Write Killer Resumes

One thing that ribs us of our productivity is distractions. It is so easy to be hijaked from the work you have to do either in the office or at home. Of course distractions in the office and home come in different form but nonetheless, distractions do take your time and also put you off focus.

Here are a few simple tips for you to lessen distractions:

1. Discard all forms of distractions like books, video games, videos, music from your office or home office. I know it’s easier said than done but you have to do it. An office is an office and work is the focus, not fun nor distraction.
2. Eliminate or discard as much correspondence from your office that is not relevant to your work. Don’t hoard paper because it clouds your mind.
3. Schedule your phone calls to others at certain times so that you know when you will have time strictly for work. You cannot stop others calling you. People will call when they have to. One way around this is to put your phone on message receiving mode. Then when you retrieve your calls, you can call back.
4. Separate social sing from work. The two don’t really mix and many waste time socialising when they should be working. Likewise don’t work when you socialise-you will see that networking does need socializing and it’s useful to you but in the right context.
5. If you are working from home, please remember to site your office in a place that is off-limits to family members.

Most of all, you have to dedicate yourself to work. I know how tough it is I as I get distracted too.

It is a fact that your mindset determines the outcome of any situation.

Here are two attitudes described by Cliff Hakim in his book, “We are all self-employed”

Employed attitude: “What I do doesn’t really matter. I’m just doing my job. I bring my body to work and leave my body behind.”

Self-employed attitude: “I will create meaningful work. I am resourceful and able to give value to my work-to market my skills, negotiate for my needs, and make a contribution regardless of my job or level.”

Changing dynamics at the workplace and the advance of technology have made it possible, some even say imperative that we work for ourselves. Chris Hakim had distilled the collective wisdoms of many who took the challenge of going it alone by being self-employed (independent) and yet remained dependent on their clients. This refreshing mindset applies equally to those within an organization or those who run their own companies.

“All these people have taken control of their won careers, added value to their organizations, customers, and clients; all seek and find work that is meaningful to them.” writes Hakim.

He is enthusiastic about this attitude that he emphasizes, “Whether you are a company worker, a business worker, a part-time worker, an unchallenged worker, a laid-off worker, an early-retired or never-want-to-retire worker, or a recent college graduate, you CAN develop a “self-employed attitude”.

He then went on to list the characteristics of meaningful work:

• Collaboration with others brings with it understanding, improved skills and development of new ones.
• My family, work, social and spiritual needs are balanced.
• People respect my values
• I express myself through my enthusiasm.
• Work is part of my life, not a burden.
• I contribute despite my problems
• Money is for helping me achieve my goals; it is not and end in itself.

At a recent marketing seminar, the lecturer talked about promptness in serving clients. One of the biggest enemies of quick action is procrastination. For often, we lose momentum when we put of till tomorrow what we ought to do today.

In other words, we procrastinate.

So what should we do to wipe out procrastination? First, we must know how it starts. Usually, it is borne out of laziness. It’s very difficult for most people to just get started. When you are lazy, you are just living a character trait and habit. Habits are acquired and when they are set, they are very difficult to lose. Likewise, being hardworking is also an acquired habit.

So, it’s usually no use to tell a hardworking person to slow down or switch off and vice versa it’s almost impossible to get a lazy person to speed up or put nose to grind-stone.

Another reason why people procrastinate is that they fear the outcome of a new venture. They fear failure and so won’t get started. It is better to stay where they are.

Some people are good at self-sabotage and so they would much rather “give it a miss” in order to punish themselves. They just don’t want to start something that could bring them success.

Procrastination is the thief of time. If you know that and realize that time is irreplaceable, you won’t be so lax about putting things off.

Here are some ways to beat procrastination:

1. Follow Nike’s advice-just do it!

You have to grin and bear it and just do it! Don’t think. Don’t evaluate. Don’t think of the outcome. Just do it!

2. Break down the task into small steps.

Often, we procrastinate because the task is too big. If we break the task down into small steps, we can do the smallest thing first and the next thing and so on.

3. Ask for help.

Sometimes, asking for help is what gets things done. If you get someone’s help to get you started on a task, that small push will give you the momentum to complete the job.

For most a university degree ensures a bright future. That may have been the case in the past but not anymore.

For many a university degree prepares them to work in a certain profession or job. And her the grind begins . You go from one job to another earning money to feed the family. In our parents days, that would be a good thing to stay at a firm for along time. In fact, lifetime employment was a worthy thing. That was in the past when the world was more stable. Not anymore. Can you be sure that your organization will be around.

One way to solve this problem is to learn how to manage your own money. You can’t leave your job after attending a four-day course but you can work hard at acquiring knowledge which you could use to better your financial status.

I don’t mean go to university to get a degree. I mean take a course in any of these financial instruments:

Options / equities / forex / cfd’s (contracts for difference) / futures and many more.

Many people find that it is not easy to be a successful trader and they are right. It takes time and effort to become a good trader. . Hence you need to learn from books and seminars.

You can trade manually in what is called discretionary trading. This is because you use your discretion to make a trade. This type of trading exposes you to the emotions of greed and fear or arrogance. All these are potentially damaging and many otherwise good traders I know have lost a lot of money because of such emotions.

One way is to use an automated trading system. This is called “ algorithm” or “algo” trading. The advantage is to do away with emotions as the automated system can be programmed to take a trade purely on the parameters of price and trends. I like this system.

But I suppose the best approach would be to get financially savvy, and then trade manually as well as automatically.