Career Management Interview with Liz Lynch

Career Management Interview with Liz Lynch I was on a radio show last week where I thought we were going to talk about LinkedIn (for the umpteenth time) but Liz asked some great questions and the conversation went in a totally different direction.   We spent more time on Career Management than I normally get to this was a fun interview spend 30 or so minutes and listen to it here Liz is a pretty awesome person with a lot of networking advice you can learn more about her here. Career Management Interview with Liz Lynch I was on a radio show last week where I thought we were going to talk about LinkedIn (for the umpteenth time) but Liz asked some great questions and the conversation went in a totally different direction.   We spent more time on Career Management than I normally get to this was a fun interview spend 30 or so minutes and listen to it here Liz is a pretty awesome person with a lot of networking advice you can learn more about her here.

How Can You Benefit From Multitasking - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

How Can You Benefit From Multitasking - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career Where do you stand when it comes to multitasking? You may see multitasking as a way of life in today’s reality, or you may see multitasking as a myth: as something people believe they can do, but really can’t. Well, one way or another I agree with you. Writing a report while listening to my coworker and planning my weekend in the back of my mind cannot really happen at the same time. In slow motion it most likely looks like running between different rooms really fast, pretending I can be in all of them at the same time. However, there are situations when multitasking absolutely works for me: Multitasking as an energy booster I learn Spanish while commuting. If I didn’t listen to anything, I would get super bored on my slow commute to and from work. Also, I’ve tried listening to those Spanish lessons while sitting in my living room and it drove me crazy! I couldn’t focus at all. By doing both, I feel energized. My brain needs to control mostly my vision and movement for driving, so listening and learning new information complements the picture. Using different parts of my brain keeps me alert. Try and combine what works for you. Maybe doing jigsaw puzzles or practice your drawing techniques can help you stay focused while listening to a webinar (for this reason I’ve been taking notes for years and even became known as a note-taking extraordinaire). Maybe you can go for a run to think about a solution to the problem you are trying to solve. You would be surprised how different it’ll feel from sitting behind your desk and staring at the excel spreadsheet. Multitasking as a tension diffuser Do you dread tough talks? You know, talking to your boss or talking to your teenage daughter about something critical and uncomfortable? I found that if we do something together, like baking or crafts, those talks are way easier. (And the awkward moments can be broken by, “Maybe we should add a little bit more cinnamon”). That’s also why people at work tend to have crucial conversations by the cooler, or during a team event where people are volunteering outside of their regular office environment. Combining activities help create a comfortable environment. Trainers do it all the time â€" they create activities where they push you to an uncomfortable place (role play) by making it a game. A great idea when discussing something sensitive or risky in a workplace is also using a board. Sitting across from each other can make the issue personal. Drawing a picture of what you are talking about makes it more about the information you are discussing and less about your personalities. Disclaimer: As I was writing this article, I was also petting my dog here and there, especially when I got stuck, my fingers stopped typing, and I went for a frantic search through my head for the right word. It helped me overcome those dreadful moments and I’m sure he didn’t mind. That’s what I call a win-win multitasking solution! Author: Henrieta Riesco  is a founder of  Intentional Career. She is all about meaningful conversation to empower professionals on their career journey. After experiences of being a teacher and a corporate trainer in Slovakia, a customer advocate and a training consultant for  10+ years at Microsoft, she is comfortable with calling herself a Career Coach. You can follow Henrieta via  Twitter, or via  her blog.

