What are you working on?

If someone asks you that, are you excited to tell them the answer?

I hope so. If not, you’re wasting away.

No matter what your job is, no matter where you work, there’s a way to create a project (on your own, on weekends if necessary), where the excitement is palpable, where something that might make a difference is right around the corner.

Hurry, go do that.

Are you rusting away at work doing a job you hate? Do you work from home, but always seem to be working on the stuff you don’t like? Well this post is for you.

Make time for the things that get you excited. That’s the good bit. :)

Sure, do the less-exciting work too (keep your job!) but make sure there’s always something to look forward to which gets your brain ticking. If there’s nothing in your life which you’d happily jump out of bed for, then there’s something missing. Go find it!

If Twitter is more your thing, I have a few different accounts you might like to follow:
@BootstrapLife – This tells followers when there’s new posts from the Bootstrap Your Life blog, plus the occasional related link that readers of this blog might be interested in.
@AngelaAlcorn – This updates followers with links to all my professional writing.
@Smange – This is where I actually Tweet. This covers a lot of different interests and activities, but is generally interesting.

Hope there’s something useful for you in that bundle of information and that you can now easily keep track of my posts with whichever social networking site suits you best.

First basic step to dinner party planning: Have a clean house. Not fastidiously clean to the point of obsessive compulsive disorder. Just clean. Actually clean. You don’t want to have to do dishes before your guest can have a drink. That can be kind of uncomfortable for the guest and annoying for you. But, moving a newspaper from the table after they turn up is alright, you know? You still have to live in the house.

Now, you need to be able to offer your guests nice things to break the ice. Tea, coffee, fizzy drinks, juice, cordial, wine, beer or something even more interesting. Your call – just have something available. The more choice the better. And be generous! If they drink all your wine they’ll probably bring a bottle to share next time if they’re nice. Same goes for nibblies: Cheese and crackers, olives, bread, chocolate biscuits. Offer whatever you have and put it on the table. You can always put it away later if it’s not eaten. Relax. The magic trick with drinks and nibblies is to prepare early. Buy things well before you think anyone will be dropping in and don’t eat them in the meantime! The next magic trick is to make everyone feel at ease by ensuring it looks like no effort at all to put on a nice snack and drink for everyone. The only thing I can say there is if you are prepared it will feel easier. So, just be prepared. Easy!

Right, well now we’ve got your guests onto nibbles and drinks it’s worth thinking about a meal. Again, preparation is the most important thing. If they turned up spontaneously then they’ll be less trouble than if you invited them deliberately, since spontaneous guests don’t really expect to be fed a real meal. So, you’re doing great if you can offer a meal.

For all meals though, consider any dietary requirements. Have you got any vegetarians? Any wheat intolerant people? Diabetics? Chilli intolerant? Get the details before you start cooking. If they are unable to eat something in particular they may offer to help you to come up with something they can eat. Something vegetarian or very light on meat could work especially well if you are on a budget. If they turned up unannounced it is perfectly reasonable to say “I have nothing to eat. Let’s order pizza”. They’ll get over it. They’re your friends.

While you’re cooking, make sure that there’s ample nibbles on the table, drinks are topped up and some appropriate music is on in the background. In fact, continue topping up drinks, replacing nibbles and ensuring the music is appropriate until the night is over. Music is something you’ll have to adapt to the crowd, but generally put on something quiet that the people there like. If you have no idea what people will like then something quiet and hopefully without lyrics is probably best. So, jazz or lounge music (fairly quietly) is great. Because, unless you want this to turn into a raging, drunken party it’s probably best to avoid your favourite 80s collection of stuff people want to sing along to. No, really it is.

So, we have the basics covered. People are eating and drinking and having a good time at your place. But what if you have the chance to plan who is coming? Who do you invite? Well, start by deciding who the important people are. Who have you been meaning to see for ages? Start with them. Do they have a partner? Add the partner. Right, what does the partner do? Hobbies? Work? Whatever? Who out of your friends (or your partner’s friends) might get along with them? Invite them and their partner. What do they and their partner do? What do they like? Who might get along with them? Etc. Etc. Now, which of your friends are good at getting along with just about anyone? Maybe invite them too. And add a partner. Get it? Easy!

You might want to mix it up a little more by having a part of the evening dedicated to a particular activity and invite anyone interested in that, ie games night, wine and cheese night or a cocktail party. Invite anyone interested in said activity and ensure a few of your “social glue” socialite friends are definitely coming. Put less thought into the people and more though into the activity if this is what you’re doing.

