Estimated reading time: 6 minutes
Preface
Even the most dedicated professional needs to step back from the hustle of life and renew their energy.
The time you have now (as you wait for life to go back to normal) could help to broaden your perspective.
Use it as a sabbatical to reflect on your career and self-improvement goals. Use this time to unwind and re-strategize.
Now let’s discuss a few more pointers:
There are fewer distractions
The most significant assets that you have are time and space. These are often hard-to-find resources.
In light of the coronavirus pandemic and the stay-at-home orders, you have a better opportunity to focus on you.
Successful people will use this time to list down their goals and what they want to achieve when life goes back to normal.
Time to create multiple game plans
Maybe you have been eyeing that senior spot in your office, but what are the chances that it will happen within your organization?
Do you perhaps consider looking outside of your workplace for a promotion?
Or maybe you have to go back to school and get an advanced certification to sharpen those skills.
Review your accomplishments
Maybe you were too busy last holiday to review your career accomplishments.
We all know how family and holiday fun can be so involving.
But now that you have an opportunity, you can look at your failures and successes in the past.
This analysis will be hugely beneficial in what you decide to do next.
Refresh your resume and check out potential companies
This applies to both entry-level job seekers and those that are advanced.
This period is a rare window of opportunity to spruce up your profile or create a portfolio if you don’t have one.
It could also be the best time for you to research places you may want to work in the future and set up interviews by video chat or email.
You are not among strangers
As opposed to a scenario where you are vacationing in some far isolated place on earth, right now, you are home with your family.
They are the front liners that help you deal with your issues when things are not working out.
They are the pacemakers that help you along with encouragement and take on chores when you have too much on your plate.
It’s time to share your aspirations with them.
Wrap up pending projects and relax
What we have now is an impromptu holiday that anyone can make the best of. Most times at work, we have too much going on.
Now is an excellent time to accomplish whatever needs to be completed, and then focus on relaxation as you put everything into perspective.
A relaxed mind can think more clearly
When was the last time you slept in? And do you ever take those oh-so-vitalizing afternoon naps?
Honesty, such a level of relaxation seems like a fairy tale. But now you have the time. The Scientific American reports that relaxation is the surest path to clear thinking.
Career-related decisions require us to be top of our thinking game.
Staying at home is time to emotionally re-energize
The right career-related decision will need you to think ‘outside the box’.
You may need to be more creative and find ways to future-proof your skills, improve versatility, or improve your digital prowess.
Stress is an enemy to creativity. Now that you are at home, your mind is calm, and all possibilities are open to you. You can see them clearly.
You can increase your productivity without much effort
When Ernst & Young surveyed their employees, they found that for every 10 hours of vacation that an employee took, their year-end productivity increased by about 8%.
Just by taking this time to unwind, your career can get a significant boost when normalcy resumes. Relax and be happy.
Take that first step that will get you to the top
You can get started now. It might be a small step- like talking to someone in the new company where you are looking for work.
It could be signing up for an online course.
It could be reaching out to your networks and priming them for when you will ask for a favor.
With this stay-at-home vacation, you can set things in motion that will catapult you to the top in the post-pandemic world.
Marry your personal goals to your career goals
This stay-home period gives you time to consider what you want in life.
This could be the best time to find how your personal and career development strategies can work together.
What is your personal brand? How can you grow this brand? How are your career goals helping with your personal aspirations?
You are quarantined from toxic people
Do you have those friends that often leave you feeling hopeless after talking to them?
Psychologists refer to these people as energy vampires, borrowing a term coined by an English songwriter in the 70’s.
Now that you are just home alone or with family, you can plan without being discouraged.
You can dream big. Positivism could just be the magic needed to accelerate your life.
A simulation for work-life harmony
When life starts again, there will be those hovering bosses, perfectionist clients, tons of emails, and everything else that drives you insane.
A work-life balance could help you to minimize this pressure and perform better at work.
So now, as you work from home and do your personal things, you can learn one important thing/skill: mixing work with personal things makes you a star employee.
There is value in self-reflection
If this were vacation in the tourist hotspots of the world, you would come back a broke man/woman.
You would have no time to think because outdoor holidays are just about fun.
But now that you are comfortable at home, you can genuinely rejuvenate, save money and think about important things.
Rediscover your motivations
For one, being able to meet your family needs is a motivation to seek career advancement and more money.
Maybe you have that child who has just started schooling, and they are impressively fast learners.
Perhaps you have been scouting for a new home or a better neighborhood for your family.
Or maybe you wish to support your spouse financially in their business or education.
These are just some of the reminders that you need more money and career stability. Being at home helps you see clearer.
Re-experience the joy of family
We all know that if things are not right at home, they cannot be right at work.
The reverse is true. Successful people aim to find joy in both family and work, and they strike a balance between the two.
This staycation can be an eye-opener. It’s time to talk to your son or daughter and find out what their dreams are.
It’s time to be grateful for your partner or catch up with your siblings. Career goals revolve around these people.
Take steps to improve your health
Exercise makes you smarter, and Forbes has explored six extensive ways of how that happens.
In a nutshell, it works by increasing energy, improving your focus, enhancing your mood, and controlling your impulses.
All these can be invaluable when you are making important decisions about your career.
But most importantly, using this time to work out strengthens your health; it improves the chances that you will be there to enjoy the fruits of your labor in the future.
Less burnout = more happiness = better plans
Maybe you will never find such a special time again to carry out a detailed analysis of your work and life situations.
Now is a good time to start writing down plans because your days are easier.
You don’t have Monday blues. You are focused, and so you can set free the genius inside you.
Take time to appreciate everyone around you
When was the last time you had a good conversation with a colleague or your boss?
The daily demands of life probably have turned you into an office robot, where a terse ‘hi’ is all you can manage.
But there is never really a career ladder; there are just people that can hoist you up one level after another.
This staycation could be the time to invest in such people.
The Takeaway
Feeling disappointed that you have to stay home? You shouldn’t. As seen above, you can turn this time into a stay home vacation that helps with your career goals.
Thank you!
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Relax…and advance,
The QuestionBank Family