How To Enjoy Your Job...
    Or Find A New One!

Some people hate their current jobs, but they don’t know what they would do instead. Here are 5 questions you can ask yourself to find out what you really want to do for a job. Grab a piece of paper and jot down your answers to these questions.

1) What did you want to be when you were a child/teenager? When you were young, you didn’t have to worry about the practicalities of living, working or earning money. When you thought about your future it was not constrained by reality, so you believed you could do anything. Write down all the things you wanted to be or do when you were young, however impractical. What do these early choices reveal about your personality and what you might want to do now?

2) What are you passionate about? What do other people say you are good at? What specific skills do you have? Write down these things and consider whether you could make a living from these. The ideal job is to find something you love, and figure out how to get paid for it!

3) What parts of your existing job do you enjoy? What do you want to keep in your ideal job? For example, the holidays might suit you, or the commute, or your friends, but you might not enjoy the actual work. How can you combine what you enjoy with a different job?

4) What do you definitely NOT want to do? Identifying these things will help you whittle down your ideas to more specific jobs. For example, you might think you want international travel as part of your ideal job. But you know you like being at home with your family, so actually you don’t want to work abroad. You might not like blood, so being a doctor/nurse is out, and if you are allergic to pollen, you won’t be a gardener.

5) What do you want to achieve, and by when? This is your practical question where you consider how much time you have and what resources you will need to get to where you want to be. You may have identified that you always wanted to be an Olympic athlete, but you are 38 and a bit on the heavy side. Is it likely you will make the Olympics and do you want to put the effort in to achieve this? You may want to retrain as a Doctor but do you have 7 years and the money to fund this program of study?

Read back over your answers and add anything else that comes to mind. Some ideas should be sparking already. This list will give you an insight into some of the things you want in a job, and what is important to you. Use it to start researching into what jobs you might be interested in pursuing.

This is a great video from top designer Stefan Sagmeister, who describes how his sabbatical year (taken 1 in every 7 years) rejuvenates his life and his business. He also notes that Google allows 20% time for employees to work on their own material, 3M allows 15% time and the chef of El Bulli in Spain only opens the restaurant for 7 months of the year, taking the rest of the time for experimentation.

I moved to 4 days per week almost 2 years ago now, which is 20% of a working life. It has changed my life. I have written 3 books and now have a successful blog based internet business, The Creative Penn. This weekend I am running my first live seminar and I now speak regularly in my niche, as well as take part in teleconferences and podcasts. This new career was started in my 20% time and I expect it to become my main income source in the next 18 months. So if you can’t take a sabbatical, try moving to 4 days per week and see how it changes your life.

Companies that communicate retain more staff and increase job satisfaction for their employees. But ineffective communication can be worse than none at all. Here are six ways to communicate effectively within the organisation.

· Set clear expectations. If you hold a weekly communications meeting, then make sure there is an agenda that informs people about what you will communicate. People will know what is being covered and can save their questions for the appropriate time. It also ensures all topics are covered. Make sure items are varied, relevant and interesting so people look forward to these sessions.

· Ask people what they want to know. So often management will drive meetings based on what they want to tell employees, and not necessarily about what is on people’s minds. Turn this around and ask instead. Send out an anonymous survey or ask for emailed questions to a central address. Allow people to ask anything they want of management. You may be surprised at what people are concerned about. Communication is a two-way street, so be prepared to listen and then broadcast the most useful answers.

· Be clear and concise. People want to be communicated with, but do not need more than a summary most of the time. Cut meetings short if there is not much to share, and make sure they finish on time. Be specific, decisive and articulate about each topic. If people are speaking, do not allow them to monopolise and take over the meeting. Time is precious, so move things along. Make sure there is follow up to people who were involved. If decisions were made and actions were taken, ensure minutes are sent out promptly.

· Communicate in different ways. Face to face meetings are just the beginning. Conference calls are an effective way to get participants from global locations, and presentations can be seen onscreen over the web. Internal newsletters and intranet pages can also be ways of broadcasting communication. Some companies now use e-zines (electronic newsletters) which individuals can contribute to and subscribe to within the organisation. Again, allow feedback and suggestions for improvement.

· Take a risk. Some CEOs and executives have maintained a distance between themselves and employees, and have not revealed much of their personality. Others embrace communication as a part of their daily work. Some CEOs have started blogs as a way of communicating to employees and the world. The most high profile of these is the President of Sun Microsystems, Jonathan Schwartz, http://blogs.sun.com/jonathan/ but there are many others. Sun even has a blog policy acknowledging and allowing that people will communicate online. Accept that people will blog and your corporation stories will get online and you will get feedback. This type of communication will only accelerate with Gen Y employees. Use that information to improve the company and the risk will pay off.

