One Problem That Kills Your Job Search - Work It Daily

One Problem That Kills Your Job Search - Work It Daily Have you ever put off doing something important for your career? Something that could hurt your job search? Related: 2 Odd Job Search Problems That Happen In January Like updating that resume, or reaching out to one of your networking contacts? Ugh. Procrastination. It causes so many problems. What is procrastination really? We often procrastinate without really noticing, or thinking about WHY (beyond knowing that we don’t want to do whatever task we said we were going to do REALLY THIS TIME I MEAN IT). Procrastination is a tricky little devil, because at its core it’s really just fear. Fear of not getting something right. Fear of not finding a job you like. Fear of getting turned down if you apply. Fear of being stuck forever (so you don’t do what you need to do because then you don’t have to find out if your future is never. Going. To. Change). The problem is that fear is a powerful force. And when you are afraid, you can channel energy into almost anything, rather than what you actually need to do. This is how you clean out your entire closet, but never manage to proof your resume or research interesting new companies. Or you organize your spice drawer (again), but that email draft to one of your old connections stays unfinished in your inbox. And so...you stay stuck, and your career suffers. But not anymore! Why? Because there is a solution, and it’s a simple one. Set a timer. Seriously! Action trumps fear every time, and if you set a timer and tell yourself: “Self, I’m going to work on this career thing for 20 minutes and see how far I get. When the timer goes off, I can stop.” And then get going. What will *usually* happen is that the fear goes away once you start the work. Then, as time progresses you get involved in the task and when the timer goes off - you are happy to keep going. The best news? Your career benefits! So go ahead and try it! I personally love tomato-timer.com. It’s a free website with a countdown clock for work periods, and break periods, to keep you focused and on task. (For some reason, setting my iPhone timer is too hard for me, but tomato-timer gets the job done:)). Plus, knowing that you only have to do something or 25 minutes or so is a motivating factor - you can do anything for 20 minutes, right? So, set a timer and get to it! And if fear is really holding you back from finding a dream job this year, then join this free 7-day challenge and get some career help right over here... Related Posts How To Customize Your Resume 3 Tips For Flaunting Your Value On Your Resume How To Make Dates On A Resume Work For You About the author Christie Mims is a professional career coach and the founder of the Forbes Top 100 Career Website, The Revolutionary Club. She's on a mission to help YOU find career happiness because a) it beats hating your job and b) frankly, you deserve it. Join her community and get a FREE workbook on the 6 simple steps to finding work you love right over here....   Disclosure: This post is sponsored by a CAREEREALISM-approved expert. You can learn more about expert posts here. Photo Credit: Shutterstock Have you joined our career growth club?Join Us Today!