Were you up like a lark or are you more of an owl?

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Dr Denise Taylor

2 June 2014

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When are you at your best?

 
Whether you want to know the best time to work on job search or to write that complex report, taking account of your body clock can help you work more effectively.
I’ve found a BBC site which looks at the importance of our body clock on our body. There’s an interesting BBC site including a QUIZ.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-27161671
Turns out I’m balanced, the best of both worlds!

Use this to help plan your day

I want you to think about when you are at your best and to use this to plan your day on the tasks that are most important to you.
I also suggest you plan your day so you focus on what is important and urgent, not dealing with the tasks that don’t have much impact on your goals.
One of my clients, let’s call her Mandy, told me that she takes time to get going in the morning – she’s in the midst of job search, and is always annoyed with herself that she doesn’t really get going till after lunch. But she can then keep going till bed time. I asked her to keep a week’s diary to see where she spends her time. Interesting reading as she is using late morning on job search, but admitted to not be very effective and early afternoon was at the gym, and then a lot of the afternoon was spent on browsing the net, with a lot of time spent on Facebook.
Last week she implemented some changes. Appreciating that she isn’t at her best early on she didn’t diary any work tasks till 11, she did get up around 7.30 each day she would go for a walk and check her social media accounts.
From 11 -5pm the focus would be on EFFECTIVE job search, with 10 minute gaps every hour. In these short breaks she would walk around the house, stretch a bit and get a drink, not get sucked into Facebook.
LinkedIn is different and one of her 50 minute chunks was to be spent on looking for discussions she could contribute to, reading updates and following the advice in my eBook – How to use LinkedIn to Find a New Job.
I’d like you to consider

  • When are you most effective?
  • How can you plan your time better?
  • What are the main ways that you waste your time?
  • Would it help to plan your day, week and month?

 

Free Resource – use this to help you plan for the week ahead.

My Weekly Plan

 

What’s Denise been doing ?

 1.    Answering career and job search questions on the radio

I was on Radio5Live on Monday 26 May and if you weren’t up at midnight you can listen to it online via this link – http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b044j3v3 , it will be there until next Monday. I was on after midnight and nothing much till 1 hour 45 so fast forward to that.

2.    Dealing with technology challenges

Oh my! After having to buy a new PC tower, as my hard disc crashed, learn to use a MacBook on a temporary basis and get to grips with Office 365 – I’ve upgraded from Office 2003, I then had a website crash and although the site is back up there are lots of missing pages. If you get any error messages or broken links I probably know about it and I’m trying to find the pages but happy for you to let me know.
Yet another challenge sent to make me stronger!

3.    Eating healthy

On a more positive note I’ve kept to my very healthy eating plan and have cut out all alcohol, cakes, sweets, bread and processed food and I’m 6 pounds down in one week – result! It’s happened because I’ve followed my plan and not given in. I’ve also increased my exercise. I’ve done it before and will do it again. If interested you can read my blog posts – http://www.fat2fantastic.com/blog/

4.    Being published in Woman’s Weekly

I spoke with a journalist on career tips for the over 50s for this popular womans’ magazine. You can access a PDF of the article from this link.- https://www.amazingpeople.co.uk/new-job-at-50/
 
That’s it till next time
 
Take care,
 
Denise x
 
 
 
 

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