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Imagine a bank that gives you £86,400 a day. But at the end of the day all the money you haven’t used gets taken away. What would you do? Yes, you’d take it all out in the morning and put it somewhere safe. You wouldn’t want to waste any of it would you?

Why £86,400? How many seconds are there in a day? Yes, 86, 400 and each one has the potential to earn you money and get you further up the ladder.

Time is money and chances are you’re wasting it away! Procrastination is the enemy of any business, professional and freelance worker – it literally kills your chance of making more money or getting your dream job.

Consider any successful person – do you think they spent hours a day looking at funny cats on YouTube?  No! They worked every second. Here’s how to stop procrastination.

1) Take the first step

Starting your task is usually the hardest part. Subconsciously, you fear the scale or difficulty of the task and you’ll start to shut down – this is a natural reaction to avoid failure.

The way to really beat this negativity is to just get stuck in. Soon, you’ll be wondering why you put it off for so long.

2) Break down your tasks

If you have a large number of tasks, break them down into smaller steps. If after this, they still seem too large, break them down again.

Make a step by step plan on a rough piece of paper with deadlines for each part of each task. This is a great way to stop procrastination, as having just a single deadline is like calling procrastination up and inviting it in, permanently.

3) Start with the hardest task

A great way to beat procrastination is by starting the day with your hardest or most unpleasant tasks.  Once you’ve done them, give yourself a reward.

If you leave these feared tasks to later, you’ll find them difficult. Remember, after lunch is a hard part of the day – your body is working really hard to digest your food and you’ll be tired – you really won’t want to do hard work then, would you? No, you’ll just put it off, again.

4) Make up your mind

Indecision and procrastination are great friends. And they could ruin your life! Set a time of the day for decision making, and create a standard procedure to work out how to come to a decision, then stick to the system and the choices you make using the system.

5) Share your deadlines

Give yourself deadlines to all of your tasks and let other people know – your colleagues or family can act as great motivators. Then, whenever they see you they will ask your progress.  Another great way to stop procrastination is by having a close friend, colleague or business partner as a ‘buddy’ with whom you will work together to motivate each other. They should be someone who has their own goals – even better if they are similar in nature as you can learn from each other.

6) Routine

The best way to stop procrastination is by having a routine and sticking to it. This means a daily routine and a routine for specific tasks. Follow each task with a reward and follow each successful procrastination free day with a reward.

7) Perfectionism

How perfect does your work actually need to be? Why spend time creating a masterpiece when only a rough impression is actually needed. By all means, keep your standards high but know when you need to be perfect and when you can ease off on the perfectionism.

If you want to find your dream job in London – you’re going to need a plan of action.

Success is determined by answering 3 key questions. What are the trends affecting the global economy? What type of jobs are typically held by senior members of staff in companies? Do I care more about career progression or doing what I love? – sometimes you can have both – often you cant.

What are the trends?

All the companies – in every country of the world are either losing money because of trends or making money because of trends. Right now we are in the technological revolution. The number one growth sector in employment is technology jobs. Is your career path threatened by trends or are you positioned to take advantage of trends?

Is your career path one of the ‘golden career triangle’?

The golden career triangle is a phenomena I have observed working in multiple companies over many years. You see any company ultimately can be broken down into 3 core functions. Creating a product, Marketing and Selling the product, Managing the finances. Therefore if you analyse the typical company you will find senior roles are held by individuals who come from either product development, marketing and sales or finance.

Passion or pay?

As you can see by the golden career triangle. It may not be possible for you to have career progression to the highest level of a company. So you need to ask yourself do I care more about doing what I love or do I care more about status and pay. Thats something only you can decide. If you have hit a ceiling doing the job you do now. You may have to move into another line of work. Easier said than done – which is why its so valuable to understand the golden career triangle as early as possible in life!

Do your research

Planning is key – you need a strategy or your job search will take forever and when you are looking for a new job in London, time is most definitely not on your side.

There’s a popular phrase, if you throw enough mud at a wall some of it will stick, in this context, if you apply for lots of job, eventually you’ll get an interview. But to make it really work, you’ve got to make sure you are throwing the right mud at the right wall.

Target specific companies

Not all companies are equal. Even if an organisation should be growing because of trends it might not be doing so because of poor management, too much competition or a host of other reasons you will struggle to find out!

The best way to start your career planning is by making a list of all of the companies you’d like to work for in London. If you find companies that do match, put them on the list to target – and keep an eye on them until you are ready to take the leap.

