9 10-Minute Activities Which'll Make You Better at Your Job (and Impress Your Boss form this Process)

When you think of what you can do in 10 minutes, you probably think of taking a shower or checking your email—nothing too crazy.

But, what you may not realize is that this is actually plenty of time to do something far more productive and valuable, like get ahead in your career.

The best ways you can advance your knowledge and skillset in just 10 minutes of free time. Because why not take advantage of every second you have?

Research and Pick a New Podcast to Listen To

I love listening to podcasts as I’m driving or walking. I’ve learned so much from hearing different career stories, and it entertains me during my down time.

Learn From Experts

Identify an expert in your field and spend 10 minutes a day analyzing his posts on social media, his blog, or videos of him speaking. Pay attention to how he words things and how he appeals to audiences. Make time in your schedule for 10 minutes a day to do this, and in a year’s time, you’ll have spent over 60 hours learning from the masters.

Learn Anything Outside of Your Job

It’s often the most unexpected things that contribute the most to our careers. If you’re living in an information vacuum and only learning things directly relevant to your job, those bolts of lightning won’t strike. That’s why I spend my free minutes during the workday unwinding and learning something completely new, whether it’s through a short video or an interesting article.

Skim Industry Publications

Stay on top of your industry by using 10 minutes to skim through a relevant magazine or website. Not only does this keep you up-to-date with your profession, but it may spark ideas for new projects or initiatives at your company.

Reach Out to Someone in Your Network

We all think we’re too busy to keep up with the vast majority of our connections, yet we know that there is undisputed value in maintaining those relationships. In 10 minutes, you can quickly text or email someone whom you haven’t spoken to in a while and let her know you’re thinking about her. It goes a long way.

Watch a TED Talk

With each TED Talk you watch, even if it’s only for 10 minutes, you get to learn something fascinating about a new subject from experts in that field. Plus, you see firsthand how you too can turn any subject into a compelling narrative.

Take a Risk

Sometimes, the only way to push forward is by taking a leap of faith. For example, write that email you’ve been hesitating to make to that potential employer. There are times when the only way to overcome stagnancy is to face rejection or accept an offer from someone who’s willing to bet on you. Take the risk, and reap the rewards (or fail and try again).


Take a Walk

When I have 10 free minutes, I take a walk around the office or outside. I try not to think of anything in particular, but to observe what’s happening around me. It refreshes you, and you may notice things that you normally wouldn’t while actively engaged in a task. It’s when I’m doing ‘nothing’ that solutions to problems occur to me.

Subscribe to a Publication

Sign up for a daily email from a publication related to your field. They usually contain a word or story of the day that teaches you something new and informs you of the different aspects of your industry. Reading these emails generally takes no more than 10 minutes and gives you a powerful bit of knowledge for the day!

Top Ten Daily Habits Which Make You Look Wildly Unprofessional

It’s not really just that the guy swore; most of us are pretty immune to that these days. It’s that three of his first 22 words were curses (assuming you count “damn” as a curse). That’s just lazy, as if he couldn’t be bothered to come up with better descriptions of all the things we were carrying. Instead, he went with the barnyard default, and that made him seem unserious and unprofessional.

(Just off the top of my head, since I’m sure some of you are about to ask what he could have called the things we carried instead: coats, bags, laptops, stuff, purses, briefcases, jackets, coats, gear, kit, pouch, totes, baggage, portage, luggage, junk, tunics—heck, call my a bag a man-purse, if you want to at least score a C-minus joke).

The truth is, nobody’s perfect. We’re all prone to semi-conscious verbal foul-ups that make us look totally unprofessional. That’s why we all need a reminder now and then. Here are 10 examples of similar things to avoid.

1. Lazy Profanity

OK, this one really is at the top of the list. Again, it’s not the profanity itself (although that often doesn’t help). It’s the laziness. If someone constantly uses the F-word as an all-purpose adjective, it makes you wonder whether they’re equally uncreative and slothful in everything they do.

2. Lateness

I must admit this is a tendency I’ve had to work hard to combat in my own life. The phrase “Murphy Standard Time” would not be met with blank stares by some of my friends and family. Yet I’ve learned that being on time is a matter of respect. Show up when you say you will, and you send a message that you’re professional enough to care.

3. Leering

We’re all human. We’re mammals. We notice alluring members of whatever gender we’re biologically predisposed to be attracted to. Yet, that same humanity also means we should have the self-control to keep the “up-and-down look” under control, so to speak. Eyes up here, my friend, or you’ll look like a creepy amateur.

4. Pollyannaishness

I’ve always been a bit bothered by the fact that the word “Pollyannaish” suggests the concept of having too much unrealistic optimism. Check out the 1913 book if you don’t understand why. Still, when, after a disaster, a colleague or a vendor insists that things are absolutely fine—while simple common sense tells you they’re not—it undermines his or her professionalism.

5. Flightiness

To be flighty is to be fickle and irresponsible. Tell someone you’ll be at a certain place, or that you’ll accomplish a certain thing—and then never do it? Sorry, you’re flighty.

6. Disorganization

Anyone who gets more than 1,000 emails a day probably falls into this category. As most of us who run businesses understand, clients and customers expect you to reply quickly. They want you to be able to talk about their situations (seemingly) off-the-cuff. If you aren’t in control of your own situation, they’ll wonder how you can possibly be in control of theirs.

7. Inarticulateness

This one is like, so like, obvious—and yet a lot of people like—they don’t really, like, get it. And that just, like, totally makes them seem like—well, not really professional, because they, like, can’t even get to the point of what they want to say and like, make it clear and stuff.

Enough said. I’d actually throw bad grammar into this category as well—although with the caveat that we’ve all known some very smart, professional people whose language simply betrayed their lack of formal education, or whose first tongue wasn’t ours. (Seriously, if this column were written in French or Spanish, we’d all have a good laugh at my grammar.)

8. Secrecy

Sure, we all have private lives, but most of the time our businesses don’t truly involve them. If you’re hiding important information from employees or clients, you’re not doing much for your reputation as a leader, and you’re probably making them wonder whether they can trust you.

9. Overpromising

A really brilliant salesperson once told me her art of selling was about “making the maximum promise you can, consistent with your ability to deliver.” Entrepreneurs often push the envelope on this, but the key is to make sure you’re confident you will eventually be able to make good on your promises.

10. Cheating and Lying

These two are obvious. As President George W. Bush once tried to say, “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.”

Three Best Phrases Which Will Instantly Calm Angry or Emotional People

If only the world were populated exclusively by the sane and rational, your job as a business owner would certainly be a lot easier. But as we all know, some people spend much of their lives over-agitated or spoiling for a fight, and even the most level-headed of us sometimes let our emotions get the best of us.

You can’t always avoid having to deal with overly emotional people, but while these difficult conversations are simply part of life, there are ways to make them less painful and more constructive. That’s the message of a useful post that recently appeared on blog Barking Up the Wrong Tree.

The piece features an interview with Dr. Albert J. Bernstein, a clinical psychologist who, while treating the truly psychotic, perfected his techniques for bringing out-of-control conversations back down to Earth. His advice includes tips like, “If you feel like a preschool teacher, you’re probably doing it right,” and suggestions for soothing outraged folks on the phone, as well as these phrases to help turn down the emotional dial on your most challenging conversations.

1. “Please Speak More Slowly. I’d Like to Help.”

The problem may not be that they’re speaking too quickly; the problem may be they’re screaming their head off or sobbing uncontrollably. Nonetheless, this phrase can work its magic, according to Bernstein.

“Why does this work? It breaks the pattern in their head,” the post explains. “They’re expecting you to resist them but you’re not. You’re asking them to clarify. You’re interested. This makes them shift more out of ‘dinosaur brain’ and into thinking. And that’s good.”


2. “What Would You Like Me to Do?”

This one works on similar principles to phrase number one. It knocks the over-emotional person out of using their “dinosaur brain”—the primitive, emotional part that only knows flight or fight—and forces them to start using move evolved thinking skills.


3. Any Question at All

It doesn’t matter how loony the other party is being; if you want to get the conversation back on any sort of sane track, telling them they’re insane or explaining how your viewpoint is more sensible isn’t going to help. Why?
“Explaining is almost always a disguised form of fighting back,” says Bernstein. The other party will sense that and just get more aggressive and emotional.

So even if they’re raving that they’re Elvis back from the dead, you’re better off asking where they’ve stashed their sequined jumpsuit than you are explaining that, in truth, they appear to be an extremely unwell psychiatric patient. “The act of listening is reflecting back the person’s emotional state, not necessarily the content of what they’re saying,” according to Bernstein, and doing that by asking relevant questions is more likely to calm people down and lead the conversation onto firmer ground than any attempt to inject level-headed good sense.

Looking for more advice along these lines? Here’s a Harvard psychologist’s tips on dealing with rage at work, advice on channeling your own anger productively, and research showing that one time you really, really don’t want to get over-emotional is during a negotiation.

How to apply for your dream job...when your skills don't meet the job spec

You see your dream job being advertised but you don’t quite match the job specifications listed: should you still apply? 

Eighteen-year-old Georgia Goodman faced this scenario last year when she applied for a digital marketing graduate scheme, despite having no university degree. Instead she had three months’ experience in marketing via an apprenticeship.  

“I was pleased to be offered an interview and told that, although I wasn't a graduate, my passion and experience working within the B2B sector is what made my employer change his mind about the position they were advertising,” she explains. Georgia is now a digital marketing assistant at the Nottingham-based company and has been funded to complete a vocational qualification.

“You have to be in it to win it,” says Becky Mossman, a HR director at HireRight. Ambition like Georgia’s is one of the key things that employers look for and as long as it isn’t a wild pipe dream, it’s commendable. “A lot of the time candidates have more skills and experience than they even realise, the struggle is often when it comes to articulating those skills in a meaningful way,” she adds.  

“No one candidate is ever actually perfect,” points out Jon Gregory, editor of win-that-job.com. Any shortlist will therefore represent a spread of skills, qualifications and experiences and you could aim to fit on one end of that spread. 

Highlight your transferable skills
If you’re short on specifically required qualifications, show that a combination of your other qualifications and experience are at least as good, if not actually better, says Gregory. What else have you done that brings along sufficient relevant experience? Where do you bring something unexpected and potentially very valuable with you to the organisation? It could be a relevant foreign language, or an extra qualification, for example. 

Draw from your academic experience as well as your work experience and think about your transferrable skills, says Mohammed Rahman, business development and placements executive at London School of Business and Finance. He says: “As an example, customer service skills are needed in every profession and are important skills to have.” 
He adds: “A lot of companies promote opportunities with requirements and would be willing to consider and take on people who do not meet all the criteria but have an open mind regarding how far they are willing to go to train and learn on the job.”

Make a strong case at the start - and don’t be negative
Make a clear, strong case in the introductory summary about your overall suitability, and at all costs, avoid drawing attention to your shortfalls, says Gregory. “One sight of those will switch the reviewer to a negative mindset, reading on only in search of further justification to drop your application into the shredder.” Don’t be deceptive, just selective.

Demonstrate that this is your dream job
“This is the application that has to hit the back of the net, nothing can be standard,” says Mossman. For example, if it’s a creative role, do something big that sets you apart from the field and makes the recruiter question whether the pure job description match is what they really need. 

“If it’s really your dream job, then you should be able to make a clear case for why that is, and still come across as completely genuine”, she says. Think carefully about what skills you can bring to the table – they might be from a job you had five years ago, they might be from a sports team or hobby. If they apply, make it clear what you’ve gained from that experience, and why that’s as valuable as the tick box achievements that are on the job description. 

Do your research - and remember they will do theirs too
Gregory advises that candidates research deeply into the company before compiling an application or tailoring your CV. “You need to show that you really do understand the role, the challenges, why this role is important to the organisation as a whole and what it is about you that makes you viable to shortlist for interview,” he explains. If you can, speak to the HR people organising the selection process and your potential line manager. The more you can engage in a dialogue with people inside the organisation and breed familiarity, the better. 

While you do your research on the company, remember that the company might do research on you too. Perhaps most importantly of all, check your entire online presence to make sure the image you paint in the application is consistent across LinkedIn and your references, warns Mossman. “Otherwise, the hard work of wowing them will all be for nothing. “Employers don’t all admit to checking up on applicants via external channels, but it’s not uncommon for decision makers to use every means available to reassure themselves of their choice,” she explains. 

And finally, remember: there are upsides to applying even if you don’t get shortlisted. Rahman says: “Remember, you have nothing to lose. If it is a dream job then it is worth the time invested in applying. It will act as a good testing ground for future opportunities.” Recognise that you have nothing to lose and everything to gain, even if that’s only a list of what you need to work at for next time a role like that comes up. 

How to use social media in your job search

How to use social media in your job search

Most employers and recruitment agencies today are using social media to source the right candidates, which means it should be a big part of your job search strategy.

On-line social network sites have become an essential forum to advertise your skills

and allow you to establish your social brand, network with people online, identify job opportunities, and turn those leads into real-life job opportunities.

Your CV is normally only seen by those to whom you have either sent it directly, or by recruiters who have paid for access to the candidate database of a recruitment website, so

by using social media sites in your job search you can increase the visibility of your professional profile and be seen by the wider world. It puts your skills and experience into the public domain and provides opportunities to network online with professionals from all kinds of different employment sectors.

LinkedIn

LinkedIn can be a valuable tool in your job search as businesses, recruiters and head-hunters will use LinkedIn to search for candidates for particular jobs and then approach them directly.

If you are actively job searching it is essential that you have an up to date LinkedIn profile.  Your LinkedIn profile is pretty similar to writing an online CV. However, the digital technology aspects of LinkedIn, offers some other useful features including Endorsements. Companies often use positive feedback from customers to persuade other potential buyers. LinkedIn takes this idea and allows you to include personal testimonials. Ask people you know, whether it is your manager, colleagues, customers, suppliers or friends to write a few positive words about your work capabilities on your LinkedIn page. You can make suggestions for the kind of thing you would like them to write. But the fact that another individual has taken the time to write positive things for and about you will be viewed by others as an indication of credibility and authenticity.

LinkedIn is not a replacement for a conventional CV but it has become a very useful, if not essential, complement to it. If you are, or aspire to be, in a professional role then you must join, as recruiters who receive your CV will check to see if you are also on LinkedIn. If you are not, they will assume that you are either technologically outdated or perhaps have got something to hide.

Twitter

Twitter is a public platform for people to post and exchange short messages. People use it to interact with other people or organisations they find interesting or useful, including attaching links or photos that they want to share with their Twitter community.

Businesses use it to promote their services, expertise and entice people to visit their website.  When using Twitter in your job search, be professional! Twitter is a very informal medium but do remember that if you are trying to attract the attention of recruiters and others in your field, then you must represent yourself in an attractive and professional light.

You don’t have to tweet yourself – you can just follow companies or topics and retweet. You can use your own tweets to show your interest in a particular career and tweet about current affairs in the sector you wish to work in.

Your Twitter profile should include a professional looking photo, an appropriate bio and a link to your CV, LinkedIn profile or website. Twitter is much more informal than LinkedIn or conventional CVs, but you should not underplay your skills and expertise.

Facebook

In April 2016, Facebook reported that they had 1.59 billion active users. This astonishingly successful social networking website allows users to create a personal profile, add other users as friends, and exchange messages within its community framework. You can also join groups, organise events and share photos and videos.

Although it’s a very informal medium and largely used by people for connecting with friends and family, it is increasingly being used by organisations for more commercial reasons. Many organisations use it to communicate with staff, customers and the wider public sometimes to get their comments and views. Some companies are also using it to recruit and vet potential candidates. On Facebook the boundaries between the personal and the professional can be very blurred, so make sure that you are always aware of what information about you can be accessed and by whom.

From a career perspective Facebook can be useful as it’s an easy way to ask your personal connections for information and advice about your career or job search and can also provide a resource of information on both individuals and companies. The informal nature of the site, and its interactivity, means that you can often obtain information and communicate with employers in a way that may not be possible elsewhere.

A word of warning though!  While social networking sites present excellent opportunities for recruitment, it also means that employers, both current and prospective, have become extremely sensitive to their employees’ web-presence.

Before you post any information in your own name on the web, consider whether you would be happy to have this information published in a national newspaper where your family, friends, current and future employers could see it. If not, then change it.

Here are some of the benefits of using social media in your job search

• You can apply for advertised roles easily and quickly
• You are more visible to recruiters who are using social media to advertise their jobs and source candidates
• You can build your network and engage with a wider audience across multiple social channels
• You can create positive PR by presenting testimonials, endorsements and presentations of your work onto your social media accounts, blog and/or website
• You can speak to recruiters, head-hunters and prospective employers throughout your job search by engaging with them across all channels in real time

Here is a summary of our top tips:

• Ensure your social media profiles state that you are actively job seeking and the type of role you are interested in, make sure you use keywords so recruiters can find you
• Follow relevant companies and individuals in your industry or network
• Get involved in LinkedIn Groups related to your industry and let me know the type of role you are looking for
• Initiate conversations with individuals and companies on any interesting topics related to your industry
• Keep your personal updates and professional updates on separate social media accounts

how to pick yourself up when you don’t get the job

You’ve been applying for dozens of jobs with no success and have just got your third rejection email of the week. Picking yourself back up and ploughing on with the job hunt can be tough for even the steeliest of people. Here are some tips from resilience coaches on how to restore confidence after such setbacks, and ultimately prepare yourself for job success. 

Remember, stress is caused by how we perceive a situation not the situation itself, says psychotherapist Rebecca Howard.  “We could choose to look at the fact that we haven’t got a job yet and it’s our third rejection as a negative - but all that would happen is our mindset would shift into a negative gear and take our resourcefulness and confidence down an unhelpful dead end.”

She advocates the NAC approach - Notice, Accept, Choose - a way of thinking which means we don’t get stuck with negative ruminating thoughts about how good, or not, we think we are.

Notice that you are experiencing thoughts of being fed up, down, angry or whatever it is that you are feeling as a result of the rejections. “In times of stress our thinking tends to polarise in rigid, ‘all or nothing’ positions, seeing everything in black and white,” explains Howard.

“The process of noticing its impact allows you to begin to step outside of it, almost as an observer, and acknowledge what is happening, which in turn releases you from the mind spending endless energy.”

Accept what has happened. Many of us will think, “Why is this happening to me?” but asking a negative question leads to a negative answer, Howard explains. “Acceptance is recognising that as human beings we experience emotions, such as disappointment, and it is pointless fighting them.”

Choose to use the negative energy or stress you are feeling as a result of your setback. Having connected with the motivation behind the stress, you can channel that energy in a positive way by asking, “What can I do right now?” and “How do I do it?”

Andy Cope, author of The Little Book of Emotional Intelligence, suggests that we come equipped with “ordinary magic” - an in-built ability to bounce back from adversity. It all comes down to your “explanatory style”, which is psychology speak for the way you explain to yourself why you’ve experienced an event - be it positive or negative.

If your reaction to a job rejection is, “It’s only a rejection letter, nobody died, let’s learn the lesson and move forward,” you’ve got an optimistic explanatory style. But if your response is to think, “Oh my gosh, rejection. It’s a disaster. I’m so rubbish. There’s no point applying for any more,” your explanatory style is negative. Clearly, the belief generated by your explanatory style directly affects your actions.

But as Cope explains, it’s possible to train your inner voice towards something more positive. He says: “It helps if you can learn to be your own best friend. On job rejections (we’ve all had them) I always tell myself, ‘Crikey, they’ve missed out.’”. Be your own cheerleader and champion and remember that all emotions have positive intent, according to Cope, even negative ones. “Despondency (feeling sorry for yourself) is temporary downtime while you renew your energy for whatever comes next. Which brings me full circle to your inner reserves of ‘ordinary magic’,” he says.

Geetu Bharwaney, author of Emotional Resilience advises speaking to your main supporters and champions in life and asking them what they would do in your shoes, after this job rejection, and follow their advice. “Know the difference between the people in your life who can provide you with intelligent input from those who are likely to impose unrealistic assumptions on you,” she says. Approach the people you respect and whose opinions matter to you. “Some people will tell you it was either the wrong job or the wrong employer, so this action helps you to keep things in perspective.”

Finally, take the time to review your life experiences and achievements so far and make a list of positive “I” statements - things you can do, your strengths and what you are good at. Bharwaney explains: “When you are going to speak to anyone about your challenges, including your close colleagues, remind yourself of at least three of these affirmations, so that you can stay grounded in what you are good at during the dialogue. This will enable you to be your best self despite the current set-back.”

Five courses to help you get ahead in your career

Continuing professional development courses provide opportunities for professionals looking for a new challenge or to add skills to their repertoire. Here are five courses that can help you get ahead in your career.

Build your own website 

Gaining an internet presence and marketing yourself, your business or your skills can provide a huge career boost.sole traders and those creating a business as a sideline to their day job.

"It really demystifies what the internet is for people." The tutor introduces and demonstrates the tools for using WordPress and students develop their website to fit them, in the class and at home.

Some use the course to build a business while others use it as a taster for a degree, or to add basic web skills to their CV. Students will also learn to thinking creatively about how to enhance their website and social media presence.

One of the biggest advantages of the course, is building confidence to use those skills. "It's really about getting them to practice on WordPress without feeling that they're going to break it every time they change something."


Effective communications

"When you're working day-to-day, sending emails and writing copy, it's easy to forget that writing is difficult.For those who have to write as part of their job but aren't natural writers,constructing emails, writing engaging subject lines, and compiling information into an accessible document or report.

In the interactive course, the tutor sets practical exercises for the group to reinforce learning. "There are people who are really effective public speakers but can't always communicate well in writing. Even if people wanted to write a clear CV that emphasises their skills.

The course could also provide a stepping stone into a variety of communications-based roles; copywriting, marketing, PR or civil service positions where writing reports is a large part of the work.


Accounting 

The first accounting levels open up basic accounting positions, as an assistant accountant, ledger clerk, or a role in reconciliation. The higher level courses enable students to gain work in the finance department of a company."Many students become self-employed, starting their own companies or accountancy practices."


Applied Behavioural Analysis 

The Applied Behavioural Analysis programme is about understanding why people behave in the way they do, with a focus on intellectual or developmental disabilities, and autism.

"The course is ideal if you're in a position where you can immediately apply what you're learning on the course. The course is suited to a range of careers but is particularly relevant to professionals working with people who have intellectual disabilities, such as teachers, psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, and others working in health and social care.

The course provides the skills to teach a child with autism how to do some of the things they might not learn automatically, or to assess the behaviour of an adult with learning disabilities whose behaviour is challenging or difficult to manage.

For teachers, this course can provide promotion or specialisation opportunities, and for recent graduates "it opens up the potential to get jobs in health, social care and education that they otherwise wouldn't be able to get, as a teaching assistant, a tutor for young children with autism, or in a behaviour support role for adults with disabilities".


Medical decision making

Understanding ethics is important for most jobs and for those working in healthcare a course can be beneficial as a refresher or to fine-tune existing skills.

While increasing familiarity with various guidelines and statutes "we also want participants to start thinking more critically about their own divisions on a day-to-day level".

Advertisement Past students say that the course has made a significant different to their careers. Having started out as medics some are now working towards a more legal career and others work on ethics committees.

"The course adds depth to a CV and makes people better suited to the type of jobs out there."I think it makes jobseekers that little bit more shiny to potential employers."


To find more courses to benefit your career, click here.