How to Stay Motivated During Your Job Search - Part 1

By Sarah Khaireddine

Fellow and Features Writer

Days start flying by and you start to realise you’re doing the exact same thing every single day and nothing is changing. Maybe you’re someone who gets out of bed at 10, works for an hour and calls it a day. Maybe you’re applying for similar job roles each time with only a variation on the name and you start to wonder where you’re going wrong. Or maybe you’re trying your best and still end up feeling defeated. I know I’m guilty of all the above to some degree.

 

I’ve struggled with keeping myself motivated a lot in the past but listening to peoples’ advice and trying out different techniques to see what works for me has been really useful. I’ve discovered a few top tips that have worked in my favour and helped me keep going and to stay determined in my job search. I’ll be bringing you my 5 Top Tips for keeping yourself motivated – you’ll find Part 1 below!

1. Give yourself a routine

Keeping the same routine isn’t an easy task when you don’t have school or work every single day, but it is doable. Make sure you’re getting up in the morning and going to bed at night at roughly the same time every single day. Eating and taking breaks at the same time is also a big help!

If you find it hard keeping to a schedule, then making a timetable might be the best solution for you. make sure you incorporate your lunch and break times too!

To-do lists are another great technique to make sure your routine stays in check. However, don’t just put down every single thing you need to do that week and hope you’ll do them in time. Make a general weekly to do list AND a daily more specific one with no more than three important tasks on it. Make sure you’re prioritising the things that need to be done urgently whilst still setting yourself achievable goals each day. It’s okay if you don’t do every single thing. You can just add it on to the next day. Don’t get completely discouraged and give up because of that one task. You not getting around to it isn’t a testament to your worth. 

2. Optimise your environment

Whether you’re getting on with your work from home or at the library, your surroundings affect you significantly.  Where you are impacts both your mood and your behaviour, subsequently affecting your motivation to do what you need to do. You’ll want to start by cleaning and organising the space you’re going to be working in. Decluttering the external things that are influencing your motivation will also help declutter your mind and hopefully help you internally.

Keeping a window or two open may help. The fresh air will keep you alert so that you are more likely to get work done.

Making sure your work space (regardless of its whereabouts) is well-lit, tidy and quiet enough that you can focus will definitely enhance your chances of paying more attention to the task at hand and boosting your mood in general.

Stay tuned for Part 2!

Everyone is different and these may work for some easily, but for some of us, it may take time and practice. So just be patient, work hard and you will see progress. In the second part of this article, I’ll be discussing how working on your health and attitude (which is something we all want to improve anyway!) can also aid in your job search- stay tuned for more tips!