A relatively short missive today.

It’s half-term here in Suffolk, so I’m working short hours.

Running a mini-business like mine is much like being the Managing Director of your job search.

Little will happen without your intervention, yet if you don’t build in breaks that enable your long-term sustainability, it’s likely you’ll pay the piper at some point.

Of course, the main difference is that we hope your job search is a short one, given you only need one permanent job, whereas I need a throughput of ongoing business.

But while the hope is for a job soon, you should plan for a long-term search, to optimise your performance in what you can control, while taking advantage of activities that pay off over the long term.

Check out the archive , for some of these longer-term activities like networking and personal branding.

To support your job search it’s a good idea to find a balance you can maintain.

We’re all a little different, but one approach, if, say, you treat a job search like a permanent job is to treat it like a permanent job:

It’s healthy to separate your job search from your personal life so that the two don’t bleed into each other.

While FOMO may be a concern - the benefit of searching 24x7 is more than balanced by the issues brought about by searching 24x7.

Crash and burn isn’t productive, for example.

As with any paid job, your job search can accrue holiday.

Plan in intentional breaks, even if they are at minimal cost so that you can reset and recharge for what may be a marathon.

I’d expect most jobs aren’t entirely monotonous, and neither should your job search be.

Mixing up your activities, taking breaks to have a quick catch-up with a colleague / fellow job seekers, watercooler moments to spark ideas, and so on - these are all key to maintaining optimal performance.

Sometimes it’s the bits in-between that form and contribute to our job just as much as what we are targeted against.

In a multichannel job search, there are many activities you can do, so find a balance that works for you, rather than surf job boards all day, or any other time sink that becomes make work.

Maybe you benefit from more of a cocktail of work, like I do.

Intense periods of high activity are balanced by shorter weeks or shorter days.

Some weeks I’ll work 60 hours, others I may work 15-20.

Or I may have a long lunch break to go for a run.

Drop the kids at school and pick them up.

I’m my own boss, so as long as I stay accountable, I can run my own timetable.

There’s no right answer for how you do it, as long as you run a sustainable week and plan in breaks - mirroring how you work best in work may work best for you.

The key is to plan it out intentionally.

I’ll be back next week for part one of my Interview series.

Regards,

Greg