What Comes First, Prioritization or Planning?

If you have a long list of to-dos and at times you feel like 24 hours is not enough, then setting priorities for your life is crucial if you want to get things done. Prioritization means to arrange (items to be attended to) in order of their relative importance. The more projects you are involved in and the more you do for your business and personal life, the more you need to prioritize your activities. Creating priorities is a bit different from planning your day.  What comes first, that wagon or the horse? In this case, what should you do first, plan, or prioritize?

You need to be clear on what is most important to you before you begin to plan your day. If you plan your day based on everything that needs to get done vs. planning your day according to importance, you may end up “doing” things but not accomplishing much. Here are three super simple things you can do prioritize your day before you plan:

1. What is most important for you today? Priorities can shift based on previous days, mood, etc. Before you begin your day, be clear on your intention and what you want to accomplish. If nothing else happens today, what must take place? Identify what you want to achieve and set your priority and intention for today based on that only. If you manage to accomplish others things, great! If not, you have accomplished what you set out to do, which is very powerful!
2. Limit your priorities. If everything that needs to get done seems to be of high importance to you, you must then use the ABCs of prioritization. After making your list, place an A next to things of super duper high importance that must get done today. Place a B next to things that should get done today but won’t stop you from moving forward if it doesn’t get done. Place a C next to the things that will only get done after everything else and won’t cause panic if they are not done.
3. Evaluate your progress. At the end of your day, look at what you accomplished and evaluate your efforts. If there is area for improvement, then note what went wrong and try again tomorrow. By taking a closer look at the way you handle your priorities will help you create a better success for each day that follows.

Prioritization is a learned skill and it gets better and better with time. Take time before beginning your day to get organized, prioritize, and then plan for your success! I’d love to hear how you organize your day and what has worked! Share your comments below!

Security Job Motivation

David Cameron has launched a task force to help businesses motivate their staff which, considering the unemployment figures, might translate as misguided energy. How about some inspiration for the millions of jobseekers David? Here are a few tips to keep your grey matter stimulated.

Staying positive when you're searching for jobs we know is easier said than done, keep your eyes firmly focused on your SIA Licence, it's one positive and one you worked hard to earn. The major problem with on-line job applications is the lack of one-to-one communication, if you're not short listed you're unlikely to be told, unfortunately that's the way the job market works right now. There is one tactic you can employ here though. If there is a contact number, and you haven't heard anything for a few days, call to check your application has been received; if nothing else it shows your enthusiasm and opens up a dialogue.

Be sure your CV and cover letters are up-to-date. This might sound obvious to you, but if you use a standard cover letter for all your applications in a PDF format, chances are it's dated the day you wrote it; PDFs don't auto correct dates and times Microsoft Word will. Whether you're applying for a job as a SIA Licence Door Supervisor, Security Guard or a CCTV Operator the standard of your communications is important, use a spell checker; you'd be surprised at the number of spelling errors that crop up in job applications. A good tip here is to get someone to read your cover letter out loud to you. This might sound crazy, but it will give you a good idea how you sound to the recipient.

So now you've fired off ten CVs and had two calls for interviews. Celebrate! It doesn't have to be a slap-up meal at the Ritz, have a coffee or a drink with a friend. If you're really enthusiastic, who knows they might even pay! Rewarding yourself is really important; it stimulates bits of your brain called the lateral hypothalamus known as brain stimulation reward (BSR). Don't have too much stimulation though especially if your interview is the next day.

Don't become a job search slave; spending hours glued to your email inbox constantly tapping the refresh key can have a negative effect on your BSR. Treat your job searching as a routine task, create a manageable schedule of say three hours a day and stick to it. For the rest of the time do something positive, see friends, take a walk, but don't head for the TV remote control, daytime television is just as depressing as newspaper headlines about the recession.

Now you might think this next comment is really off the wall, eat well, being unemployed doesn't mean you have to eat junk. We're back to the BSR here, reward yourself with brain food, okay so you might not be the best chef, but remember fruit is the fastest food you can get your hands on and it's cheap too. It's important that when you do turn up for your interview that you look healthy and are alert. Snacking in front of the TV is great on a rainy Sunday afternoon, but too much of it can lead to depression which isn't going to help your motivation.

See interview knock-backs as positive practice not negative as a de-motivator. It would be great if you did, but it's unlikely you're going to get the first job you apply for. Every time you interview its practice for the next time, even great actors constantly revise their stage rolls that's how they perfect their skills in front of an audience. Do any of these sound familiar: Why bother I won't get it? It's a waste of time there'll be too many applicants? The competition is too stiff I give up. Erase any or rather all of these from your vocabulary right now! You will get there eventually persevere and remember to concentrate on your SIA Licence its proof you're worthy.

On a positive note, if you need help with your CV, Get Licensed has launched a brilliant app to help you build a polished and professional CV in minutes. CViZ enables you to create exactly the kind of CV recruiters are looking for, and it's really easy to use too without any word processing skills needed. The CViZ app will provide you with a fully formatted PDF to store anywhere you like - you can even store your CV on your android phone to enable you to respond to job ads on the move within seconds.

The security industry is the fastest growing employer in the UK and is possibly the one and only sector that isn't affected by the recession right now. By staying motivated you'll soon find yourself in a rewarding job and remember your expert training with Get licensed is the one thing that will single you out from all the other applicants our reputation relies on your success.

The author Jay Haan,  is an experienced security job trainer and regularly writes on his blog http://siatraining.blogspot.com