· Be truthful and respect your audience. Your integrity is always on show when you speak and communicate something, even if it is not important news. People generally know something of what is going on in the company and just want the gaps filled in. Be sincere and respectful of the intelligence of your audience, whoever they are. People will see through half-truths and when the truth is revealed, your honesty is on the line. In these days of mass communication, transparency and integrity is valued in every organisation.

Effective communications can transform your company, so make it a central part of your corporate strategy.

Self-efficacy is your belief in your own capability to do something. It may be a proven capability based on something you have achieved or it may be the belief that you can do a new thing given the opportunity. If you believe you can do something, you will feel more in control and therefore less stressed.

If you try something new and it works, you will feel you have achieved. You will have increased your self-efficacy. If it doesn’t work, then you can learn from it and the lesson will also improve your self-efficacy.

It is about how you perceive the situation.

For example, I have started three businesses. Each folded within a year after much hard work and money spent. As much as the experience was painful, I learnt a great deal each time that has enabled me to go on to later success. I perceived that the failures increased my abilities to eventually run a successful business so my self-efficacy improved even though some would say that I “failed”.

Your comfort zone is where you are happy doing your work or using your abilities. Part of developing self-efficacy is to stretch these comfort zones and increase skill level so you can function without being stressed in the outer limits.

If you don’t challenge yourself, you will never know what you are capable of.

Here are some ways to improve your self-efficacy in work situations.

• Identify what you have achieved – at work or in other areas of your life. Really look at what you have done and acknowledge that you have skills, and that you are valuable.
• Identify where your comfort zone is. Where are the boundaries of your skills? Where do you lose your self confidence? For example, you may be happy speaking in front of colleagues at a staff meeting, but not at a conference of 500 people.

• Find ways to apply the skills you have to the boundaries of your comfort zone in order to extend it out further.
• List ways you could improve in specific areas by developing new skills.
• Aim to put yourself in these situations in manageable ways in order to increase your comfort zone without being too stressed.
• Once you have tackled a new situation, add it to the list of what you have achieved and learned. Celebrate another step forward!

Mansfield College, Oxford

Many people are bored at work. They while away the hours pushing email around. Parkinson’s Law states that work will expand to fit the time allotted, and you have until 5pm daily. A lazy day is fine now and then but a challenge is important otherwise you will be miserable.

You can now get lectures from some of the best Universities online for free – so take advantage of this and listen on your commute or plugged in while doing mundanity at work.

Oxford University podcasts are on many topics: try History of Art for some culture, Interviews with philosophers for depth, Quantum Nanotechnology to blow your mind, Steve Wozniak speaks to the business school for netsavvy tech, or try listening to an English tutorial at my alma mater, Mansfield College (pictured)

Create your own book

Studies have shown that 82% of people want to write a book, but few of these actually ever achieve that goal. Writing a book is something people also talk about in times of change, or after they have been laid off from a job. Now could be the best time to write yours!

Here are 10 reasons you should overcome your blocks and write your book.

1. Say something important. Maybe you are passionate about a cause, maybe you have a story that needs to be told. Your voice is important and your words can be heard if you get them out there. Write your story and inspire others. You don’t know how your words can help other people in their own lives.
2. Demonstrate your expertise. You may have spent long years gathering your expertise in a subject. You have notes and seminars, training programs and articles. You may even be a speaker on your subject. But having a book elevates you in people’s eyes so they perceive you as the expert.
3. Use as a product to sell. You can create another stream of income by writing a book and selling it, either on the internet or in bookstores. You can create spin off products that relate to the book that your market may be interested in.
4. Grow your business. If you market your books to a wider audience, it can be a means to attract new people to your business. They may read your book and then want your professional services to help them in their business. The book then functions as a giant business card.
5. Start a new career. If you have always wanted to be an author, then writing a book is the way to start this career. Many people talk about being “an author”, but you do actually have to write something to become one! It may take a few years, but you can have a career as an author.
6. Fulfil a life goal. If 82% of people want to write a book, how many of these consider it a life goal worth achieving? In these days of digital printing, print-on-demand and small print runs, you can achieve your goal of writing a book even with a small budget. So state your goal, and get writing!
7. Be immortal. A print book will contain your words after you are gone. The internet will become ever more cluttered, but print books are difficult to throw away so they carry on giving for a long time. People may give them to charity shops, or to friends, but seldom will they go in the trash.
8. Status and confidence. Authors are generally respected. People look at you differently when you say you are an author. They know you must have worked hard for it, and most people consider it a worthy profession. It gives you a certain status in some people’s eyes. This will also give you confidence. If you can write a book, and achieve your goal, then you have become a more interesting and accomplished person in the process.
9. You don’t have to do it alone. If you want to write but you are unsure how to, there are plenty of courses and tips online to help you. If you have the raw material, you can find a freelancer to help you write or edit it. If you need a community of people to discuss your ideas with, there are groups online and locally you can join. Writers are everywhere. Start to share your ideas and you will find the support you need.
10. Learn about yourself and open the door to new opportunity. Writing a book can reveal many things, and you can become someone new in the process of writing. It can open your eyes to new opportunities and ways you can improve your life and other people’s.

