I mentioned Tuesday that journaling can keep you focused, track wins and help you in your job search. The idea came from Tim Ferriss @tferriss and the Five Minute Journal.
A Journal <> Diary
When I first heard the word “journaling” I had images of the little diaries that kids had in the 1900’s with a little lock on them. Journaling is different… it is for grown ups 🙂 But seriously, it is different in some ways and the same in others. Journaling enables requires you to focus on what you want to do and what you have done. Very rarely these days do we take the time to plan what we want to do, celebrate the wins or learn from our misses.
I am working on a job search journal that will be downloadable for free from my website that should launch in February:
Here are the areas I think a job seeker needs to journal about and focus on:
- Goals for the week; Jobs applied for, New contacts, Follow ups, Power-Ups and New prospects.
- Today I want to…
- What would make today great?
- What could I have done better in my job search today?
- What did I do well in my job search today?
- Ideas from today
- Three new things I learned today.
I am also throwing some personal and spiritual things in as a job search is about you as a whole person, not just the poser that you are at work. Journaling should help you focus in the morning and then review your day at night.
If you are reading this and you have some other ideas on what to journal about, let me know. Just keep in mind, it should take less than 10 minutes.
You will never reach your destination if you stop and throw stones at every dog that barks.
Winston Churchill