Guest blogger, Judy Palko is a positive, accomplished human resources leader focused on helping people and organizations raise their performance to achieve stellar results. Her career has focused on leadership, employee organizational transformation, employee engagement, and communications and change management –all of which are on her radar screen for her next position. While seeking her next great employment adventure, she recently attended The Mevyn Group’s "Leaders to Go!" program, is participating in a teleprogram, "Practicing Emotional Intelligence in the Workplace" through LeadingYourselfCoaching.com, and is exploring positive psychology. Connect with Judy through LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/judypalko. After reading Judy's piece, I'm sure you'll hope, just as I do, that she becomes a regular writer on this blog. She brings such a fresh and unique perspective to our situation.----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Just Practicing
If you’ve been away from the routine of a day job, you know, the one that starts with the 6 a.m. alarm, followed by a shower and primping, the scoot with the morning commute, and a day jam packed with all the stuff you once took for granted, then you might want to consider holding your own dress rehearsal. I call it a “Just Practicing” day.
A successful Just Practicing day gives you a non-stop day filled with To Dos related to your primary job of finding your next great opportunity. With a little bit of planning, you’ll have a good time and get an extra jolt of energy, all with just a little practice.
First, to make it a real dress rehearsal, you need to start with a people event that gets you out of the house first thing in the morning. That means, no ruminating through the job boards while you’re sipping your favorite caffeinated drink. Up and at ‘em with full dress uniform, matching shoes, and make-up, if you’re so inclined. If you can, it’s a nice touch to wear something new, just to see how it might feel on the first day of that new job you’ll eventually get. That way, when someone sees you all dressed up and asks about your new job, you can say, “I’m just practicing.”
Next, you need to schedule back-to-back meetings, just like you did at the office. This way you can get your adrenalin pumping as you’re maneuvering through traffic and watching the time pass at the longest red lights between you and your next meeting.
A five-star practice day also needs some kind of professional techno-meeting – a webinar, a teleconference, or video conference – to recharge your intellectual curiosity. This event may also allow you to practice dealing with dropped connections, delayed slide shows, or high-decibel feedback in your ear. There is an art to handling each of these – all the more reason to stay in shape.
And finally, any time spent back at home base, is still “on the clock.” That means you answer emails, apply for jobs, phone your network contacts, and plan your To Dos for tomorrow all in your dress rehearsal clothes, until 5 o’clock, or 6 o’clock or 7 o’clock—whatever you consider normal. Remember, you’re practicing for the whole day so you need to go the distance.
Okay, so here’s how my latest Just Practicing day played out:
5:45 am Alarm, shower, new jacket, new shoes–just to break them in
6:50 am Freeway exhilaration with morning rush hour
7:15-9 am Central Iowa SHRM meeting: HR legal update with networking, Pleasant Hills
9:00-9:30 am High-adrenalin traffic to get back across town to West Des Moines
9:30-11 am Meeting with recruiter, back to my home office
11:00-Noon Quick emails; job alerts from job boards, lunch at my desk—just like old times
Noon-12:50 pm Free webinar: Becoming a Strategic Partner in Your Organization
1-3 pmUpdate meeting with CRG Lee Hecht Harrison® job search work team, West Des Moines
3-3:30 pm Meeting prep: Practice run at following map to drive to tomorrow's morning meeting
3:30-5 pm Research on job prospects, network emails
5:15 pm Pure satisfaction—with blue jeans and tennis shoes for a little relaxing
The best part of my practice day: Feeling like it really was the first day of my brand new job. . . and that was priceless.
So if you’ve go some spare time this week, try a dress rehearsal. You can always tell your friends you’re just practicing for your opening day.
If you’ve been away from the routine of a day job, you know, the one that starts with the 6 a.m. alarm, followed by a shower and primping, the scoot with the morning commute, and a day jam packed with all the stuff you once took for granted, then you might want to consider holding your own dress rehearsal. I call it a “Just Practicing” day.
A successful Just Practicing day gives you a non-stop day filled with To Dos related to your primary job of finding your next great opportunity. With a little bit of planning, you’ll have a good time and get an extra jolt of energy, all with just a little practice.
First, to make it a real dress rehearsal, you need to start with a people event that gets you out of the house first thing in the morning. That means, no ruminating through the job boards while you’re sipping your favorite caffeinated drink. Up and at ‘em with full dress uniform, matching shoes, and make-up, if you’re so inclined. If you can, it’s a nice touch to wear something new, just to see how it might feel on the first day of that new job you’ll eventually get. That way, when someone sees you all dressed up and asks about your new job, you can say, “I’m just practicing.”
Next, you need to schedule back-to-back meetings, just like you did at the office. This way you can get your adrenalin pumping as you’re maneuvering through traffic and watching the time pass at the longest red lights between you and your next meeting.
A five-star practice day also needs some kind of professional techno-meeting – a webinar, a teleconference, or video conference – to recharge your intellectual curiosity. This event may also allow you to practice dealing with dropped connections, delayed slide shows, or high-decibel feedback in your ear. There is an art to handling each of these – all the more reason to stay in shape.
And finally, any time spent back at home base, is still “on the clock.” That means you answer emails, apply for jobs, phone your network contacts, and plan your To Dos for tomorrow all in your dress rehearsal clothes, until 5 o’clock, or 6 o’clock or 7 o’clock—whatever you consider normal. Remember, you’re practicing for the whole day so you need to go the distance.
Okay, so here’s how my latest Just Practicing day played out:
5:45 am Alarm, shower, new jacket, new shoes–just to break them in
6:50 am Freeway exhilaration with morning rush hour
7:15-9 am Central Iowa SHRM meeting: HR legal update with networking, Pleasant Hills
9:00-9:30 am High-adrenalin traffic to get back across town to West Des Moines
9:30-11 am Meeting with recruiter, back to my home office
11:00-Noon Quick emails; job alerts from job boards, lunch at my desk—just like old times
Noon-12:50 pm Free webinar: Becoming a Strategic Partner in Your Organization
1-3 pmUpdate meeting with CRG Lee Hecht Harrison® job search work team, West Des Moines
3-3:30 pm Meeting prep: Practice run at following map to drive to tomorrow's morning meeting
3:30-5 pm Research on job prospects, network emails
5:15 pm Pure satisfaction—with blue jeans and tennis shoes for a little relaxing
The best part of my practice day: Feeling like it really was the first day of my brand new job. . . and that was priceless.
So if you’ve go some spare time this week, try a dress rehearsal. You can always tell your friends you’re just practicing for your opening day.
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