We live in a world where distractions are a dime a dozen – in fact, it’s getting harder by the minute to concentrate on the job at hand because there are too many things to do, and too little time to do it in. But when you work for a living, you cannot afford to waste time or procrastinate when you’re working on a deadline. And in order to use your time effectively, you need to be aware of those activities that are the biggest wasters of time, like:

• Surfing the Internet: If you work with a computer that’s connected to the Internet, it’s hard to stay focused on your work because the Web offers infinite opportunities to amuse yourself whenever boredom strikes or when you feel you need a break. The only problem is that your break ends up taking over the rest of your work day, and before you know it, it’s time to wind up for the day and you haven’t accomplished anything useful.
• Fiddling with your phone: With phones being much more than just instruments to talk over nowadays, it’s easy to get lost in the maze of text messages, calls that last over an hour, games and other activities that appeal more than the work at hand.
• Eating because you’re bored: If you work at home or if your workstation has easy access to the cafeteria, you’re likely to wear away a path between your desk and the refrigerator with all the frequent trips you make in order to get away from work. You waste a lot of time by trekking to the fridge and back, and also gain weight in the process.
• Talking to colleagues: If you work in an office, you may spend time gossiping around the water cooler, or if that’s not allowed, chattering with your neighbor about the latest office scandal or boring them with your sob stories.
• Checking email incessantly: When you’re addicted to email, you tend to keep checking your numerous accounts to see if you’ve received any, even if they’re just junk and get sent to your spam folder. You also feel the need to reply to every single one of them, even when you’re in the middle of a busy work day.

When you know and realize that you’re wasting time, it’s easy to get a grip on yourself and get back to work before you lose valuable time and money in the process.  

By-line:

This guest article was written by Adrienne Carlson, who regularly writes on the topic of accredited online universities . Adrienne welcomes your comments and questions at her email address: adrienne.carlson83@yahoo.com

Short and sweet this week. I wanted everyone to see this article for some great interviewing stories. So for those of you having bad interviews, unprofessional recruiters and such, don’t feel so bad, check out 6 people with very interesting interview stories here from www.cnnmoney.com Let me know if you have interesting stories like these and I’ll post them on Career Fire!

While going through my daily routine of new technologies for the 4th quarter, I came across an article from MIT Graduate Peter Peterson (yes I’m serious.) His www.forbes.com article “Focus On What You Do Best,”is exactly what the article’s headline suggests whether it’s choosing a college, a degree, or simply careers when you’re in the real world. What I love about this article is although he graduated many moons ago, his writing shows he understands what recent high school and college graduates are going through, not only with the recession but just in general decision-making. I’ve mentioned before I’m in sales and we know better than anyone that luck is a part of the game, whether it be a deal that falls into your lap or just happened to sit next to an HR Recruiter on a plane. Ever hear the phrase ”it’s sometimes better to be lucky, than good?” I wouldn’t always bank on luck only, but it’s important to remember that sometimes things happen from a little dumb luck. But enough about luck, really why I am sharing this is because too many times we focus on our weaknesses, not strengths. I agree you should always be aware and work on your weak points, but never forget you can always refine your strengths. When I am asked in an interview what my weaknesses are, I make them sound like they’re not that weak and always let them know it’s a weakness in the past, but this is going to be a strength. For example: “I’d say a weakness of mine is I put too much pressure on myself because I’m used to succeeding, but by the time I start with a company, I’ll know how to make sure I succeed without giving myself a heart attack.” Now does it sound like I gave a weakness that will ruin my chances? Or does it seem like even my weaknesses are strengths? So I encourage you to make your list of strengths and weaknesses. Email me if you want to talk about them or need more examples. But until then, check out Peter’s article here

So you’re excelling at your job, even in this tough economy and feel you deserve more money or a better title, or more people under you, or something of substance right!?!? Well for those of you who think it’s too scary to ask for a raise during these tough economic times, here’s an article from Annie Fisher of Fortune.com about how to ask for a raise, even if you wanted to tomorrow. I love this article because it’s about knowing when you deserve compensation for doing a great job. I personally believe in times like this, when someone is doing a great job with all these pressures on them, that it’s more deserving. Just make sure you have numbers or something you can show to upper management on why you deserve a raise. Here’s the article, thanks!

http://money.cnn.com/2009/06/11/news/economy/ask.for.raise.fortune/index.htm?postversion=2009061211

Over at my personal blog, I posted an article called “How to become a search marketing pro” which covers the end-to-end process of becoming a (good, certified) search engine marketer. If you’re interested in launching a new career or gaining a valuable marketing skill, I suggest you check it out.  (Also, follow me on Twitter where I occasionally post links to related readings.)

Over at the Harvard Business Publishing blog, there’s a great post titled “How to Write a Resumé That Doesn’t Annoy People” that’s well worth the read. The nine tips are:

1. Get the formatting right.
2. Insert dates for everything.
3. Fill up on the buzzwords.
4. Choose verbs that mean something.
5. Rewrite your resumé for each job application.
6. State career objectives or outside interests — but be very careful.
7. The further into your past, the less detail you should have.
8. Keep it short.
9. No typos.

What are your resume tips?

This week, I was doing some research for a few students on the best cities for new graduates. Since this month starts a slew of colleges that have commencement, it couldn’t be better timing. The most useful article I came across was published by CareerBuilder and titled “Top 10 Cities for New Graduates.” In the article, CareerBuilder took the cities with the highest concentration of young adults ages 20-24, the inventory of jobs requiring less than one year of experience, and the average cost of a one bedroom apartment in that city. It’s a great list because it encompasses much more than just who is hiring. As you see on the list, it shows the most popular entry-level categories in those cities. I’m really excited that Cleveland, my home city, as well as the city I moved to after graduation, Phoenix, made the list.

1. Indianapolis
Average rent:* $625
Popular entry-level categories:** sales, customer service, health care

2. Philadelphia
Average rent: $1,034
Popular entry-level categories: sales, customer service, management

3. Baltimore
Average rent: $1,130
Popular entry-level categories: sales, customer service, health care

4. Cincinnati
Average rent: $691
Popular entry-level categories: sales, customer service, health care

5. Cleveland
Average rent: $686
Popular entry-level categories: sales, marketing, customer service

6. New York
Average rent: $1,548
Popular entry-level categories: sales, customer service, admin-clerical

7. Phoenix
Average rent: $747
Popular entry-level categories: sales, customer service, marketing

8. Denver
Average rent: $877
Popular entry-level categories: sales, customer service, health care

9. Chicago
Average rent: $1,133
Popular entry-level categories: sales, marketing, customer service

10.  San Antonio
Average rent: $696
Popular entry-level categories: sales, customer service, management

If you’re graduating, where are you moving to?

Over at my personal blog, I posted an article called “Personal productivity” which covers productive environments, tracking your productivity, and some of my tips and tricks for being more productive. If you’re interested in making the most efficient and productive use of your time, I suggest you check it out.  (Also, follow me on Twitter where I occasionally post links to related readings.)

Need a break this weekend from your usual job search routine? Check out the “150 Funniest Resume Mistakes, Bloopers and Blunders Ever.” And please, have multiple people proofread your resume!