Declutter Your Mind, Drive Your Job Search

Colleen Jenkins
Vunela
Published in
3 min readApr 17, 2017

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I listened to a podcast recently about the Japanese art of tidying your living space and how the minimizing of clutter in your space translates to other areas in your life. It compelled me to purge a lot of stuff and only keep items that truly sparked joy. Not only did I clear space in my home, I cleared space in my mind and had the ability focus on exactly what I wanted to focus on.

A clean tidy space helps to declutter your mind and increase your focus and energy levels.

Your space is an extension of your brain.

Organizing and tidying is not just for practical purposes. It helps you to understand and to clarify your values. It pushes you to re-examine what you want in life. This clarity transfers to other areas in your life.

Experts say when your surroundings are cluttered it’s hard to focus on making progress and so it goes with your job search. A job search is the great unknown to a certain extent and the ebb and flow of rejection can weigh heavily on your mind and accumulates.

I meet with job seekers weekly, many of whom are stressed about finding a job or internship. The reasons why span from uncertainty of what they want to do and what skill sets they’re lacking to poor interviewing skills and not having a killer resume.

Some of the greatest barriers are the ones self-imposed such as collecting negative thoughts about your skills and capabilities. Here are some things you can do to break down these barriers:

  • Make a list of all of your skills. What you will find might surprise you. Most candidates have more skills than first realized — it’s just not natural to go about listing them.
  • Focus on transferrable skills. If you’re an athlete, how can your competitive spirit and ability to work with a team translate in the workplace in a positive way?
  • Write down 2–3 of your proudest accomplishments. Maybe you embarked on a solo backpacking adventure or contributed to a civic-minded initiative for your community. Whatever it is, write it down and reflect on what you learned from that experience.
  • Eliminate negative thinking. Talk to someone about the concerns and anxiety you have to get a fresh perspective, whether it be through your school’s career center, a current or former colleague, a friend or family member, or a career coach.
  • Exercise. The best way out of your mind is through your body. Taking a 15–20 minute walk can do wonders for the mind and body when stuck by clearing the cobwebs and revitalizing your mental and physical energy.
  • Clean off your desktop. Get rid of old files and documents you no longer use. Discard or transfer them to a hard drive. Organize the ones you still need by categorizing into folders.
  • Tidy up your space! Your space, whether it be your office, desk or home, is an extension of your brain. Only keep things that are important to you and discard the extra clutter. Lighten your load.

The biggest challenge to the average job seeker is knowing what they want, then articulating it out loud. Organizing your job search will not only help you declutter your mind, it will bring clarity around your values. Finding a career path that aligns with your values is challenging and thus requires a great deal of focus. Just like having a clean living space helps calm a busy mind, so does having a fresh start without all the self-imposed barriers.

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Founder/CEO of PluggedIN HQ. PluggedIn is an events-driven platform that empowers companies and candidates to connect in a direct and deliberate way.