Introduction

When searching for a job, time and energy are crucial factors. It can be helpful to track your daily activities if you’re looking for a new job or are between jobs. By doing so, you can ensure that you’re making the most of your time. There’s no better judge than yourself when it comes to tracking your hours and reviewing them to see if you’re headed in the right direction.

My breakdown of activities in a day.

1. Practice Presentation – 45 minutes.
2. Apply for Job(s) – 60 minutes or 1 hour.
3. Learn a New Skill – 240 minutes or 4 hours.
4. Workout – 60 minutes or 1 hour.
5. Respond to Emails – 180 minutes or 3 hours.

💡 You can read about the detailed breakdown at https://saidevakumar.com/2023/03/30/how-to-break-your-day-into-smaller-manageable-chunks/

You become your best friend and critique when you plan your day

During my job search after being laid off, I applied the skills I learned from my coaching sessions. I started planning three major tasks to accomplish each day. To ensure that I stayed on track, I did two things:

• Set a Google reminder on my phone to visually prompt me to log my activities every three hours.

• Logged every single hour of my day.

These two activities, combined with reflection at the end of the day, helped me course-correct daily. At first, following this new regimen felt difficult, but with practice, it became a habit, and I was able to stay focused on my activities.

Reviewing How I Spent My Day at the End of the Day. Slow Is Fast.

Tracking how I spend my time during the day is one activity that helps me collect data on my actions. At the end of the day, I take on a different role and become a judge of my own actions. I review my actions and write three things in a book:

1. What went well?
   1. Example: Today, I took a 15-minute rest at noon, which helped me regain my energy.
2. What went wrong?
   1. Example: I noticed I was getting drained around 4:00 PM.
3. What should I add to my next day?
   1. Example: Try going to the gym at 4:30 PM or go out for a jog.

Post-it Notes Became My Best Friends

In his book “Atomic Habits,” James Clear emphasizes the importance of visual cues. As a technologist, I applied a variation of this strategy by creating visual reminders. Visual reminders are the best way to keep yourself on track every day. In my case, I used sticky notes on the wall as visual reminders of the actions I wanted to perform. To my surprise, just by posting them on the wall, the actions were completed within a day or two.

I recommend leveraging Post-it notes or similar sticky notes as visual reminders for the activities you must complete.

Conclusion.

Our challenges become wonderful opportunities when we apply customized strategies and get results. The way I choose to track my time during a job search taught me an important lesson on how to operate for any goal on my list. It may not stop at a job search but can continue after obtaining a new job or for my business as well.

Can you think of other methods to keep close tabs on your day?

How would you handle it differently?