Jobs threat as Threshers hits trouble
Berrows Journal
OFF-LICENCE staff are at threat of redundancy after the collapse of the company paying their wages. First Quench Retailing runs eight stores in south …

Part-time RIR soldiers win case
BBC News
More than 1000 part-time soldiers who took a case against the Ministry of Defence over pension and redundancy rights have won £6.7m in compensation. …

Redundancy insurance terms ‘unfair’
Financial Times
But claims on the redundancy element of the cover are being turned down by insurers because of a controversial exclusion relating to a policyholder becoming …

Ninety jobs are to go at dockyard
BBC News
The firm says the cuts are being made to help make the site more efficient and it hopes to make the reductions through voluntary redundancy. …

Turning Redundancy into Business Success
The Franchise Magazine
But he turned the situation round to his advantage by using his redundancy payment to invest in his own business. Mark invested in a franchise with Chemex …

Action threat over redundancy row
Stoke & Staffordshire – Stoke-on-Trent,England,UK
by Kathie McInnes LECTURERS are to take industrial action at Stoke-on-Trent College in an escalating row over staff redundancies. …

Anger over college staff job cuts
BBC News – UK
Staff are also angered that they will be offered the minimum statutory redundancy package, regardless of their length of service. A spokesperson for trade …

More jobs cut at telecoms giant
BBC News – UK
She added the former workers had informed the EU’s Employment Commission over the lack of pay and a statutory redundancy consultation period. …

Unions hit out at Birmingham care home redundancies
Birmingham Post – Birmingham,West Midlands,UK
Union leaders are stepping up their campaign against compulsory redundancies at Birmingham City Council, accusing the Conservative-led authority of …

It was messy, un-productive and very leaky as my uncompleted list crossed more than one sheet, one half of which would get lost and I’d end up losing half of my plans.

Since then I have gotten better at managing my to-dos, but it has been a slow process of successes and failures.  While I wouldn’t dare to describe my techniques as being anywhere near perfect, I do think I have learnt quite a lot over the years.  So here are my Top 5 tips for Daily Planning.

1. Choose a system

There are so many to-do list styles, productivity strategies and task management plans that it can be really quite confusing.  But it is definitely worth the effort to do some research.  I’m a great fan of Getting Things Done (GTD) as developed by David Allen, but this may not be to your taste.  Do some searches, read some blogs about productivity such as LifeHack (http://www.lifehack.org/), Black Belt Productivity (http://blog.blackbeltproductivity.net/), LifeHacker (http://lifehacker.com/) and Zen Habits (http://zenhabits.net/).

2. Don’t be afraid of changing

I feel quite happy with what I like to call my version of GTD, it’s just me taking some of the elements that I’ve felt comfortable to adopt and not using the elements that I have been too lazy to take on!  But I do change it around quite often, something which I had previously felt bad about.

There are times when doing my daily planning in one way works perfectly well, but then a month later it no longer drives or inspires me so I alter it around to something that works better for me at the time.

And then later I revert back.  The important thing is not to be rigid in your style but to feel ok about changing it to something that works better for you at the time.  It’s about getting things done and making progress, not rigidly adhering to a set of principles.

3. Keep a single list somewhere – electronically

One of the most annoying aspects of my attempts at productivity over the years was that I wrote things down.  Now this in itself isn’t a bad thing at all.  However it leads to task vanishing when pages and then whole notepads get filled, or lost, and not everything gets moved across.

It is also very easy to lose track of things relating certain projects as keeping written-down tasks in project order is very time-confusing.

So find a way of keeping everything you want to do in one place, electronically, and in a way that you can categorise.  I like Things on the Mac and iPhone as the synchronizing between the two means I can access my list anywhere, but again do some research to find out what is best for you.

4. Do it at night

I have found that if I spend a short time at night at the very least identifying some goals for the next day, I am much faster to get started and more productive.  The night before planning has my hopes of what I can achieve the next day, mingled in with the knowledge of what I have done that day.

Planning first thing in the morning is never as successful for me as my mind is generally not as sharp until mid-morning so I delay getting a good start to the day.

5. Review the day

Not only look at your plans for the next day, but spend a few moments evaluating the day honestly.  It’s not just all about the number of items ticked off, it’s about the worth of those items.

Have you done well – then admit that.  If not, then let the next day’s plans be both realistic and ambitious.

——-

Whether you are looking for a new job, or starting your own business, daily planning can help you on the way to success.

So it would be great if you can keep an eye on the job-market while you are on the move, or give yourself chance to keep your name in people’s minds when you meet them while networking, etc. 

Well we’ve taken a look at some iPhone applications that should help you do just that!  Search for them on Apple’s App Store.

