Peak Pathway Magazine's Blog : career development forum

1. Use Time Blocking Writing down what needs to get done the night before is a great way to ensure you start your workday strong. Sound simple? It is—but it’s something many of us have forgotten how to do. To take it a step further, though, turn your to-do list into a full-fledged schedule using the time-blocking method. Before you go to bed, make a list of all your assignments, meetings, and tasks for the day ahead. Start by organizing your phone calls and meetings by time. From there, you can fill in any free hours with the day’s assignments in order of priority. Before you go to bed, make a list of all your assignments, meetings, and tasks for the day ahead. This approach to organizing your day might not  sound  very flexible, but in reality, it keeps you from being reactive. Instead, it encourages you to focus on the task at hand and slot whatever assignments that pop up into the free spaces of your day, rather than have to push other things aside in orde...

One of the fundamental tools for time management is that list of things you need to get done. It consolidates all your tasks in one place. From there you can prioritize them and tackle the important ones first. There are 5 key advantages to maintaining a to-do list: A to-do list doesn’t forget Your brain is not the most efficient memory tool and will only trust systems that it knows works. Good memory recall is as simple as finding those things that will jog your brain at the time it needs to remember. Having a written list helps us remember when things have do be done so we do not miss anything. A to-do list helps you set priorities Making a to-do list is an important first step but prioritizing that list ensures that you focus on the most important items rather than giving in to the temptation of working on less important items because they may stand out more or because they are easier to do. Once you have a list of the things you need to complete, set prio...

  In today's economy, you need to evolve constantly if you want your career to go places. If you don't, there is every possibility that one of your colleagues/ classmates will walk away with the coveted position that you aspired to. So how does one add value to oneself? Here are five steps that will meet all your career advancement needs: Self learning Learning is an ongoing lifelong process, we learn a little from everything we do. Career advancement requires a structured form of learning. If you are aspiring to a higher role within or outside your organisation, you need to identify the competency that role demands and go about acquiring the same. Some of the best-managed companies provide such learning tools to their employees. Self assessment Know yourself and where you stand -- it's important if you're planning your own growth chart. We are assessed by others whenever we are interviewed for job openings and promotions, so stay one step ahead and...

  What would you like to do if money were no object? How would you really enjoy spending your life? You might think the answer is obvious – "to earn money!" – but there are lots of reasons why people pick the jobs they do. Why do people go out to work? Sometimes people choose a job that gives them a chance to make a difference to the community. Others follow their passion, even if it means they don’t earn as much as they could do. In fact, adults who aren't in a paid job will often still try and find something to do with their time to stay busy, like taking up hobbies or volunteering. Work gives people a structure to their lives, a reason to get up and dressed in the morning, and of course, money to pay the bills. While you‘re still at school, it’s really important to spend time thinking about what you want out of life. Do you dream of having a big house, expensive cars and six holidays a year? Or perhaps you would be happy with a simpler, le...

  Having a ‘career’ doesn’t just mean being a professional, such as a doctor or lawyer. It can be anything from plumbing to footballing! The key thing that differentiates a career from a job is that with a career, you’ve trained and progressed in a field of work. A succession of employments One way of thinking about a ‘career’ is as a succession of jobs (including self-employment) which relate to each other through specialist knowledge, skills or experience. The jobs might relate to each other very closely – for example, a person might train as a nurse and then go on to a succession of roles, all in nursing. Or they might relate to each other less closely: somebody might train in nursing and become a Registered Nurse, but then use their skills and knowledge to go on to jobs in social work or counselling. This is not exactly the same thing, but the person has applied their skills to something similar. That is what ‘transferable skills’ are – a term you mi...

In this day and age, when technology allows many of us to work from anywhere at any time of the day, you might wonder if it really matters when you get your work done. Does it make that much of a difference if you stay up late on a project versus getting up early to work on it? Conventional wisdom has touted the merits of working in the early hours for centuries. Aristotle wrote, “It is well to be up before daybreak, for such habits contribute to health, wealth, and wisdom.” Benjamin Franklin agrees, “Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.” (We’ll take the liberty of applying that to women, too.)   to build a “high-value” activity into your routine because it’s less likely there will be distractions. The early hours are an ideal time to set aside for self-care or to tackle a long-term project that you've been putting off. Research shows starting your workday on the earlier side has its benefits, too (beyond beating commuter ...

Nobody likes being in a rut. It can be very frustrating to see others getting quicker advancements, better pay, easier access to management and other perks, while you are left out. Yet all this could be happening simply because you don’t promote yourself at work. What's more, a lot of benefits will continually elude you if you fail to promote yourself. So will many perks. Life isn't fair! You will not always get all the chances you deserve. But nobody can promote you until you are seen as worth promoting -- and you are the best promoter you will ever have, as long as you don't overdo it. Here are some subtle things you can do to advance your career without raising any dust or getting tagged as "not a team player." 1. Circulate relevant information. If you come across vital information that could be important to your colleagues, don’t hesitate to pass it over to them. This will help them see you as someone with their best interest at h...