Once you have the list you need to start gathering information about these organisations. Is there positive or negative stories about them online. Search to find out if they are hiring or firing staff. Then only when you are sure they are a high performance organisation – contact them via their website or LinkedIn.com.

Have your dream job goal

Getting a job is like getting into a relationship. You need to understand what you are getting into and where your future lies. There’s no point pursuing careers and opportunities in companies that don’t match your skills, expectations and goals. In the long run, you’ll end up in a field or job you hate.

There is no ‘one’ economy. There are always low demand and high demand jobs. If your career is under threat – you should not fear switching jobs. Otherwise you’ll just in up working in a mildly related area to your ideal career and you’ll find it difficult to get back on track.

 

Think you should get more money for doing your job? At times we can all feel undervalued in our job but have you really thought about what you are worth? If your current role is not your dream job – the chances are you could be underperforming. You can’t just expect to get a pay rise without first building a case.  Here’s how to argue getting a pay rise – making your life in London better.

Evidence

Don’t just beg. You need evidence proving you deserve a pay rise. Without the evidence justifying a pay rise, you have little chance in actually getting one. You need concrete evidence to prove you deserve the extra money you are asking for.

Go through your job description and contract – highlight your responsibilities and key tasks and:

1) Prove how you have completed the tasks as expected or even better, how you have performed better than expected.

2) Prove how you have gone beyond the description to deliver – this could be anything from working late to taking on extra tasks.

3) Have you taken on extra responsibility? Taking on extra roles involving managing money or people are great ways to prove you are worth more.

4) Can you prove you have made or saved the company money? – This can include attracting more clients.

If you can prove any of this, you may have a case to ask for a pay rise.

Take on extra responsibility

If you can’t prove any of the above and you still think you should get a pay rise, the only way you can justify it is by actually taking on more responsibility. Asking your employer for more responsibility is a pragmatic approach, even if they can’t offer you more now, ask for more in the future.

Research

There’s no point going into a pitch without understanding the industry standard for salary.  Search for similar job titles – note the responsibilities – if they are similar record the salary. You could also compare jobs within your company that share the same roles and responsibilities.

Timing

Don’t think of asking for a pay rise on a Monday morning or a Friday afternoon. Or, for that matter, when you or your boss are too busy to talk. You need to work out, based on your company’s working practices, when would be the best time to ask for a pay rise.

The results of a poll suggests Wednesday as the most successful day to ask for a pay rise. Remember, rather than just mentioning it in passing to your boss, you need to set up a meeting – when you both have time to address your issues and go through your argument in the detail it fully deserves.

When setting up the meeting to discuss a pay rise, don’t tell your bossthe  purpose of the meeting – to discuss a pay rise – chances are, you’ll get a straight ‘no’ and you’ll miss your opportunity to present you case objectively.  Tell them it’s to discuss personal matters or development.

Use your Brain

If your company has just announced job cuts – it’s obvious that it’s not an appropriate moment to suggest you deserve a pay rise. On the other hand, if  they’ve just announced a huge profit increase, go for it – youll have a much better chance of successfully asking for a pay rise.

Performance Related Pay

You may have worked particularly hard this year but that alone may not justify a pay rise – have you achieved all of your objectives? Have you gone beyond your job description?

You could suggest a performance related bonus or a pay rise subject to greater achievement i.e. if your performance is better than expectations you should get more money. This is a pragmatic approach and your employer should respond to the suggestion well as, rather than just asking for more money, you are actually offering something for it.

How much value are you adding?

Remember when you present your case, it’s got to be about what you can do for company that makes you deserve a pay rise – rather than just I need a pay rise. When you state your case tell the company what they will be getting for their money.

Each point you raise needs to be backed up with facts and stats i.e., according to industry standards you are underpaid or you attracted X amount of new clients resulting in X of sales/profit.

Get your boss on your side

Most probably your direct boss will not have the authority to agree to pay rises. Make sure you present your case to them clearly, in person, backed up with facts and presented in written form.

Get your pitch ready

Gather all of the information you have gathered – industry standard pay, proof doing more than expected etc – into a written and spoken pitch which shows your boss you are worth more money to the company.

Create a written document detailing your main arguments. This will help your case as your boss will need to justify your pay rise with their bosses.

Practice and preparation = perfect interview confidence. Being confident in a job interview means you believe you have the right skills and knowledge for the job. Confidence affects your body language – the employer will pick up on this and, if you lack confidence, they will notice it and begin to doubt whether you have the skills for the job.

