Working as a freelancer has many benefits but there are some downsides to being a freelancer too. For example, when every customer or project counts as income it can be hard to turn work down, sometimes even at the expense of a holiday. However, we all need breaks to maintain a balance in our lives and to avoid burnout; especially important when you are your own source of income. Here are a few ideas of ways to tackle this issue: 1. Take shorter breaks Adapting the way you take breaks to suit your freelance lifestyle can be a good compromise. You could take more frequent one night breaks or mini breaks; this means you get time away from your business but without big breaks of time away from your work. By taking more mini breaks, you can still accommodate customers without a big gap in service but still get your well deserved break. 2. Planning Taking breaks as a freelancer can involve more planning than in your average 9-5 job but it is worth it. You could try to take more work at … [Read more...] about The Freelancer's Guide to Taking Holidays
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How to Do Your Interview Preparation
A much larger extent of our communication is done via our body language, than what we say. For this reason, it pays to brush up on your non-verbal communication skills prior to attending an interview. How you come across is as important as what you say; your behaviour speaks volumes about your character. Any interviewer will be looking for and picking up on these cues to ascertain if you are an ideal potential employee. Deep Breaths While knowing how to respond to questions and having appropriate questions prepared is important, how the replies and questions are delivered is just as fundamental as the content of what you say. When you are nervous there is a chance you may trip over words, mumble or talk too fast, or interject sentences with lots of "urms". Taking a few slow, steady breaths will help lower the heart rate and make you feel calmer when you speak, delivering your answers in a more relaxed a measured manner. Practicing this before the interview will help identify any … [Read more...] about How to Do Your Interview Preparation
How to Write a Crap CV!
Having a quality CV can seriously affect your chances of getting the job you applying for. To prevent yourself from getting the job you want, here are the 8 best ways to ensure your CV ends up in the trash. Bad spelling and grammar. Your CV needs to be incorrectly punctuated and full of spelling mistakes and grammatical errors. The use of slang words and text speak will further enhance the poor quality of your writing skills. To ensure maximum errors don't use the spell checker, (though this can make mistakes), and don't, I repeat, don't get it proof read by anyone else. Don't even take the risk of re-reading it yourself! Fill it with lots of c**p! Long winded sentences about irrelevant information, vague descriptions of your credentials, and absolutely nothing that can be of any relevance to the advertised position should be the essence of your CV. Use one CV for all job applications. If you are applying for more than one job, do not specifically tailor your CV to each job. Just use a … [Read more...] about How to Write a Crap CV!
The Best Jobs for the Future
With the recent worldwide recession and employment problems, more and more of us are looking at ways to future proof our income and are looking for jobs that will continue to be in demand. Though there are no ways to accurately predicting how the future will unfold for certain, there are strong indicators of which areas of work will still be in demand in the future. Healthcare Nursing is going to be a growing area in the coming years as our aging populations increase and advances in healthcare allow us to live longer lives. Many have taken accelerated programs allowing easy entry into the field.This area will not be restricted only to the nursing profession but many jobs in healthcare. This will increasingly include areas such as home-care, with governments around the world struggling to manage the care needs of their populations by providing care at home rather than in expensive to run hospitals. Also, with advances in healthcare many people will choose to be treated in their own … [Read more...] about The Best Jobs for the Future
How to Detach from Work
Even if you enjoy your job, its important to have a healthy work/life balance. The inability to detach from work can have a profound effect on your home life. Bringing the stresses of work home with you, or not being able to separate work and home life can result in you not finding any time and space to rest, relax and recover properly from work, or to enjoy your life away from your job. Working from home? Working from home can seem like the perfect job; no commuting, not having to tolerate annoying colleagues or bosses, avoiding the office politics, having your whole kitchen and contents available to you for your lunch but working from home can also make it difficult to separate work from home life, making detaching from work related tasks more difficult. Anyone who successfully works from home will tell you that the best way to be able to detach from work is to create a physical and psychological divide between work and home life. Creating an office, or space in your house, an area … [Read more...] about How to Detach from Work
Finding a Passion for a New Career
