LTAW March Theme is Spring Cleaning: Do you worry too much about work? Are your personal and professional relationships messing up your workplace happiness? Does your workspace define you properly? Are you focusing on the right things? This month we will focus on ways to declutter your life, mind and space to help make work more enjoyable!

Do you wake up every morning, jump out of bed, excited to go to work because you’re working your dream job? Or do you, like most Americans, after hitting the snooze several times drag yourself out of bed to get to a job that you hate? In the present economy it is more common that today’s worker is in a job they don’t like …just simply to have a job. A survey conducted last year by Mercer, an outplacement and consulting firm, revealed that one in three American workers is seriously considering leaving his or her job, up from 23 percent six years ago. Being unhappy at work is bad for both you and your employer. The stress of being dissatisfied with your job has negative physical and emotional implications for you, and causes you to be less productive – which doesn’t make boss happy! So how do you get to that job you want?

Get focused. This is probably the most important step in the process! Focus your job search on the job you want. Do not apply to jobs that do not fit your dream job criteria. Be specific and strategic about how you go about your job search. A few years ago I was laid off from my job. I took that as my opportunity to go after the job that was truly aligned with my passion. It may seem crazy when you are out of work to not go after any and every job, so that you can be employed again as soon as possible. Family and friends would send me job opportunities related to the work that I was doing before my lay off, but I stayed focused on my goal – get to my dream job! Yes, it may prolong the job search a bit, but in the end you will be more satisfied because you will be working in the job you always dreamed about.

Network, network, network. Two weeks ago we posted Who’s in your network?. It’s important to have people that work in the similar field of your dream job, or are working the actual dream job itself in your network. But don’t stop there (just having them listed in your network) but engage them. Share your desire to do something similar to what they are doing. Ask for their advice on how to get there. And who knows, they may just know someone who is hiring!

Don’t give up! Searching for a job can be stressful, tiring and time consuming. But don’t give up! If your dream job is outside of the field you currently work – it may take even longer to get there since employers may not immediately see that you have the skills they want. One way to combat this issue is to highlight your transferrable skills in your cover letter. Be patient on the road to your dream job, in the end it will all be worth it because you will be happy to go to work every day.

Declutter!