5 Essential Tips before Buying the Right Home Furniture

5 Essential Tips before Buying the Right Home Furniture A well-designed home is always inviting and comfortable for the entire family. It takes a lot of time, effort, and even money to be able to create such a lovely and safe dwelling place. As such, everything should be planned accordingly. One of the top factors that make your abode more appealing and functional is the furniture. However, choosing the right furniture can be a bit challenging and stressful. There are tons of things to take into consideration, so keep in mind the following tips: Know the aesthetic look of your home Do your research about aesthetics and designs. Once you have an idea about how you want your space to look like, then it is time to recreate your own. Note that you don’t really need to copy the exact style or design. As long as you get the idea and you have a vision of how it is going to be, then you are good to buy the ideal furniture already. Determine your budget Of course, setting a budget for your furniture spending is necessary. You need to take an honest look at your finances first and decide on what you can afford. Know what important pieces you would like to include in your home and check for the estimated prices online. This lets you have an idea about the cost you are about to spend on furniture and at the same time lets you keep your budget on track. Consider the size of the furniture Always opt for furniture that can fit your home. Do not simply buy furniture without thinking if it will suit your space or not. Ensure that a certain piece is of the perfect size and it can be added into your home. Whether you have a small or big area, you still need to guarantee if the furniture will go well with the size of your residence. Think about durability Yet another crucial factor to bear in mind when purchasing home furniture is durability. Sturdy and long-lasting pieces are sure worth the price, so make it a point to opt for these. Although this means that you have to pay more, still it is the best decision to make. You will be able to save a lot of money in the long run. Additionally, durable and high-quality furniture can last many years, which is totally a great deal. Go with your wall colors Find furniture that go well with the colors of your walls. Match your home decor with the furniture for a more appealing look. This is to create an organized appearance of your home that will help you see the beauty of it. Also, it makes sense to buy furniture that coincide with your walls to have the same vibe and feel the connection. You don’t need to buy the exact color, just something that closely matches it. These useful tips will help you a lot in choosing the ultimate furniture for your home. To start your shopping, check out some online    furniture  options for good quality, reasonably priced, and lovely pieces.   Your home will rock with these items!

Permission to slack. Career Coach JobJenny

Permission to slack. Career Coach JobJenny You've been doing all things job search right. You have a strategy, you're networking, you're using social media to your advantage, you're researching industries, companies, geographies, key players. You're inserting more key words into your resume, you've lined up some good recruiters. You're in this. It hasn't happened yet, but you are full-on in this. And you're damned tired. It's OK. This happens, to most job seekers. Most especially to those who have the proverbial financial gun to their heads. And it sucks. Because you don't have time to get tired, do you? Halt. That's right, halt. If you reach the day in your job search that you think you may just lose your freaking mind if you place one more networking call or study one more corporation? Halt. Not for good. Not for six weeks. Probably not even for two weeks, unless you have that kind of financial cushion at your disposal. But if you're gunning so hard that you've flat out exhausted yourself? Your body is telling you to slack. Regroup. Rest. Breathe deeply. Clear your head. Sit in the sunshine. Read a (pleasure) book for a few hours. Go to the yoga class you think you have no time for. Eat a sundae. Get friends together for a movie. Nap. Something, anything so long as it's a) Relaxing, and b) Completely unrelated to your job search You'll be amazed at how much more productive you'll be when you get back to it in a couple or a few days. This is as much a lesson to myself as it is to you all. I burn the candle at four ends often, to near meltdown stage. Thankfully, I know when it's time to halt. And I know the true value of doing so. Permission to slack granted.