So pick up that pen, or sit down at the computer and get writing!
If you need some help getting started, you can get a free e-workbook at http://www.HowToBeAnAuthor.com

My main blog, The Creative Penn has lots of information on writing, publishing options, sales and promotion for your book.

Networking

Networking can be misunderstood. I used to think it was just socialising, but it is much more than that. Yesterday I was at the Women’s Network Australia networking lunch and one lady mentioned how she had been head-hunted to a brilliant new job out of contacts she had made there. So here are 5 ways networking can help your career.

1. Meet new people. You will also be surprised by who you meet, and how connected everyone really is. You can build new relationships and even casual acquaintances can turn into contacts. Networking is not just about what other people can do for you. It turns into a reciprocal giving arrangement, where everyone deposits into the Favour Bank and then you can draw on it later. You are building a web of contacts that can help you in surprising ways, but you do have to be committed for the longer term. It is not about going along and being self-centred, but more about being open to possible opportunities that may come your way.
2. Learn about new businesses. As you meet new people, you exchange business cards. You should always follow people up with an email or phone call if you have a connection. Have a look at their website as well. You might find out more interesting things about their business, or ways you can help them. Down the track, the favour will be returned in some way.
3. Build confidence in talking to new people. Networking encourages interaction with new people, and discourages only talking with people you know. You will need to join into other people’s conversations, roam the room and get through small talk quickly if you want to find out interesting things about people. This can quickly build confidence as everyone is in the same situation and generally people are very encouraging to new members.
4. Learn to differentiate yourself. At a non-industry networking group, there may still be 5 accountants or 3 fashion designers, and so you will need to differentiate yourself. This is a good exercise for anyone to do as it gets you thinking about your personal branding and how other people see you. This is important in any career path, not just in networking. Listen to what other people are saying about what they do. What is their point of difference? Why are you drawn to them? Now equate this to your own job. How can you stand out in the crowd? How can you be memorable?
5. Be inspired. My network is full of women who are out there starting and expanding all kinds of businesses. It is amazing what some of them are doing, and inspirational to see what they are achieving. If you have a narrow view of what people can do to make money, then check out a (non-industry specific) networking group and be inspired!

So find yourself a networking group and go along. Most have trial memberships so you can see if you are a good fit for the group. You could belong to one from your industry, but I would also recommend going to a broader one as it really opens your eyes as to what people are doing with their lives.

Give it some time. I would recommend monthly for 6 months and then you will really start to connect with people. Remember to follow up with an email/ phone call or personalised note afterwards and build those relationships!

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I love to read – and I love to share my passion for books!
Here is my video review of Tim Ferriss’ “The Four Hour Work Week”. Some of my favourite bits are also listed below the video.

Some top quotes and ideas from the book:

• Lifestyle Design. You don’t have to live the high stress, long hours life. You can assess the lifestyle you want and then design it. You don’t have to work all your life to sit on a beach at 65…you can go sit on one now for very little money.
• Outsource as much as possible. Weigh up how much time you spend on things. Automate them. Outsource them. Pay other people to do them if it gives you more time. Spend $30 on a cleaner once a week and spend a few hours with the family. Get someone from http://www.elance.com to write your articles for you. Virtual assistants are the way forward. [Note from JP: I have used several since reading this book and they are brilliant]
• Be, do , have. Decide what you want in your life. Who do you want to be? What do you want to do? What do you want to have? and then get on with achieving it. Life is too short to be stuck in the office. Set extreme goals that are worth achieving. Question everything.
• What are you passionate and excited about? Go do that.
• Elimination. Have a “not to do” list and make sure you don’t do it. Don’t watch TV. Cut down your email to once a day (and then once a week). Don’t waste time being busy. Be productive in less time and spend the difference achieving your splendid goals.
• Find your muse. Discover a way to make money by virtual and outsourced means and free up your time to do what you love. This may take time to achieve, but you can make a plan and achieve it, so you can live a freer life.
• Empower people to make decisions without you. So you can have free time.
• If you don’t set the rules, they will be set for you.
• Living more is the objective.
• Know what you will do with this abundance of time. Look at your passions and missions. Move from a life of survival to one of passion and excitement.
• Experiences override possessions every time. Live life, don’t postpone it.

