3 Communication Tools You Must Manage Well
It is easy to get overwhelmed by all the technology you have to manage during a job search. Between your home phone, cell phone, email, instant messaging, conference calls, live virtual meetings, and text messages, staying current with your inboxes can be difficult.
While these tools are all necessary to make it through a career transition, all of them need to be managed correctly or they can sabotage your productivity.
The irony here is striking – the very tools that were designed to help speed up communications and save time can become the enemy they were designed to fight. Networking, researching job openings, and polishing your resume are important tasks that require uninterrupted focus. Jumping back and forth between checking email and thoughtful cover letter writing is tempting, but ultimately a mistake.
Here’s the message, loud and clear: manage your tools or they will manage you. Here are some ideas to help gain control over your inbox and get you back to work on what really matters.
Email: Resist the temptation to stop whatever you are doing every time you hear a beep announcing a new message in your inbox. Better yet, turn that feature off completely and close your email program down. Schedule several blocks of time throughout the day to check messages and return them so that you are not constantly concerned about missing an important message.
Phone calls: Phone calls can be interruptions that keep you from doing important work. When you need uninterrupted focus time, let voicemail do its job so that you can do yours. Don’t be afraid to forward your phone directly to voicemail and go offline for an hour or more while you focus on other projects. Just be sure to check your messages when you are done.
Mobile devices/texting: These gadgets have virtually made the phrase “sorry, I am away from my desk right now” obsolete. If you carry a smart phone, you are effectively carrying your home office with you. It is important to give the person you are talking to your full attention and not constantly be glancing at your buzzing or beeping phone. Develop guidelines about when you want to be interrupted by incoming messages, and stick to them by silencing or physically turning off your phone when you need to.
In the end, it is up to you to control how much your communication tools affect your ability to be present in the moment, and get real work done. If nothing else, remember one thing: just because you CAN stop working to check your messages doesn’t mean you SHOULD.
Michelle St. Onge
