Related Posts
This guest blog is by friend of Catalyst Thinking Partners, Claire Rason, in response to Part 12 of the ’12 Job Hunting Tips for the New Year’ series.
How to do nothing?
It seems odd that I should be writing a piece on how to do nothing. To stop. 2020 has given everyone the opportunity to do just that. To stop. To be present.
However, it can be easier said that done. And 2020 hasn’t been without it’s challenges. For some it has meant the worry of being on furlough, for others uncertainty about the future. Even those with security have had questions about balance and around how to gain meaning from what they do.
Oliver Hansard – my friend, co-conspirator, and co-host on podcast Lawyer’s Coach has written 12 job hunting tips for Christmas. He invited me to do a follow up on the 12th in his series. He put forward the need to “rest up”. He’s right. In times of stress it might seem that you have nothing and everything to do all at the same time. Resting sounds easy. However, telling yourself to rest often has the reverse effect and the more restless you become.
I came across mindfulness over ten years ago. I was going through a divorce and my mind had become noisy. I struggled to connect with it at first. To be honest, I didn’t want to connect with it at first. The thought of sitting and removing thoughts from my mind seemed like an ideal that was a million miles away from where I found myself. However, one rainy day, I picked up a book on mindfulness, I suspect I had run out of other reading material. Perhaps something in my subconscious said that I should give it a go. I am glad I did, because I discovered that it wasn’t about clearing the mind. It is about living with thoughts. It is about recognising thoughts as they pass through your mind and not getting hooked on them. It is about being present.
I am not writing this blog to convert you to mindfulness. Rather, I want to invite you notice how present you are. To notice what you do to rest. That might be by being active, it might be by reading a book, it might be through mindfulness. Whatever it is, think about how you make space for it. How you will continue to make space for it.
Job hunting offers a world of possibilities. It also makes you vulnerable. It carries with it rejection and stress. Making sure you rest means you can approach your job hunt on the right foot. People quickly forget that job hunting goes two ways. Sometimes it can feel that the employer holds all the cards. However, the process is two-ways. The job and the employer need to be right for you. You are equal in the process of evaluating whether it’s a fit. Being rested can help you do that.
Want to learn more? Contact Claire:
Email info@clienttalk.co.uk
Tel. +44 (0)208 092 6650
Website https://www.clienttalk.co.uk/coaching