Jibberjobber. Indeed. Dogpile. Sixfigure jobs. The list grows daily! The names come from all directions; a new one appears with each conversation. “Are you on LinkedIn”? “Have you tweeted today”? “Hey, check out strengthsfinders”. There is so much information with so little time to explore and absorb!
With the over abundance of sources, one could potentially spend the majority of their time deciding just which source to use. This not only can lead to inefficient time management, but also the amount of information gathered could cause HSO (Human Sensory Overload) The result of all this, borrowing a phrase from John Madden, would be the Paralysis of Analysis.
Early on in my job networking career (it’s been six weeks now) I could see that the choices for surfing, submitting, and inviting might approach unmanageable if I chose to explore and utilize every site I had heard about. I decided to write down all those sites that I continued to come across through causal conversation, emails, and networking. Then, at some point in time, I would decide which sites to focus on. Of course as the list continues to grow, a constant reevaluation and purging of the “sites I will use” is needed.
Based upon what you would get out of a particular site and how much time you are willing to spend with it, one should discriminate away from sites that do not make the most sense. Factoring in emails, job boards, online banking, and internet backgammon, as well as the need to be on the phone and just getting out of the house, time spent with our computers should not dominate our schedules. In fact, the time spent with our friend Dell or Apple should not have a majority share of all the daily activities (eating, sleeping, leisure, exercise, being with other humans or nonhumans). It would be easy, and I have experienced this, to look up at the clock during a computer sit-down and wonder where those three hours went.
So how do you avoid the computer vortex? It really depends on your own personal priorities. For me, my attention span can be limited. I have a need to talk to live beings, in person or on the phone. With more free time during the day, workouts at the local club are a necessary luxury. Some days, I just want to get away from the job search mode, so working in my backyard, reading something of interest, a movie, or sporting event on TV offers much needed distraction. Whatever interests you, take advantage of your newly found free time and utilize it to expand your mind and experiences, or just connect with old and new friends and family.
A well balanced schedule can provide you with a great outlook, which is a huge component of a being successful in landing employment.
