Home Sweet Work From Home

Happy Monday!

Today like many others, I officially started working from home indefinitely to protect myself, family, friends and others during COVID-19 outbreak. I am incredibly grateful to have the option to do so. To help with the transition from working in an office to home and to create a bit of balance between work and home life, I created myself a workspace that is both productive yet beautiful and peaceful to me.

The move to work from home means I will personally gain between 10 – 15 hours that I commute every week. For many of us that spend a lot of time commuting and/or are simply used to always being on the go, the next little bit may be exceptionally challenging and lonely as we socially distance ourselves from others to help flatten the curve. 

Thought I would share some ideas to help you embrace these changes in routine and all the extra time you may find yourself with over the next few weeks and potentially beyond. 

Professional and Job Search Ideas

  • Review and revise your CV
  • Make your CV Applicant Tracking System (ATS) compliant
  • Practice your interviewing skills even if you don’t have an interview scheduled
  • Develop or revisit your own personal brand
  • Update and complete your LinkedIn profile
  • Connect with others on LinkedIn by sending personal invites
  • Join groups on LinkedIn and follow others
  • Comment on LinkedIn posts and articles
  • Write and share your own articles and posts
  • Learn a new brainstorming technique like Mind Mapping®
  • Reflect on where you are at in your career, where you want to go and love what you do
  • Research companies you are interested in potentially working for to learn more about them
  • Find opportunities to learn formally and informally – read, listen to podcasts, webinars, lives, zoom chats, etc.
  • Sign up for a course you can complete virtually
  • Become a virtual mentor and help someone else
Continue reading “Home Sweet Work From Home”

First Impressions 

On our daily travels, we interact with many people including those we share space with on our commute to work, to the barista we purchase our coffee from to our team members and prospective clients. It takes 1/10 of a second to form a first impression based on facial impressions and non-verbal communication. Do you smile and make eye contact? Do you cross your arms and come across at standoffish? People tend to trust their gut reactions when meeting someone. What impression are you making to others on your travels?

A Map is Worth a Thousand Words

Do you feel like you lack creativity? Are you ever stuck trying to come up with new ideas? Is your preferred learning style a visual one? If you answered yes to any of these questions, you may love a great brainstorming tool called Mind Mapping®

A Mind Map® is 

  • A colourful, visual form of note taking that can be worked on by one person or a group of individuals
  • At its heart is a central idea or image
  • The idea is explored by the means of branches representing main ideas which all connect to the central image of idea

I lucky to be introduced to the concept of Mind Mapping® when I joined the Junior League where we used it to plan a community project. It helped our team to brainstorm by documenting any ideas that popped to mind to help create a place to start our planning from. It is a brainstorming tool that I continue to return to when I am looking to spark creativity.

Mind Mapping® is very practical both professionally and personally and one can utilize this brainstorming tool in the following ways:

Professional

  • Action Plans
  • Agenda
  • Business Plans
  • Disaster Planning
  • Leading a Meeting
  • Launching a New Venture
  • Lesson Plans
  • Meeting Minutes
  • Presentation Development
  • Project Plans 

Personal 

  • Event Planning
  • Holiday Shopping Plan
  • Interview Preparation
  • Resume Development
  • Study Notes
  • Travel Planning
  • Weekly Calendar

If you are interested in learning more, you may wish to visit these great resources from Tony Buzan, the inventor of Mind Mapping®.

Web:
http://www.tonybuzan.com/about/mind-mapping/
 

Books:
The Ultimate Book of Mind Maps® – Unlock your Creativity, Boost your Memory, Change your Life – Tony Buzan – 2005

Mind Maps® at Work – How to Be the Best at your Job and Still Have Time to Play – Tony Buzan – 2004

A map is worth a thousand words. Have fun and happy mapping!