5 Ways to Improve Your Strategic Thinking Skills - CareerMetis.com

5 Ways to Improve Your Strategic Thinking Skills Every professional who looks for a better career, a better business, or a better performance at work, should understand one simple concept: the professional marketplace, which includes the jobs marketplace and the business marketplace, is extremely competitive.Whether you’re a freelancer, entrepreneur, or webmaster, the ability to think strategically and effectively is always going to improve the performance resulted from the actions and decisions that you make.evalImprove your strategic thinking and you’ll improve your career forever. In today’s post, we’re presenting 5 ways to improve your strategic thinking skills and become a better professional in your field. Take action and never stop improving yourself!1) Think on long-termevalTo be effective in your career, you must always think long-term.Having strategic thinking goes hand in hand with having a long-term vision, and also with the ability to anticipate and prepare for any potentially harmful side-effects that will be resulted from your decisions.You must first understand the challenges and changes that are waiting for you around the corner, so you can effectively strategize your thoughts, emotions, and actions to successfully overcome anything that stands in your way.Every previous experience that you’ve had is very important and helpful because it makes you more complete, and often succeeds to turn you into a better long-term thinker.Once you get more experience and ultimately understanding of various concepts, you will have a much better understanding of what needs to be done.Take for instance IKEA’s example of the ability to anticipate. IKEA had only small transportations cars at disposal for large pieces of furniture. So, in order to reduce the transportation costs for fuel and have a more efficient and fast delivery, they came up with a brilliant idea.evalTheir long-term vision was the packing strategy, which simply means to disassemble the furniture, pack it into pieces to gain more sp ace in the transportation cars and reassemble it at the customer place. This type of strategic, long-thinking is always necessary for businesses to stand out and for CEOs to thrive.2) Bear in mind the current trendsAnother important part of strategical thinking is always being aware of the present and future predicted trends. You must know the specific trends that go along with your industry and identify the trends that work best for your target audience For instance, let’s look at some of the trends that shifted the technological environment. The usage of AR technology has increased in 2018, and it continues increasing especially in Snapchat and Instagram stories.Moreover, link this to the big influence and power that social media has over the Generation Z, and you’ll understand that whoever uses Instagram and Snapchat will also be a part of that shift.Therefore, if your target audience is Gen Z and spends time on Snapchat, you may as well take advantage of the AR or VR trend a nd develop unique experiences for your target audience.Strategic thinkers understand that knowledge must be acquired first, and that action must be taken after. Lastly, they acknowledge that all the actions they take should be guided by smart connections between trends, traffic sources, and specific target audience.3) Observe â€" Keep your eyes wide openHaving strategical thinking is all about your ability to analyze and evaluate a situation accurately. The key to mastering these skills require you to be a good observer. This might sound basic to be the key to something so important, because, after all, observation is something you use daily as a research method.But, at a second thought, very few people are actually good observers. Being a good observer implies noticing the small details that you or your employees “leave behind” as clues during various situations of stress, joy, overwhelm, sadness, and so on.Once you achieve an analytical observing skill, you’ll be able to thi nk about a problem from a lot of perspectives in almost no time.In most of the cases, thinking analytically means thinking in terms of cause-and-effect. As every cause has its effect, all your actions will produce results. If your actions are properly planned and efficiently executed, your results will be extraordinaryWhenever you stumble upon a problem, you’ll immediately understand the initial cause that triggered that outcome, feedback, or problem However, you can instantly start looking for the best solution by focusing your attention, intention, intellect, and creativity to discover what needs to be done.4) Engage in discussions with othersSadly, many people are repulsive when it comes to listening to ideas or opinions which are not in alignment with their ideology and theories. This attitude leads them to a dangerous trap made of their own thoughts and ideas.On top of that, these types of people are usually surrounding themselves exclusively with individuals who agree with t heir perspective and who are on the same mindset.If you want to develop strategic thinking, you need to keep your mind open.Why? Because you simply must have a broader understanding and control of all the challenging situations that cross your path. Most importantly, you need to be able to look at them from distinct perspectives.evalThis requires you to keep your mind open to other people’s points of view even if what you’re hearing is in total contradiction with your current beliefs.Keep in mind that you are not holding the supreme truth. You are human, so you can be wrong, and you can always strive and fight to find a better solution.Improve your strategic thinking by engaging in discussions about critical matters with all the stakeholders. Two or more minds are always better than one.eval5) Ask questions, think, and reflectThe last yet one of the most productive ways to improve your strategical thinking is to ask questions. Not just any type of question. Hard questions.“Wha t are the current trends we can take advantage of to improve the organization?”“Do all employees know what they’re working to achieve?”“Will the company endure if we’re going this way?”Take your time to think and reflect on all of these questions. You’ll be surprised where the mind can lead you.Many of the ones who already master their strategical thinking skills are taking their time out in peaceful and relaxing places to reflect on important matters. Relaxation is the best way to unleash the power of creativity.ConclusionImproving your strategical thinking skills is no rocket science. If you put your mind on the matter and start focusing on changing the way you look at problems and the way you seek solutions, your strategic thinking skills will instantly start to improve.Stay consistent and perceive this growth as a process and not a result!