So, now we get to the end of the night. Is anyone unable to get home? If you have people staying there are a few nice things you can remember to do. This could be the unplanned “too drunk to drive” stay or it could be (in another style of scenario entirely) having rellies over for a week. And again, it all comes down to planning things that can be ready long before you even know there’s someone coming over. This is far easier with a guest room. If you are without a guest room then at least make sure you have a space with some blankets or a sleeping bag for each of your guests. Not many people mind being left fending for themselves in the morning as long as they can easily get a shower, breakfast and leave if they require. So, put a list of things people might need to know on the side of the fridge and/or in the guest room. Let them know where the towels are. List any quirks of the house that might hinder them from flushing the toilet or getting out the front door, etc. Make sure they know if any of the clocks in the house are wrong. Let them know how to use your washing machine. Let them know where to find breakfast food and bowls. Make sure your phone numbers are listed so they can write it down and call if they forget to take something home.

The rest of this is really dependent on how long they are staying and how well they already know your area. If they’re staying a while, then give them a key to the house! Your phone numbers are even more important for longer term guests – just in case they get lost or want some advice. Let them know a little about the local area too, like where to find the bus stop and shops. If you’re really good, you might get a copy of the bus timetable for them or info on where to hire a car. If you’re an angel then you might lend a car or a bike. But no-one expects you to be that good. Other info people might want if they’re staying a while could be on the location of parks, swimming pools, beaches, dry cleaners, takeaway places, pubs, libraries, theatres, movie hire places, cafes and night clubs etc. If they’re from far away they might even want some info about sightseeing in the wider surrounding area. Oh, and if they’re even the teensiest bit geeky they’ll love to know passwords and details for your wireless network or computer so they can get online. Handy hint: If you’re renting a house out it’s a good idea to write a similar list for your tenants too!

Having guests over regularly is a great way to avoid the TV, generally slow your life down and stay in touch with your favourite people, so being ready and willing to host small dinner parties is a talent that goes a long way towards a great life.

Basically, if your guests are self sufficient they will feel more comfortable and won’t be relying on you to entertain them and look after them all the time. You will be more relaxed and reassured that they are happy and entertained. It’s not rocket science. It’s just a teensy bit of planning. Get organised!

Image Credit: Bob Walker

He’s also made nifty wallpaper for all sorts of devices of his “8 to be great” cycle.

I’ve spoken to a few people recently who are worried about using services like LinkedIn because they are embarrassed about their work history. They don’t want to admit to prospective employers that they took a job way below their qualifications just because the rent needed paying. They also don’t want to admit that they kept those jobs because it was some sort of security, even though it was doing nothing for their career path. Other similar people might be looking to make a career change, but don’t want to admit that they’re new to their chosen field.

But seriously, don’t worry about it. Most people have jobs like that in their history – and sometimes that actually reflects well in the employer’s eyes.

Resume writing online can be tricky, because you need to impress the right people at the right time while maintaining honesty. LinkedIn is a great way to showcase both what you have done and what you can do. You just have to look at it the right way and to carefully design your profile to show the right parts of a professional resume at the right time.

I researched many online resumes to try to ascertain what made some look so impressive and others so drab. I found that the most impressive resumes were the ones with the least clutter. They basically had a good summary and showed future directions.

Remember that the better you are at something, the less you need to mention other skills. For instance, people who had done really well with a particular entrepreneurial activity rarely bothered to mention the jobs they had before it. I mean, why would they?

Make sure your headline epitomises what you want to do. If you’ve never done it before, don’t be afraid to be a little candid: Say “Freelance writer and Aspiring Novelist” if that’s what you want to do.

The “Summary” section is a place for you to mention everything you really want people to know about your resume and plans for the future. Think of your dream job: What would you like the head of that company to know about you? Maybe consider an actual job specification similar to one you would like: What would you write in a cover letter? This is your summary! Tell people what you want to do, what you’re really good at and give a few key examples of things you’ve done which will help you get the job. Craft it well, because this is the primary thing you want people to read. Also, if you can subtly explain away any of the anomalies with a quick interesting statement about what you have been doing, then do that!

Fill out the rest of your profile with all the same jobs you would mention in a resume you would submit for your dream job. Also add any jobs that are impressive, but not necessarily relevant, and jobs which you worked at for a long time (to show you weren’t unemployed).