Preparation

If you are well prepared you will have interview confidence. Simple. Make sure you prepare, check out these articles Do your Research and Prepare for Interview Questions

Stay in control

It’s understandable that you’ll be a little stressed – but you need to stay in control. Again, the best approach to beat stress in job interviews is by preparing. Preparation allows you to take control of the situation and reduce interview stress because, you  are confident that you know the processes involved, you have done the research, you have a good idea of the questions you will be asked and that you have prepared an excellent set of thoughtful questions which show your intelligence and knowledge.

The interviewer will ask you questions and you’ll need to answer them clearly and calmly. Use breathing techniques, below, to slow your breathing down, making you calmer.

Breathing techniques

If you are prone to panicking when stressed, try these out:

1. Breath in through your nose but out through your mouth
2. Place a candle 30 centimetres from your lips – you can pretend if you don’t have one – and slowly breath in and out making sure you move the flame without blowing it out.

Practice these so when you become stressed during the interview, your interviewer won’t notice it – furtherincreasing your interview confidence.

Ask confident questions

A great example of a question which would make the interviewer think you are confident – without appearing arrogant or cocky – would be to ask something like:

‘Do you mind if I could have a look at where I’d be working?’ or  ‘Could I meet the people I’d be working with?’

If for some reasons the employer were to say ‘no’, simply ask, ‘may I ask why?’ and tell them youd really like the meet your potential colleagues or see the workplace  – this  question further asserts your confidence by demonstrating that you are in control.

Another question which shows you are confident is:

‘Where do we go next from the end of the interview process?’

With this question, again, you’ll take control of the interview professionally.

Negative thoughts

Don’t let the ‘you can’t do it’ voice win. To help change negative thinking check out How To Stop Negative Programming.

You need to have a strong voice in your head that constantly tells you, ‘you can do it!’ Think of a positive person in your life – a friend, a parent or somebody you look up to.

I’ve said this before; confidence is just another skill you can learn. It doesn’t matter if you are not confident you can learn it.  Think of it this way, the employer thinks you have the skills for the job – they believe in you! This is a great thing to think about that should help you be more confident in your job interview.

Practice

Practicing can really help you be confident in an interview. If you have not been to many interviews or are worried, youll be stressed. Try this application You can choose from interviewers in a variety of fields – they’ll ask difficult questions and give you advise you how to answer them. Go through it, pick the interviewers most relevant to your field then choose some one which are not. Once you have spent a liitle time doing this, and youve read our aticle on interview questions, youll be ready for any interview and any questions asked.

Also, practice walking into a room where someone is sitting at a desk – shake their hand. Have you heard of muscle memory? Let me give you an example – your phone rings – how many times do you notice that your hand moves to pick up the phone without you even thinking? This is muscle memory. What you are doing by practising walking into the room and shaking the person’s hand is training your muscles to react – in case you get nervous and forget what to do as soon as you get into the interview room. This makes sure you know what you need to be doing to appear confident.

Want to make more money in London then get a job in London fast? Failing that here are some great ways to make extra money in London while you are planning to get that dream job. Whether it’s dog walking or posing naked for artists, if you have a little spare time you need not be short of money any longer.

1) Market Research

Companies want your opinion.  And you’ll get paid well for giving it. Does getting paid to talk sound good? You have two options:

Face-to-face – where you’ll meet with a small focus group and discuss certain products or services. Sometimes companies also conduct individual interviews. Either way, the pay for this type of market research is generally quite generous. Plus, there absolutely hundreds of market research companies in London meaning there are plenty of chances for you to get involved and make extra money.

Check out: Saros Research

Pay: around £50 for 1-2 hours

Online Surveys – this is the more boring option and you’ll never get the chance to meet people as you do with face-to-face market research. On the plus side, there are loads of websites which offer online surveys. So, if you have a day or two to spare, you can sign up to a few and complete many surveys. Before registering,  check whether the site  is legitimate (Google it) as there have been many scams.

Check Out: Valued Opinions

Pay: Varies – from Amazon vouchers to £80

2) Clinical Trials

Whilst we do not endorse taking part in clinical trials, it can be a great way to make a lot of extra money in London. Generally, taking part in clinical trials is safe as they subject to a lot of regulation. Furthermore, the medicines which are under trial usually go through extensive testing before they are considered safe for human trials. Of course, you may experience side effects as a result of taking part in medical testing – so don’t take it lightly.

