Let me give you an example. I overheard a guy telling a group of friends, over drinks, how he had become fed-up with work. Guys being guys, they immediately started to come up with options to fix problem – ideas like changing company and changing jobs. That was when guy got all logical…

‘Yeah, but I need to pay mortgage and my kid’s education and we’ve got a holiday planned for Bahamas and…’

I interrupted. ‘How much do you need?’

‘A hundred grand a year,’ he replied.

‘What’s more important,’ I asked, ‘your happiness or money?’

Of course he said happiness. Then he got all logical again. ‘But I can’t be happy unless I can pay mortgage and give my kids best and have great holidays.’

‘How many hours do you work?’

‘Around fifty.’

‘And how do you feel when you get home?’

‘Tired.’

‘What would your kids prefer, a father who is worn out for forty eight weeks of year but has four weeks to entertain them per year or a dad who is a real Dad all year round?’

The conversation went on, me questioning, him justifying what he perceived as logic.

1) Approach finding a job as if it were a full-time job, because it is. Consider this: if you had a job, you would report to work at same time each day (like 8 am), take an hour (or less) for lunch, and quit at same time each day (like 5 pm). You would work five days every week. And you would work hard to accomplish as much as you could because your career depended upon it.

When you are searching for a job, you should follow same type of schedule because your future depends upon it.

Treating your job search like a part-time hobby guarantees that it will take longer. It even sets you up for failure.

In addition, lack of focused activity will create a sense of helplessness. That sends you into a downward emotional spiral that makes it increasingly difficult to find a job.

So, begin tomorrow by reporting to work and spending day on tasks that lead to a job.

2) Approach finding a job as if it were a project. That means you should set goals for yourself, make plans, and monitor your progress. You should apply all of tools and skills that you used in your last job to project of finding your next job.

As you must expect, this is an important project. The sooner you complete it, sooner you gain a promotion into a job.