List your blog and Twitter profile if they are well-written and relevant to your future work plans. Add the applications for blogs and Twitter. Look at other available applications, like Slideshare, and see if you can showcase any other skills well by using these tools.

Remove the clutter in your public profile – Keep your best information in your summary.

Here’s the gold nugget in this online resume advice. With LinkedIn, there’s an option to show a public resume. In “Edit My Profile”, look on the right for “Edit Public Profile Settings”. For your public profile, you have the option to turn on/off many sub-sections of your full profile. Use it to de-clutter your public profile so that only the very best information is shown to someone taking a first glance at your resume.

Take off your past positions, education, awards, interests, details for current positions and anything else that makes it too cluttered. Ensure that anything important you would like people to know from those sections is clearly stated in your summary. Keep your picture, headline, summary, current positions (if you’re working). Keep your groups if you can be bothered to ensure that only the most relevant groups feature on your profile (you set this up on a per-group basis).

Now, check out your public profile. Tweak until you think it’s the perfect page to show the recruiter for your dream job.

Also, think ahead when using LinkedIn. Don’t just connect to colleagues – connect with family, friends and acquaintances too. These connections help when you want to approach someone for a job (or to help other people get a job). And pay it forward! Write references for people you have worked with. Write character references for people you studied with. Some of these people may decide to write a reference for you too. Then you’ll be ready to apply for your dream job – or if you’re really lucky they might find you!

Image Credit: SocialIsBetter

Target: Clutter

We all hold on to a lot of things in our lives that we just don’t need. Things that are memorable or could be useful one day but they often just aren’t. After moving house three times (and being stuffed in the only place it could fit) that old thingummy that was going to be so useful one day is nearly always broken when you need it. The pointlessness of owning it all this time is often lost on us beneath all our excuses for owning it in the first place and our general grumpiness that it was broken when we needed it. Wouldn’t it have been better to buy it just before you need it? Too right!

So, how do we stop ourselves hanging onto stuff we don’t need? Well, working out why we feel we need it is a start. For some it’s a fear of forgetting something important. For others it’s a fear of not having what you need when you need it. A wise person once told me (and I’m so glad he meant this in jest) “Well, the only things I remember throwing away are the things I needed later”. Well, duh! The truth being that there are many more things you never thought of again.

So, why worry? Consider the tale of an old jumper of mine (Oh, go on. It won’t hurt). I always felt the need to keep this particular jumper regardless of the fact that it was too big for me (and never looked any good) just in case I got cold enough to need it. I never wore it. Ever. It was completely illogical to continue to hold on to that jumper. I have other jumpers. I didn’t need it. It still took a lot of work to give it to charity (honest!).

How to declutter? Home decluttering is easier than you might think. Pick up every item in your house and question it’s value. Is it useful? Do you use it? Do you love it? Do you need it? Do you want it? Is it broken? Will you fix it? Is it pretty/ornate? Is it valuable? Does it bring back memories? Was it given to you? If you can’t work out why you still have it then get rid of it. If it’s an ornament you don’t like then give it to charity. If it’s pretty then put it on display, dammit! Use it for what it is. Make it worth owning. If it’s only use is for memories then store it safely and in a way that you can access when you want to remember. If it needs fixing then make an effort to fix it. If you’re not going to fix it then give it to someone who will. There’s no point having a gigantic mending “to do” list that only serves to clutter your house and make you feel guilty. Take a photo and let it go: you can still dream grand thoughts without hanging on to physical manifestations of the dream.

Here’s a hint: If you are considering getting rid of something but you’re not quite sure try packing it away for a while. If you don’t need it within a few months then get rid of it. And do the world a favour and sell the item or give it to charity. Don’t just chuck it.

In the end it comes down to separating the needs from the wants (and separating the don’t needs and don’t wants from the needs and wants). Most of our accumulated clutter comes from buying things we don’t really need or want. Maybe it’s time to think more carefully about what we buy. It would save all the pain and suffering later when we are forced to contemplate chucking it away.

Well, there’s that one down. But what about other things we keep around that do us no good at all. Jobs, partners and friends? We really need to question the value of the things we spend a lot of time on and the people we spend a lot of time with. Why? Because life is short and we need to have the best time we can before we die. Slightly morbid, I know. But it’s true, okay?

