Feliz Natal, Feliz Navidad, Merry Christmas, Frohe Weihnachten

EQ

Emotional Intelligence

Today I saw this article on my LinkedIn, and I decided to share with you:

"Emotional Intelligence Predicts Job Success: Do You Have It?" - by Drake Baer

It shows you some characteristics of emotional intelligence, and I think it is quite interesting to read from the perspective of a job seeker.

Christmas #3

How to be productive?

Back the time when I was working, I used several strategies to be more productive and to get the most of my "normal" 9h-10h per day at the lab*. And the main strategy was a to-do list.

I am a to-do list person, and after I found that, my life and work became much easier. At the beginning, my to-do lists were often unrealistic because I was always expecting to have more time than I actually had. And this happened a lot at work, where I was often delayed by someone using the equipment that I booked in advance, or by some other thing that appeared in the way. 

With some more practice, my to-do lists became more realistic and they are now my main tool to get productivity out of my days. But, I was/am not productive all the days, and I think that is the secret of it. You can't be productive everyday, but you must always pursue your productivity: the best out of you! 

It is Christmas time, and I still have some presents to finish, a 3-day trip and a returning home trip to prepare,  and all the daily-stuff-routine things. And I am feeling quite confident about the success of these missions! 

My to-do lists are helping me a lot. And you? What strategies do you use to get the best out of you?

Here are some habits that will boost your productivity:

(click on the image to get the full article)

*And I was actually productive - I finished the PhD work and thesis on time! And this was one of my big achievements of 2013!

Christmas #2

We decided to stop spending lots of money in Christmas gifts a long time ago. Now, we only give one gift to a "secret friend" and enjoy the most of what Christmas is for: a time for family, cooking&eating, and smiling.

This describes pretty much my Christmas evening, with the exception for the kids. 

But, this year, as a job seeker, I would like to receive some useful gifts, as follows:

• An haircut and/or manicure
• A black jersey or cardigan
• A black&small handbag
• A blouse and/or a dress (the truth is I need to buy new "more professional " clothes)
• A gift card (I already received one ;) )

If you are a job seeker, and you know that you will receive Christmas gifts, then you should list what do you need most. It is a matter of getting what you need while saving some money. Why don't you try it this year?

More ideas here: 

- 9 Holiday Gift Ideas For New Job Seekers @ Careerealism
- 10 Thoughtful (and Useful) Holiday Gifts for the Job Seeker @ Career Confidential
- Top 10 gifts for job seekers @ Zpolitics
- 10 holiday gift ideas for job seekers @ Examiner
- Gift Ideas for the Job Seeker @ Carrer Rescue

Christmas #1

This year, as a looking-for-a-job-with-no-money-for-Christmas-gifts person, I decided to make my own gifts.

I had always wanted to make my own gifts but I often found a lot of excuses to go through the easy-way (=shopping): "I don't have time", "I'm too busy to do it on my own", "I have money, so I can buy something useful". And as I love to do personalized gifts, this year I decided to spend as less money as possible while spending most of my 168 hours doing nice things to my family and friends*.

So, if you are at home and still looking for an opportunity, take some time to do something that will make you feel happy and realized: do your own Christmas gifts to the ones you care about. 

Ideas? Try to re-use old-empty food bottles by painting them or decorating with candles, make some origami, do your own Christmas postcards, inspire yourself from your surroundings!

Here is an example of what I have been doing:

This is an egg box, and it turn out into a...*

*After Christmas, I will show you the gifts I made!

Focused & Balanced

You already know that I follow the Careerealism blog. And this weekend, I read some interesting posts that complement well with what I have been writing here on "how to be productive and keep motivation while looking for a (new) job?"

Be Focused & Balanced! Do not stay home all day, and remember: "all you need is 20 seconds of insane courage" 

So today, I will only direct you to the two posts that kept my attention:

- How To Maintain Your Focus While Hunting For Full-Time Jobs

- 4 Ways To Balance Your Job Search

Have a nice Monday!

by Me :)

Happy?

Today I found Happify after reading this post:

"An App to Make You Happier (Yup, It Exists)" BY JESSICA STILLMAN

And I started questioning myself if this "being-home-alone-while-looking-for-a-job" thing was taking me to an unhappy mood/state.

I can easily find happy moments in my life: a hug, a smile, a song, a talk with a friend, a book... but, while thinking about the happy vs unhappy moments, I realized that I still spend part of my day feeling anxious, unorganized, and unhappy for not being so productive as I wanted.

During this productive moment of thinking on happiness vs unhappiness in my life (yeah! It turn out productive!), I also concluded that I still wake up every day with the desire of doing something useful (like I used to feel when I had a job). 

And after that, I saw my big picture: 

I often find happiness in the small things of my daily life. I am an easily happy person with some unsolved issues that cause some unhappy moments. But who hasn't unsolved issues?

And you? How do you feel after "being-home-alone-while-looking-for-a-job" for a short/long time?

Mondays...

Every Monday's morning I ask myself: "what am I going to do today?"

Most of the times, I just want to stay in bed. But I often find myself thinking that I will miss something if I stay in bed. And then, I feel guilty, and I usually get up earlier than I expected. Just because I need to do something. The question is (again): what to do?

I have no clue on what I will be doing today. I feel a certain lack of motivation and orientation, but at the same time, I have an idea of what I need to do... and, yes, that is a start. 

I need to do the following main tasks:

- check my email and write down these main tasks on Google Calendar (it helps me a lot on Mondays! )

- check my LinkedIn

- check my Feedly

- blog

- apply to some job applications that I saw this weekend 

- gym

- laundry

- studying (I am learning a new language!)

- think about Christmas' presents (I will only give presents made by myself this year)

And it is interesting how I often feel after annotating these main tasks: 

I might be doing something useful today!