Check out: London Clinical Trials

Pay: from £120 – thousands

3) Flyer-ing

As you can imagine, there are a plethora of companies in London that need people constantly to distribute flyers. This can be anything from handing out venue flyers to queues of people or  at events.  You could also distribute newspapers and magazines at tube stations or door to door. Overall, this is a great way to make extra money in London as work is generally on evenings and weekends.

Check out: Impact or Gumtree

Pay: Can be quite good, around £15 a hour (but you need to take in account travel costs)

4) Mystery Shopper

If you have a few hours spare you can make extra money in London by shopping.  Yes, you can get paid for shopping. It’s a little like spying – so can be quite exciting. Mystery shopping involves visiting shops, restaurants and anywhere that involves customer service – all you have to do is use the service and review it. The work can involve a day shopping for designer clothes or eating a meal in restaurant.

Check out: Retail Eyes

Pay:  Varies. Can be as low as £5 an hour. The advantage is that your expenses will be taken care of – so you get to shop for free.

5) Good at Maths?

You can make a decent second income looking after accounts. You don’t really need to be qualified although a Sage course (around £60) would definitely help you get more work. The best way to find work of this nature in London is on Gumtree.com

Check out: Book Keeping

Pay: Varies

6) Auction It!

You can start an eBay business pretty easy. Start by selling some of the things you have around the house that you don’t need. Then use the profits to find a product or products which you know you could sell easily on eBay. Also, consider selling on Amazon.

You could buy broken items that you could then fix and sell. Selling on eBay and Amazon is a great way to make extra money in London – but do your research first before you spend any money.

7) Dog walking

If you love animals and walking through London’s many green space, walking dogs could be a great way for you to earn extra money in London. In terms of experience, all you need is to have owned a dog at some point in your life. Also, to work as a dog walker you’ll have to go through security checks and some agencies prefer you to have your own transport. Flexibility is a must as some clients will require your services weekdays and weekends – a perfect job for someone who works part time or freelance. A note of caution, it won’t be a walk in the park (haha!); you may have to walk up to six dogs at a time.

Check out: Dog Walking Now or Bone Rangers

Pay: about £15 per hour.

8) Modelling   

There’s more to life than stick-thin clothes hangers! Yeah, I went there. There are many different types of modelling. For example, you could earn extra money as an artists model – which involves you taking your clothes off  (not always, but usually) for a group of artists to draw or paint. Unlike other types of modelling, with life drawing it doesn’t matter what body type you have –  artists would draw anyone.

Check out: Register of Artists Models or the fourum on Life Art

Pay: A life model would make about £7-10 an hour.

Of course, if you have the looks,  a great way to earn extra money in London is by becoming a fashion model. Even if you are plus size you can still be a fashion model – many London agencies work with plus-sized models.

Lamode London.You can also find plenty of modelling jobs on Gumtree.

9) TV extras

Another great way to make extra money in London is by becoming a TV or film extra – you can make hundreds of pounds from the right job. It doesn’t matter what you look like or if you have a particular style – chances are a TV or film casting agent will need someone just like you for their production. The only down size is, as you are just supposed to stand in the background, you’ll never meet the stars.

Pay: TV and film extras can expect to make about £80 a day.

You can also find plenty of extras work on Gumtree.

London Extra Agency or UK Screen

10) Police line up

Yes, you can get paid for appearing in police line-ups (when you have to stand in a line and a witness to a crime picks out whom they think is the real criminal). If you have nothing to hide and have a few hours to spare at some point, go down to your local police station and register. Not all stations have ID parades and some have even kept up with 21st century and gone digital.

Pay: £10 for the first hour, £5 for every hour after that.

11) Work at an event

With many football stadiums and huge music venues such as Wembley and the O2, there are usually plenty of opportunities all year round to make extra money as an events steward.

Pay: From minimum wage.

Job is Job

12) Ironing, cleaning, gardening and the rest

These are tasks which busy people tend not to want to do. And there are plenty of busy people who’d rather pay someone to do their ironing, or whatever, for them. What can you do? Cleaning, gardening, baby sitting there’s always someone who is going to need you meaning ther’s always a way to make extra money in London. Post an advert on Gumtree or in your local shop. Otherwise, check out Grapevine.

Pay: Depend on what you are offering. A great way to find out how much to charge is by checking out the competition.

Jobs Grapevine