EOFY KonMari Method Career Clean-Up
June 30th is just a few short days away and, if you’re like us, you’re probably sitting there wondering where 2019 has disappeared to. For many of us, the year began with a flurry of clearing out as we embraced the Marie Kondo method of tidying up. If you have somehow managed to remain unaware of Marie Kondo’s hugely successful Netflix series or her preceding book, the KonMari Method asks you to look at all the possessions in your life and ask yourself of each of them, does this spark joy? If it doesn’t, then to the donation pile it goes.
So, as the End of Financial Year approaches, now is a great time to do the same thing in your work life. Take the opportunity to do a career stocktake, to get things organised for the new financial year, and also to make sure things are on track for the rest of 2019. This is our KonMari Method Career Clean-Up.
Let’s start with some easy but essential things for getting your career cleaned up and in order. Try the following.
Update your resume and your LinkedIn profile.
What is still relevant? What isn’t? Take out anything that no longer applies and add any new achievements or responsibilities you’ve gained since you last updated these.
Reach out to people in your network who you haven’t spoken to this year.
Who have you forgotten? Who should you be putting in more time with? Reach out to people in your network who are important to you and to your career.
Audit your connections on LinkedIn.
Instead of asking who brings you joy, look at your connections and ask yourself: do they add value to my network and do I add value to theirs? If you answer yes to either, great – keep them as a connection. No to both? Well, it’s time to let them go.
You might not have found those too difficult, however, the bigger questions you now need to ask yourself might be challenging for some. So, having started with the straightforward stuff, now let’s move on to the hard part …
Ask yourself the following questions:
Do you love the industry you’re in?
Do you enjoy what you do every day?
What do you want to be doing this time next year?
And finally and most importantly, in the KonMari spirit:
Does your job spark joy?
If the answer to this question is no, then it’s time to take a hard look at where you want to be and what you want to be doing. Life is too short to be joyless in your work. Take some time to come up with a plan for what you want to be doing in your career and consider reaching out to a career coach for assistance.
So as June closes and we head into the second half of 2019, clean up your career and embrace a fresh start for the new financial year. And remember, if it doesn’t spark joy, don’t keep holding on to it – make a plan to find a career and job you love!