The Importance of Reading Books Books are everywhere. Libraries big and small and bookstores are splattered all over college campuses and larger cities. They are all filled with one of the most important things of all time—books. Those who read books appreciate the multiple places to find books. Those who aren’t fans of books, don’t understand what could make readers want to obsess over books. There is a reason for their obsession, though. You hear it all the time: read every day. So why is reading important? Reading is important because it not only develops our minds, but it gives us endless knowledge and lessons while keeping our minds active. Books can hold and keep all kinds of information, stories, thoughts and feelings unlike anything else in this world. Can words, paragraphs, and fictional worlds be all that great for you and your health? It definitely can, and reading is a timeless form of entertainment and information. In fact, for years reading was th...

1. Be clear about your “why?” Embarking on the road to being a business owner is one that needs to be considered in detail before setting out. Being a business owner is not for everyone, it is challenging, there is a lack of certainty, it can be very hard financially and it will take a lot of work. It is NEVER a walk in the woods. That said, the upside is wonderful, incredible satisfaction, control for your own destiny, the ability to earn more than you would as an employee and the freedom to run the business the way you want to run it. All of that said, you need to be clear about why you want to start your own business, going in it with your eyes very wide open. 2. Know who your customers are It is important to know who is going to buy what you are selling. Who is your niche market? Describe your ideal customer? The clearer you are about who you are going to be selling to the clearer you can be about your branding, your location, your marketing, your pricing — everyt...

Tips for Finding a Job Where You Want to Work Looking to find a job that is in a specific geographic area? Perhaps you are moving somewhere new, or you are looking for a job close to home. Finding a job in your area takes an array of strategies ,  including utilizing job search sites that focus on local jobs, researching local community boards, visiting career fairs in your city, and checking out your local alumni association or their website. By using multiple strategies, you are more likely to find a job that is right for you and is in the region you want to be in. Read below for more detailed tips on where to look to find jobs at companies in your area. Tips for Finding a Job In Your Area The best way to find jobs in your town or city is to use multiple strategies at once. Read below for a list of techniques to use to find a job in your area. While you might not use all of these strategies, pick the ...

Traditional training methods aren’t living up to expectations. In a 2015 InterCall survey of over 200 employees, one-third said their company’s techniques aren’t a productive use of time and another third said they weren’t interesting or engaging. Fortunately, with improvements in technology, it’s now easier for employers to utilize a variety of interactive training models that cater to different learning techniques. By incorporating a mix of training methods, employers can develop more effective ways to give their workforce the skills they need. Here are four better ways to train employees and the benefits that each technique provides: 1. Blend in-person training and online training. Both in-person and online training have inherent benefits. The aforementioned InterCall survey found that 50 percent of employers believed in-person training helped them retain information. This makes sense considering that the trainer would be able to answer employee questions while pr...

Talent development is the biggest issue that growing small businesses and fast-moving startups face today. According to Deloitte’s 2015 Human Capital Trends report, 78 percent or four out of five of respondents ranked talent retention as urgent or important.   Yet, historically, formal employee learning programs have only been accessible by enterprise corporations. Even then, outdated, clunky and cumbersome learning management software, random seminars and instructor-led training sessions are static and ineffective. There is little to no learning continuity after those training events, and even less exists in the way of fostering peer-to-peer knowledge sharing within organizations. How do we make learning stick, instituting a continuous culture of learning? How can startups use learning to maintain company culture as they scale?  We will soon see a few key trends emerge in employee learning that align with the lean, quick and agile meth...

  When it comes to office morale, people always appreciate being acknowledged for their hard work. Giving praise when praise is due can go a long way towards building a strong team and keeping employees engaged and satisfied with their work. But according to a survey conducted by employment and staffing service OfficeTeam, when it comes to recognition, there can often be a disconnect between managers and their employees. While 89 percent of senior managers believe that their companies do a solid job of recognizing when their workers put forth a strong performance, 3 in 10 employees say their employers fail at recognizing their work. And that disconnect can mean an office shakeup down the line. More than half of the workers polled said it was “likely they would leave their current position if they didn’t feel appreciated by their manager.” So what can managers do to better communicate feedback to their workers? Give specific and sincere praise -- it certainly ...

As a business owner, your employees are your team, and you are their team captain. Your job is to help them be as productive as possible both individually and as a unit, and that means motivating them to strive for greatness through enhanced personal performance and collaboration. One way to motivate is with monetary incentives like salary increases and bonuses – but that’s not the only, or even necessarily the best way. That’s good news, because you may not always be able to fit financial rewards into your budget. The right non-monetary incentives motivate employees just as effectively because they allow your team to work for benefits that improve their work life and morale.  You know your employees and what they do best – but do you know what really inspires them to give their all? To help you find out, here are five non-monetary motivational techniques to consider. 1. Engage your employees in the incentive process. If you already have ideas about what motiva...