Work Life Balance and Survival; It’s Up to You to Grab It

The concept of work/life balance is always a slippery slope. You do really well in your work life and your family life can suffer. But I can tell you, that if you don’t have your work shiat together your family life is going to suffer MORE. When you are not sure that you and your family will survive and you have fallen to the bottom of Mazlow’s hierarchy of needs, well, in my life experience there is no potential for balance in survival mode.

So here’s what I’m getting at. Trolling Indeed and SimplyHired is not near enough if you are stretched to the financial limits due to lack of contract work or job loss. You have to fire all of your guns at once, and dive in deeper than you ever have before. And by opening yourself to the universe and creative flow you may have to give up on determining the exact results, the solution may not be what you think it is.

Here are a few things you need to do if you are looking for a job, or looking to fill your consulting/freelance dance card in 2012.

• blog (there’s simply no excuse, it’s free)
• do some videos
• get involved with LinkedIn groups
• comment on other’s blogs
• read thought leaders in your specialty
• join Lynda.com ($25 per month) and learn a new skill, language, program, creative technique
• don’t think resume, think Google search (put up your resume page)
• do reply to job ads on the job boards, but don’t believe that you have done enough
• call people for lunch, even people that seemingly have no connection to your work ambitions
• call people for coffee
• go out and get some exercise
• be with others often, we can isolate and forget how much we love being with friends
• go to some networking events, meetup groups, happy hours
• start something new
• think of three more things you can do and then actually do them, thinking about them is not enough

As I come out of one of the toughest summers for me personally and economically I wanted to give hope to those who might still be in the dark room, struggling with what to do next, where to find the next gig, how to get hired in this economy. Something is out there if you will begin to flex your social wings. And not necessarily social media wings, that is not enough these days. Social media is important, but you also have to go person-to-person.

In isolation we are alone. In groups we are a team. Be part of a team, join a team, create a team, find a team to support. And if there’s anything I can do, I am willing to help. (and I mean that as a friend, not as a consultant)

Peace,

@jmacofearth (also seen on Google+: jmacofearth)

permalink: http://uber.la/2011/12/work-life/

Check out the Social Media for Business page and these other posts about learning social media:

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• Facebook’s Failure as a Social Network: We’re Not Connecting We’re Lurking and Playing By Ourselves
• Two Critical Facebook for Business Questions: What’s Your facebook Commerce IQ?
• WordPress Tracking Alternatives to Google Analytics
• Single-Shot Social Media Strategy: LinkedIn (1-slide / 15-seconds)
• Social Media ROI Demands for 2012: Must See Charts for Marketing
• Going for the One on Google Search is Just a "Phrase Match" Away (Own It!)
• How to Get Useful Business Information Out of Twitter: Hashtags for Social Media Research

Tags: create a team, grab it, indeed, it’s up to you, job hunting, join a team, learning, life balance, lynda.com, mazlow’s, person-to-person, resume, simplyhired, support, support a team, survival, survival mode, teaming, work balance, work/life