Target: People

Let’s tackle the harder topic first: People. It might sound nasty to want to spend less time with the people that do you no good. But take a little time to consider this thought carefully. For starters, you’re probably not doing them any good either. If you’re constantly arguing or bickering then you’re causing each other undue stress for no good reason. Spend less time with this person and reserve seeing each other for occasions where you will enjoy each other’s company for a short while only. It’s no secret that parents and teenagers get along far better after the child moves out. And I’ve just given you the reason why. Now, don’t worry too much about this. You don’t have to completely cut contact with the people in your life that are wrong for you. You don’t have to do anything at all. Just spend more of your time with the people who are right for you. You’ll still see the others when it’s important to do so.

So, let’s try similar tactics to finding value in people as we did with clutter. Do you love them? Are they funny? Do they like you? Are they interesting? Are they inspiring? Does time fly when you’re with them? Do you look forward to being with them? Do they make you feel special? Do they help you? Do you feel inspired to help them? Does it make you feel good to help them? Are they an old friend? Are they family? Are you responsible for them? Are they close to someone you want to stay close to? Do you enjoy your time with them? If you can’t see a good reason to spend time with them after asking yourself these questions then you are probably spending your time with the wrong people (in fact, you might well choose to continue to do so. But at least do it knowingly).

Who does make you feel good? Who do you enjoy the company of? Get on the phone and invite them to something, silly. Surround yourself with people who inspire you to be a better person. People who keep you on your toes mentally. People who you can talk to for days at a time. People who have achieved great things (things that you admire as great things). A friend may achieve great things by volunteer work or by remembering everyone’s names. As long as you remain impressed by the achievement you will probably find great value in the friend.

On this point, I have one friend who can speak Chinese as a second language fluently whereas my partner has read just about every science fiction book ever written (okay, slight exaggeration). These two both admire the other for their achievements and yet fail to recognise the value of their own. It is probably worth recognising what draws people to you. For your own sanity, that is.

Target: Work

And now onto the big nasty: Work. When do you draw the line? How do you tell if work is doing you more harm than good? What would you do if you weren’t there? There’s lots of things you need to ask yourself before you can make this judgement. It’s worth seriously weighing up the pros and cons before deciding. And speak to your boss because it may only take a change of pace to make you immensely happier at work.

Do you love your job? Is it rewarding? Do you make a difference to the world? Do you get make a difference for a few people? Are you satisfied? Is the job keeping you interested? Do you look forward to work? Do you dream of a different career? Do you like the hours? Do you like the minutes? Is the way you spend most days appealing? Is the content of your workday appealing (ie there’s a very big difference between working in a call centre for a manure company and a call centre for an insurance company)? Do you have status in the company? Is there potential for promotion or restructure? Does your employer train people for higher roles? Are the wages high enough for the work you do? Are the wages high enough for your budget and lifestyle? Do you get to work autonomously? Are you micro managed? Are you a leader? Are your opinions heard? How does the office location suit you? What are the office aesthetics like? Do you have a view? Is your desk comfortable? What is the office politics like? Do you like your boss and peers? Is there a social culture? Are you a part of it? Do you value the company itself? Do you believe in the product? The list can go on and on..

I have a list of questions for the flip side, too: If you were to leave this job what would you do? Would you have enough money to survive? Can you go back to study something more fulfilling? Would you be more happy with a part time bar job than your full time office job? Are you thinking of starting a business? Are you the right sort of person to run a business? Are you ready? Face it, leaving your job without a plan of what else you’re going to do could be a pretty stupid move. Even if you have savings you might use them up before you work it out your life’s purpose. Plan first. And don’t forget to talk to your boss (before doing anything) about negotiating fewer hours or further responsibility. They might be able to help you.

So, sort out your stuff, your friends and your job by really questioning their value. Be honest with yourself! Then you can de-clutter your home, stop yourself spending on things you don’t need, have awesome friends that make you feel great and get a job you love!

Image Credit: Karl Sinfield

“If you’re unsure about what you’re going to do with your life, try to remember some of the most interesting people didn’t know what they were going to do at age twenty-two or even at forty. And nearly all of them are unemployed drug addicts forced to live on cat food. ” — John Safran, Not the sunscreen song

Sorry, I wanted to inject something funny (yet dire) to get you thinking.

How do you work out what to do with your life? What a huge question! And so many answers. How can you even possibly begin to pin down an answer? My theory is that you don’t. Well, don’t try to choose just one thing. It’s too hard. Narrow it down to a small handful and then follow the path that looks best from there. Or if you do choose one path don’t forget that you can back out and choose another one if it doesn’t work out. I think that’s the problem with decisions. People think that once they’re made you have to live with them forever. I mean, sure, give it a go. A real go. Put some effort into making it work for you. But if it doesn’t work then choose something else!

“Our main business is not to see what lies dimly at a distance, but to do what lies clearly at hand” — Thomas Carlyle

And what exactly are we talking about here? What to do with your life. That’s pretty broad. By this, most people mean career paths. Some will mean getting married and having kids. Others will mean charity work or religious calling or whatnot. Or they might mean moving overseas or to the country. It might be as simple as choosing to slow down or stay working hard. Lots to decide on. But let’s think about career type only. Most people (unless they’re very lucky) have to find a way to earn a crust somehow. So, since you’re probably destined to have to earn money in some way you need to work out what the best way for you is. I know, I know. That’s your problem. We’ll try to fix that.

Well, let’s start with a question some will find easy. This is like a shortcut to finding out. Picture a situation where you have enough money to live off and never needed to get a job. What would you do with your time? Would you go sailing? Would you go hiking? Would you volunteer at a charity or a library? Would you travel? Would you babysit? Would you go into local council or politics? Would you tinker with computers? Really think. Hard.

Okay, so now you’ve got an idea of how to spend huge amounts of leisure time. How can you work that back into your career? For some this will be SO obvious. For others you may still have too many things to choose from. It should still help you to draw a picture. If you like babysitting in your spare time then get yourself working in childcare right now! Get paid to do what you would do with your time anyway. That’s the plan! If you like to travel then maybe becoming a travel agent is on the cards. Or if you are currently an accountant then you might consider staying an accountant and shifting your place of work to a travel agent.

Now, I’d like you to think about your dream life. Visualise it. When you wake up what do you see? Who do you live with? What do you do that day? Try to incorporate as many of the little things into your life as soon as possible. They’ll make you happier. Now, the reason I mentioned this is to remind yourself about potential contradictions. If you love hiking, but want to wake up every day in a city apartment then you might not really want to work as a tour guide in the sticks. Whereas if you love hiking and you visualised a place with a good view of nature out your bedroom window then a tour guide just might be the trick. Your call. You need to think things through to make it work. As I implied with the example of the accountant, you may find your ideal field this way but not your ideal job role. Or you may find your ideal job role and not the field. Depends how your imagination works, really. So, we need to help you find a job role that fits. Chosing your favourite skills can be tricky. There are lots of tests out there that help you to narrow down your favourite skills sets. Doing these may help you or it may not. It’s up to you how you decide. Suit yourself. But you need to know what your favourite skills are. You don’t want to end up a construction worker when you prefer to help people. Make sure you know.

Do lots more investigation into yourself before deciding. A great resource is the book “What colour is my Parachute” and the related website, The Job Hunter’s Bible, written by the author, Dick Bolles. Here is a very easy way of working yourself out. Divide a page into three columns. Write down all your favourite interests (including your dream pastime) on the left. Write down all your favourite skills in the middle. Make up a list of jobs on the right that mix your favourite interests and skills. Write down any weird and wonderful combination you can think of. Even if it’s silly. It might lead you to think of something more realistic when you look at it later. There’s also plenty of career planning tools online.

Right. Now you have some brilliant career paths opening up. How to narrow them down? Well, you have to research them a bit. Once you come up with a great idea you have to investigate it. Get career planning advice if you can. Spend as much time as you can working out how to earn money in one of these dream jobs. You might surprise yourself. Don’t just presume everyone in the world is killing themselves to get that job. Find out. No slacking off here, alright? Remember, most of the best jobs (in fact, most jobs) are not advertised. Work out how to make that dream job yours. But that’s another story…

To make things easier for the rest of you, I then created an OPML file of About.com’s educational feeds and have made it available to anyone. It has all the current About.com Education RSS feeds, plus a few other About.com feeds I was interested in. Trust me, If you’re interested in more than three of these feeds, it’s easier to add the OPML file and then delete the feeds you’re not interested in than it is to add them individually.

All feed readers are different, but for most feed readers all you need to do is save this file, then navigate to “Import feeds” (in your reader) and choose the OPML file you just saved.

So, If you’re keen to become a well-rounded individual, I’d suggest you start by reading these educational RSS feeds and see how it goes. Easy!

While you’re here, please subscribe to the RSS feed!

I could rant and rave about how good remember the milk is. But I won’t. I have compared it to many task managers and project management systems and found it far superior to all of them. Just go check it out, okay?