LinkedIn

 - LinkedIn is probably best described as the Facebook for business – it’s the place where your jobs are what is important.  Colleagues can give you recommendations, and vice versa, a process which can help when you connect with recruitment agencies online.  The iPhone app is however very limited, allowing you to see user updates for your network, view details of people both in and outside your network as well as update your own status.  This is a very basic subset of what you can do via LinkedIn.  However it is worth downloading to keep up-to-date with colleagues and agencies who may list available positions, and to let them know what you are doing/looking for.

Evernote

 - I love Evernote – it fulfills so many needs for me, despite really just being a place to store info.  The brilliant thing about it is that you can access and add or edit information via so many interfaces.  For job-hunting it is the perfect place to keep details of job applications, phonecalls with agents/potential employers.  Get the iPhone App and an Evernote account and start getting a handle on your multi-facted jobhunt. 

Now Hiring

 - While job sites are not necessarily that difficult to view or browse on an iPhones web browser, it’s much nicer to have everything quick and tidy without any extraneous information.  That is where Now Hiring comes in.  The app lets you choose from a number of countries to search in and then you can search based on job title, keywords or company name, along with a location.  The listings are quick and clear and then take you through to the original web listing.  It’s not a full-service app, you can’t easily apply or keep a list of what you have looked at/applied for, but it is well worth keeping on your iPhone.

JobFinder

 - In terms of what it is trying to do, JobFinder Lite is very similar to Now Hiring, but it lacks some of the smooth ease of use.  When you do a search the results are accessed via another menu button, and while the display of the job details is nicely sectioned you can get in a little scroll trouble if a description is larger than its box, requiring it’s own scrolling!  But for the price its worth a try.

Job Search Coach

 - This is mainly aimed at the US market (with the talk of Resumes for example) but the advice contained can be useful for most people.  The hints and tips for applying, interview technique and more is displayed quickly and cleanly without anything too fancy.  There is a community section where people can leave info about their application and interview experiences based on location and company – however it is purely US-based so isn’t as useful as it could be. 

Let us know what Apps you use for jobhunting in the comments section.

But that doesn’t mean that they can’t help in lots of ways.  They can be a great source of support, allowing you to forget about your situation for a while.  They may also be good to bounce ideas off, or even to gain new ideas.  Friends also have other friends and work colleagues – so maybe it’s time to utilise these connections for that hated buzzword “networking”.

The quickest and easiest way of doing this is to make sure you are connected online via the major social networking sites.  Top of the list is probably Facebook purely because of its huge reach – it may not have a business/professional focus but it can quickly garner you a lot of contacts.

LinkedIn is a networking site that is much more focused towards the business and professional life and is perfect to gather both your friends off Facebook but also many employment agencies have representatives on the site.  You can also find a discussion group on LinkedIn that is relevant to your type of job where you may be able to gain more contacts.

Other social networking sites are about but the above two are probably the best to start with.

1. Profile Information.  So log-on and complete as much profile information as possible on both sites, it is a pain to have to do it but it makes a much better impression to those who look at your profile.
2. Find Groups. This is particularly relevant to LinkedIn as many industry groups have members who are agencies specialising in that area.  So join the groups, have a read through what they discuss and get involved if you think it is relevant – let your expertise impress people!
3. Always Respond. If you get a message from someone on either site then do respond, e-mail and social networking sites have made people very used to quick contacts, if you wait a few days to respond then your response may no longer be relevant.
4. Keep updated.  Let people know what you are doing – but keep it relevant to the site.  Yes on Facebook you can let people know you are off to the gym, but on sites like LinkedIn then focus on the work you are doing/looking for.  And keep doing it – the more you are in people’s consciousness online, the bigger chance they will think of you if something comes along.

Redundancy payouts to get boost in Budget
Mirror.co.uk – London,UK
Chancellor Alistair Darling is expected to announce an increase in statutory redundancy payouts, from £350 to £380 a week. The rise will delight unions and …

Lord Mandelson is “naïve and ignorant”
Real Business – London,England,UK
He also hits out at Mandelson’s suggestion that people should use their redundancy payments to start a small business: “This intimation was made two weeks …

Alistair Darling must spend, not save, in Wednesday’s Budget
Mirror.co.uk – London,UK
Helping hundreds of thousands heading for the dole is a good starting point by raising redundancy payments and the pitiful £64.30 per week Jobseeker’s …

Turning redundancy into an opportunity
Aberdeen Press and Journal – Aberdeen,Scotland,UK
REDUNDANCY is an experience which has hit many people across the UK as we feel the brunt of the recession. But, while some have joined the dole queue or …

Survey shows Welsh workers willing to help safeguard colleagues’ jobs
WalesOnline – United Kingdom
And 3% would go slow at work, 4% would walk off the job or seek redundancy, and a further 3% would consider strike action. Also, in a separate poll on the …