In this Issue

News from Joan (right)

Dealing with Interruptions (below)

Quotes for the Month

Job Seeking Tips: Online Networking: Lifeline and Gold Mine, By Susan H. Burnell, APR

Quick Links

News from Joan!

March 31st (Tuesday) – Women’s Energy Network (WEN) Energy Corridor Luncheon featuring Joan Bolmer, Joan's topic is Unleash Your Inner Diva: Finding Your Passion and Living Your Gifts! Located at the Westlake Club at 507 Westlake Park Blvd. at 11:30am. Cost is $30 for WEN members in advance and $35 after March 26th. Cost is $35 for non-members in advance and $40 after March 26th.
http://www.wenhouston.org/

Need a Breakout Speaker for Your Local,
Regional, or National Professional Association
or Business Networking Group?
As a professional speaker and former trainer, Joan will give your organization great ideas and practical tips they can implement immediately. To view a list of topics and in-depth descriptions.


THANK YOU FOR YOUR REFERRALS. They are the greatest compliment you could give me.

A spam free newsletter written and published by Joan Bolmer, Executive, Business, Career and Personal Coach. For more helpful ideas visit http://www.bolmer.com

Schedule a FREE no obligation consultation TODAY! Call 281 293-8864 or email me.

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What Clients Say about Joan

"Dear Joan,
Thank you for all your help over the years. I would not have realized my dream of owning my own business without your help. I treasure your wisdom, kindness and acceptance.”
M.Young, Scuba Shop Owner

“Joan Bolmer pushed me to bring out my best qualities and put them on paper. My resume stood out because of her creative insight on how to display my experience. Working with Joan helped me get to know myself and be proud of my achievements, giving me the confidence I needed to land my perfect job.

Every single interviewer said I had the most unique and interesting resume of all their applicants.
Thank you so much!”
Sofia, PR Manager Latin America

Dealing with Interruptions When the Culprit is You!

By Denise Landers, Author of Destination: Organization

Some of the basic tenets of time management revolve around the concepts that:
• Multitasking is less effective than working on one thing at a time
• Uninterrupted blocks of time enable you to focus and get more done faster

You know that these two points are valid when you come into the office early or stay late because you are not interrupted. It is the perfect setting for being “in the zone.” You can concentrate and get detailed work completed. However, instead of extra hours, ideally you should be able to find a time within the work day, at least one to one-and-a-half hours, where you can book time to concentrate. The best scenario for that focused time during the day would be:

• Blocked into your schedule
• Door shut
• Phone calls dropping into voice mail
• Email program closed

Now suppose you have done everything to limit interruptions and be able to focus. But then…you still find that you are frequently distracted. And who is it that is interrupting your thought process? YOU are.
Personal distractions can take several forms:
1. Pending tasks: “I have to remember to buy bread on the way home.”
2. Creative Sidetracks: The current job triggers a new idea for another project
3. Looming threats: “I have to get this done or else….”
4. Flights of Escape: “This work is so boring. I’d love to be on the beach right now.”
5. Emotional Issues: An argument with your spouse, worry over personal finances, an ill child
When you find yourself off-task, determine into which one of the categories the mental interruption falls. Then take action to refocus as quickly as possible. What can you do to quickly get back on track?

A. Recognize the pattern:
• What type of distraction is it?
• How often are you interrupting yourself this way?

B. Record the thought:
1. Pending Tasks: The activity you need to remember
2. Creative Sidetracks: That idea you want to pursue
3. Looming Threats: The worst possible thing that honestly could happen (Real consequences are often less than imagined.)
4. Flights of Escape: The reward for focusing now—your motivation
5. Emotional Issues: The next step needed in dealing with the matter.

When you identify the distraction and make a note of the thought, you can set it aside without continuing to veer off course or worry about forgetting. The notes can then be dealt with at the end of the hour or assigned a future date.
With practice, you will find that you become ever more productive in the blocks of time that you assign for concentrated activities.

Quotes for the Month

“Perpetual optimism is a force multiplier.”
- Colin Powell, US general (1937 - )

“Many an optimist has become rich by buying out a pessimist.”
- Robert G. Allen

“An optimist is the human personification of spring.”
- Susan J. Bissonette

“For myself I am an optimist - it does not seem to be much use being anything else.”
- Sir Winston Churchill, speech at the Lord Mayor's banquet, London, November 9, 1954, British politician (1874 - 1965)

Job Seeking Tips: Online Networking:
Lifeline and Gold Mine
By Susan H. Burnell, APR

I recently stopped in to see a dear friend whose multi-year contract with a large company had just ended. She hadn’t lined up her next job yet and was feeling a little low. During our visit she showed me a giant card her co-workers had presented to her on her last day –
each person had signed it and had written glowing praise for her and her work. My eyes lit up.

“Do you realize you have a gold mine right here?” I asked. “These people care about you. They love your work. They are eager to help you. Why not give them a way to do that?”

She had already set up a profile on the professional networking site LinkedIn, but she hadn’t done much with it at that point. So we talked about how she could use it to request recommendations from the people she had recently worked with. Luckily, she still had all
of their email addresses. She’s now using the site to ask for recommendations, build new connections and land job interviews.

The loss of a job or a contract assignment gets us focused more clearly on the hunt for the next one. The best time to build an online network is before that happens.

To read the whole article and get specific tips using online networking click here

If you want to power up your resume, job search and interview skills, give me a call at 281-293-8864 or email me at joan@bolmer.com for a free consultation.

Quick Links

How to Get a Great Performance Review

Selling Yourself in 90 Seconds or Less

Handling Sticky Employee Problems with Ease and Success

Favorite Resource Links

Happy Spring!
Check out Joan's paintings
and notecards.

Tulips