You've come to a point where your job no longer holds any interest, or you've progressed as far as you can and now thinking you would like to find a new job and pursue a new career. The problem is, you've no idea what you'd like to do instead. Changing careers is not something you undertake lightly and you want to be sure that you'll be working in something you feel passionate about. And that's the root of the problem, you're not sure if you are passionate about anything that could be a new career. If this sounds like you, here are some tips and advice that can help you find a passion for a new career. Step Back. You need to get a good view of your options, where you stand, and where you can go. Take a step back from your life and try and view it objectively. Ask others who know you well if they can see aspects of yourself that you nay not see so clearly yourself. Don't Force It. Finding a passion is not something that can be forced. Stressing about it will only cloud your mind … [Read more...] about Finding a Passion for a New Career
Why it Doesn't Always Pay to Have a Five Year Plan
How many times have you been asked 'what's your five year plan'? Do you reply with enthusiasm, happy to explain in detail your life mapped out in intricate detail, or do you inwardly groan, and wonder why so many people are so concerned about planning way into the future instead of relishing the here and now, adapting to what the future brings? Planning can be an effective way to achieve goals and help motivate towards desired outcomes however the problem is, life isn't predictable, and the best plans in the world can't be guaranteed to succeed in getting what you want. Where are you left then? Despondent, feeling lost, and without the career you were expecting as a result from your five year plan. Things don't always pan out as you'd want or expect. Some jobs are guaranteed, right? Not the case. Nursing is one profession that is often seen to be a sure thing. 'We'll always need nurses'. That's probably what the student nurses in parts of the UK thought while doing their … [Read more...] about Why it Doesn't Always Pay to Have a Five Year Plan
Bored at Work? Do This!
There are times when there is not enough work to fill the 9-5 work day. This can be a welcome break if the usual is to bogged down under more than you can handle, but if it regularly occurs, it can get very boring. If you find yourself in this situation and are regularly bored at work, do this: Ask for more work There may be other assignments or tasks that you can take on board and this can be a good way to win favour with those you'd like to impress. Training Not only fills the time but expands your knowledge, skills and abilities and may lead to involvement in more aspects of the companies practice and possible promotions. Volunteer to help Helping your colleagues can be a valuable networking tool. A helping hand offered when dearly needed is often appreciated and seldom forgotten. Desk exercises Keep yourself healthy by checking out online exercises that you can do while at your desk. Doing this with even some simple stretches can do wonders to clear your mind, and relax and … [Read more...] about Bored at Work? Do This!
How to Lose Staff & Alienate Them!
It can be hard work to be a successfully horrible boss. No matter how hard you try, sometimes your staff may still have the audacity to enjoy their work and not be reduced to tears or hard drinking on a regular basis! Here are some surefire tips that will keep your staff in no doubt that they are here to work hard and make you and your company money, not to fulfill their desire to have a rewarding and enjoyable career and a healthy work/life balance: Create draconian working conditions, that, while within the law, would make any Victorian workhouse governor proud. Change their contracts. Change staff contracts on a regular basis to create insecurity and, if the staff kick up a fuss, tell them that their position is no longer economically viable, so the other option is to terminate their employment, and then offer them the new contract. Enforce rigid working patterns. Don't allow any changes they request, say no to flexible hours, leaving early, or taking holidays … [Read more...] about How to Lose Staff & Alienate Them!
Resolving Worries at Work with Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT)
What is CBT?Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) looks at how we think about a situation and how this affects the way we act. CBT is about working to change our behaviours, or thinking patterns, or both of these for more effective ways to approach situations and behaviors. CBT in the Workplace The principles of CBT can be effectively used for many problems that can arise in the workplace. Used effectively it can help improve each working day, helping you become more efficient, less weighed down with worries and the concerns that often consume us at work and can less to a more fulfilling and enjoyable job experience. Thought Records One of the strategies of CBT involves using “thought records”. These help address particular situations and identify negative or unrealistic thoughts a person may have about these and finding more positive, objective and realistic thoughts. These new thoughts will have an effect on behaviour with a more positive … [Read more...] about Resolving Worries at Work with Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT)