Your Dedicated Space

It’s your place in the sun

Sometimes things just sort of work out. Sometimes you find several seemingly disparate concepts come together to just make sense. Sometimes you sit there and say, “Why didn’t I see this earlier?”

Many people believe that looking for a job is a full-time job. There’s a lot to be said for that. Other people preach that, for the over-50 job seeker, starting your own business is a viable option. There’s a lot to be said for that as well.

Whether or not you believe that looking for a job is a job, and whether or not you believe that starting your own business is the right path for you, marrying the two concepts together may help your job search enormously.

Your home means business

How so? Run your job search as if it were an in-home business. Think about these three parallels:

One: Establish a home office or dedicated work area. Maybe it’s where the family computer is located. Maybe it’s in a spare bedroom. Maybe it’s in your basement. Wherever it happens to be, this is your dedicated work space. Think of it as your office. A desk. A computer. A phone. Sound familiar?

Not only is there benefit to having your own space, but with your space you won’t be intruding on other family members and their respective spaces. A win-win situation.

Two: Make certain that everyone else in your household knows that this is your work space and when you’re there, you’re working. It’s not play time. It’s not time to “hang out.” It’s not a place where someone else can go to just pass the time. When you’re there, you mean business.

Three: This becomes the space where you contain all your job-search related tools and information. Hand-written notes, phone numbers, receipts, etc. – they all need to be in your work area. This will help you find things – they don’t even need to be “filed” per se. When things go in your office, they aren’t accidently included with the trash; they won’t require that you waste time looking in several different rooms to find things. They’re all in one place.

Having a dedicated work space will minimize the likelihood that you will fritter away time doing laundry, loading the dishwasher, or watching The Price is Right. You’re in your work space – you should be working – at finding a job.

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