Weekends

So, you're hunting for a new job, and it's the weekend. What are you going to be doing? Since life is not "normal," it may be hard to really rest. I do recommend that you force yourself to take some time off from the job hunt to do what you like, spend some time reconnecting with God, exercising, etc. You will run yourself into the ground very quickly if you ignore the reality about your need for regular rest and recharging.

The weekend should also be used to review and revise your job-hunting strategy, applying to jobs you didn't have time to in the past week (if a job has been advertised for more than a week or two, your chances of getting an interview are slimmer, but not impossible), doing some Internet research on your target companies and/or industries, and setting up your plan for the next week (contacts to be made, lunches, networking group meetings, etc.). Steven Covey refers to recharging as "sharpening the saw"---"Sharpen the Saw means preserving and enhancing the greatest asset you have--you." Recharge your batteries, renew your spirit, and get ready to dive into the job hunt again early in Monday morning.

Weekends are great for getting renewed, but depending on your financial situation, you may have to rely on less "rest" than a weekend when you have a job and may feel more stress, because you cannot contact prospective employers (weekends are a good time for working LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and other social networking sites). God set up every seven days as a day of rest, and it's clear that we all need the cycle of winding down every week and refreshing to be able to attack the next week with all cylinders running.

Planning and executing your job-search strategy helps to keep you from just generating a lot of activity and instead helps you focus your activity on producing the results you want---landing a job. If you're spiritually, mentality, and physically worn down, you'll have a hard time executing even the greatest job-search plan effectively.