Tag: Applying to jobs

Don’t be ashamed to take time for yourself

Don’t be ashamed to take time for yourself

Life is stressful. Whether it’s work, lack of work, friends, family, or being in line at the DMV, stress is an inescapable part of daily life. There are some days when things are harder to deal with. Sometimes you are faced with a normal day but the things that have been on your mind weigh more heavily than usual. When you get to this place it can be hard to be productive.

Today I had a stressful day at work, and when I got home and started applying to jobs like I do every evening, I found it hard to focus. Instead of rewriting my cover letter I found myself thinking about my day and the fact that I haven’t had any job prospects in about a week. That’s when I put my computer down and turned off my phone.

When I get to that place I need to unplug and take some time for myself. In college I used to feel guilty about taking an hour or two to watch TV, read a magazine or sit under a tree somewhere. This is time I could be using to be productive and counteract the stress I’m feeling. I finally realized forcing yourself to work when you’re not focused leads to mistakes and inevitably more stress. If taking time off leads to productivity later, it’s worth it.

I realize you can’t take time off work during the day if you’re starting to feel overwhelmed, but taking a walk at lunch or even around the office can help reduce the worry until you can get home and do whatever relaxes you. For me, it’s a TV show or movie and a delicious dinner. I also like to turn my phone off for awhile to really focus on myself.

This isn’t something I need to do every day or even every week but everyone needs a reset, even if it’s a small one.

Applications

When I was applying to my first job eight years ago I drove around town and filled out paper applications at any place that would have me. I didn’t have a resume or job experience, I just went in and asked for an application.

This is pretty out of character for me seeing as I get nervous calling to order a pizza, luckily the guys down the street know my order so I don’t have to say much, but it’s just what you did in 2006. It was nice to sit down and talk to store owners and see what they were looking for and make a case for myself in person.

These days everything is digital, which I as an introvert really appreciate but it makes applying so tedious and boring. Attaching resume and cover letter and checking boxes to confirm that I’m a white female citizen. It gets really exciting when even though you’ve uploaded a cover letter they ask you to manually fill in a form. Call me crazy but you would think that in 2014 we would have the technology to pull information from a document and plug it into a form online, but hey what do I know?

So here I go, plugging in the same information I already wrote, edited and formatted in a word document you can access online. Yes I realize I can copy and paste things but that isn’t easy or efficient either.

The worst part is thinking about the position while you’re plugging in all the details of your life. I aways go over everything in my head and start to imagine myself doing the work and loving it. This of course leads to thinking that I shouldn’t get excited about it because I probably won’t be chosen anyway and I’ll just be disappointed. Then comes the mini pep talk to remind myself that I’m worth it and deserve any job I could want. So after that emotional roller coaster the application is submitted and I need a snack.

I’m nostalgic for the days when I could walk into the local pizza store with no experience or education and talk about my love of toppings and cheese and get awarded the job.