Overwired How It Can Hurt Your Job Search Success

Overwired How It Can Hurt Your Job Search SuccessOverwired How It Can Hurt Your Job Search SuccessAt the Working Mother Work-Life Congress last month, there was one workshop on the agenda I knew I had to attend, Rewired for ResultsNavigating in our always on, always connected, Overwired world. This was underscored by the fact that my own colleague insisted I should go. And its true. My world is an extremely overwired one and I like it, which doesnt help. You see, a big parte of my role is managing the social media channels for . Im constantly monitoring conversations, capturing and posting content, and looking for compelling discussions to share with our community.So that is why, when I sat down next to my fellow conference attendees, the workshop leader, Camille Preston, immediately had my attention. Besides the fact that Camille is apsychologist, executive coach, consultant, speaker, and internationally recognized expert on Virtual Effectiveness, shes also one of those people who asks the hard questions without making you feel judged. For example, she pointed out that there were a lot of people on their devices at the beginning of the workshop. You can imagine that the irony was leid lost on me as I was intently listening to what she had to say and also trying to capture small nuggets of her wisdom to live tweet to our Twitter followers. I learned a lot and downloaded the free preview of her e-book, The Rewired Resolution to Work Smarter, Live Better, and be Purposefully Productive in an Overwired World.Ive already put a few things I learned from Camilles workshop into practice. For example, I set a few hours a night as device-free time. For some of you that may not seem like a big deal, but for me its hard. I put my smartphone up in my bedroom and spend those few hours connecting and being fully present with my family.Being overwired can also have an especially negative impact on your job search success.Camille sharesWhen we are overwired, information is c oming in so fast and so furiously that we struggle to create the order, the structure, and the systems to process the data. As a result, we are uncertain what is most important, we dont know where to focus, we flit from one project to the next, and we exhaust our brains finite resources.With a job search, there are so many things to read, so many places to look online, and so many different strategies to employ for your search. Without structure, it can become overwhelming at best and paralyzing at worst.So whats the solution? Here it is Systems.By systems, I mean rules, fences, and structure. We need to create a structure for processing information, preferably one that we build once but use many times. Structure reduces novelty, reduces the number of decisions, and increases the certainty.This is the logic behind David Allens Getting Things Done system. If we always put our keys in the same place, we never have to spend energy thinking where to put them or remembering where they ar e. Systems can help you combat the symptoms of ADD and our overwired lives.Yes, it takes time to build systems. And, yes, it takes discipline to use them. And, overtime, this practice returns energy to us.Have you tried using a system like Getting Things Done, a to-do list, something like Evernote?Do you feel like you are overwired and its having a negative impact on your productivity and quality of life?Enter to win a copy of Camilles book, Rewired To enter, leave a comment below telling us if you have challenges when it comes to being overwired. Giveaway ends November 22, 2013, at 300 p.m. ET. We will choose a winner at random and notify them via email.