I found this book inspirational and it is JAM-PACKED with information and links to great sites.

Tim’s own site is here and it has calculators for your new life, and all kinds of free information to get you started => http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/

Tim also has a great blog – check it out here => http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/

Sometimes life flashes by so fast, you wonder where the time has gone?
Do you remember what you vowed back in 2000 when we all made big plans? Have those dreams come to fruition?

In 5 years time it will be 2013 – the Olympics happened last year in London, and Obama is entering his second term. What will you have achieved by then?

It is said that people overestimate what they can achieve in a year, but underestimate what they can achieve in 10 years. So, try for 5!

Here are some questions to think about today that will shape your future. Don’t constrain yourself to what you think is achievable. Sometimes you need to set big, hairy audacious goals and leave it to the Universe to help you achieve them.

1. Where are you in 2013? A different house, different city, near the beach, in the forest, with your family, living alone, partying hard in the city or quietly by the sea. Where do you want to be?
2. What are you doing with your life in 2013? What is your job? Do you work for a big company with lots of perks? or a small company where you make a difference? Do you own your own business? Do you love what you do? Do you wake up full of energy and ideas every day?
3. What are your relationships and family like in 2013? Are you happy in your marriage/partnership? Do you have children? Do you spend time with other members of your family? How are your close friends?
4. How is your health in 2013? Are you fit and active? Have you stopped smoking/drinking hard? Have you done the marathon you always said you would? Are you confident in your body? Do you love yourself?
5. How are your finances in 2013? Are you financially free? Do you have savings? Can you buy your dream home/car/holiday? Can you afford school fees? Do you have investment income from shares, property or term deposits? (HINT: If you invest in 2008, you will be able to say yes!)
6. How is your spirituality in 2013? (however you define it). Are you happy that your life is not just material and transitory? Do you have meaning beyond the daily grind and weekly dramas?

What are your dreams? Not just your goals – but your dreams. Free up some time and write these answers down. You don’t need to know how to get there, just listen what you want.

If you know this, you can start now – and in 2013, you won’t be in the same situation you are unhappy with now.

Image: Flickr Creative Commons Steve Grosbois

We are all busy. Work is busy and so is our personal life. So how do we get it all done? Here are 12 tips to improve your efficiency and personal effectiveness.

1. Make lists. These will help de-clutter your mind and organise what you need to do into specific tasks.
2. Spring clean your office space. At work and at home, go through and ditch all the old paperwork in your drawers. Do the filing and create a To Do pile that consists of the relevant information. Make space on your desk and you will find your head clearing.
3. Streamline your bill paying. Set up direct debits for the common household bills. Organise online banking for everything else and make sure you pay early for discounts.
4. Shop online. You can get everything online now including your weekly groceries which saves you time (although may cost more). You are less likely to browse online, and you can shop out of hours.
5. Organise your email. Keep your Inbox for items that need actioning. Archive old mail and delete old stuff. If you use a searchable email system like Gmail and don’t use folders, then make sure you use the Archive function so the Inbox is still actionable items.
6. Be proactive about your calendar. Whether you use a PDA or a Filofax/ paper diary, make sure that you actively manage your calendar. Put in your regular appointments, birthdays and things to remember. Then plan your weekends, and week nights writing in items like the gym, social plans and business meetings. If you organise in advance, you will fit so much more in.
7. Be ruthless with your email and phone contact. Limit your phone and email usage to specific times during the day, and do all admin tasks at the same time. This chunks your time into manageable pieces.
8. Learn to say no. When asked to do something, weigh up whether or not you really need to do it. Sometimes people get trapped into doing tasks that are not part of their job because they are being nice. But this can impact stress levels and people are often respectful if you say no for good reason.
9. Find out about job opportunities for flexi-working. In these times of high fuel prices and the need to retain staff, companies are allowing telecommuting and flexible hours. If you can work from home, you can use the commuting time for other things.
10. Stop procrastinating. There are always things you don’t want to do, but they need to get done. By putting them off, blockages are created as those items just sit on your list. Stop procrastinating and do them first. At the beginning of the day is always a good way to get them done quickly.
11. Delegate and outsource tasks. Within a company, see who you can delegate or share tasks with. At home, consider outsourcing tasks like cleaning and gardening to free up quality time for other things. In business, try using a Virtual Assistant or outsourcing to contract labour online e.g. www.Elance.com
12. Set up Google alerts for targeted information. If you need to monitor specific news or information online, set up Google alerts so you are emailed with the latest updates. This prevents the need for trawling the internet. The information is sent daily. Subscribe to newsfeeds and RSS feeds for the sites you want to monitor.