How to Handle Job Search Burnout

Question:

I have been job searching very intensely, and I’m getting burned out. I dread going to the computer; I can hardly stand to network anymore. But I need a job very soon. What advice do you have for me?

Answer:

Give yourself a break, before you give yourself a breakdown.

You’re entitled to the occasional day off from job search, just as you were from your job. Furthermore, you need the occasional day off to be effective in your search.

If you arrive at an interview looking tired/haggard/stressed/burnt out, you do yourself no favors. The employer can’t see the happy/energized/engaged version of you that he wants to hire.

So do some preventive self-care. For starters, sleep (eight hours out of twenty-four, if at all possible.)

Identify some little pockets of time for your self-care. It doesn’t need to take hours to be effective. Take a few minutes to do one or more of the following:

●     Walk away from the computer.

●     Talk to a friend about anything other than job search (your friends are probably as tired of your job search as you are anyway.)

●     Take your mind on a two-minute vacation at the beach / a mountain cabin / your happy place, wherever that is.

●     Eat a healthy snack.

●     Write in your journal.

●     Think of something / someone you are grateful for.

●     Make a cup of tea and sit outside for as long as it takes to drink it.

●     Meditate or pray.

●     Exercise. At least take a walk, preferably outdoors.

●     Read an article or a bit of a book (not related to job search.)

If you need more ideas, check out this link.

Whatever you decide, do that activity on a regular basis. It doesn’t need to take up a lot of time, but you need to do it frequently to be your best. Don’t think of it as selfish; think of it as doing what you need to serve your audience.