax. Take a hot bath, listen to some mellow music, get a massage, read a good book, whatever works to relax you. Give yourself some time to forget about things and refresh. Take some time to not think about things and let it go, just for a little bit. This is a huge stress reliever. It can be anything as long as it’s personal to you. The point is to get away from things for a bit and relax. Then you can come back to your job searching refreshed and ready to go. If you don’t take time for yourself then the stress will just build up. The more stressed you are the less productive you will become.
