6 Professional Tips to Jumpstart Your Career

As we enter professional life, there are some things that aren’t shared. We know 9-5 office life from TV, but what should we actually be doing? Should I be waking up at 6 a.m. to hit the gym before work, skip breakfast, and have an extensive skincare routine?

You should if those are the things you want in life. For me, I would never skip because and would always choose food over exercise. However, no matter who you are or who you want to be, I have rounded up a few professional tips that could help you in your career on the day-to-day:

1. Make your space your own. If you can, you should bring in some items that’ll make your space more yours. Plants, pen holders, mouse pads - these are just a few things you can bring to make the space yours. And of course, little pictures of family, friends, and/or pets can bring some much needed joy to your space.

2. Take breaks. And I am not just talking about lunch breaks. I am talking about getting up, walking around, and even stepping outside. And please, also take a lunch break. Food is important to your workflow (and um living!), so make sure you fuel up to conquer the day. It is recommended you take a mini break at least every hour. I know it is not always possible to take breaks like this depending on where you work. But take a moment to stand and stretch, look out a window, walk around the office - whatever small thing you can do that doesn’t involve staring at a screen. This applies to personal days and vacation time too. Please take your breaks.

3. Separate your professional and personal life. This jumps off the last point. When you are on break, you are clocked OUT. Do not check your email. Do not take a call. Circumstances can be different depending on your job, but be sure to set boundaries with your workplace. If you are always on call, you will never feel rested. Your family will also feel as though they are not important if you keep sneak-checking your emails under the dinner table like a kid texting in class. 9/10 times work can wait until tomorrow.

4. Don’t be afraid to ask questions - but don’t ask the same question twice. In every job, you are learning. And if you have a great job, you are learning every day. So don’t be afraid to ask questions! However, be careful of asking the same questions over and over. Make sure you fully understand something before moving on. Write it down if you have to or ask that they explain it again in a different way.

5. Show up. I mean this in a few ways. First, be on time. Especially for meetings. It is rude to keep people waiting and it makes them feel like they aren’t important or that you do not care for your position. Second, show UP. Dress professionally (and meet industry standards, i.e. bloggers dress differently for work than a corporate office) and comfortable. But most importantly, dress to your style. If you aren’t comfortable, it’ll show. Lastly, make sure you are ready to go - well fed, well prepared, well rested. These three things will bring success. Know your stuff and don’t be afraid to learn, improve, and really smash those goals.

6. Speak up. Don’t be afraid to bring issues or new ideas forward. Don’t let your employer walk all over you in either respect. You have the right to ask for reviews, raises, etc. You are also in the room for a reason, so speak up if you have something you want to say!

I hope you got the main idea that the most important tip of all is to take care of yourself. Without a healthy you, there is no good work. Tired, hangry, grumpy people make more mistakes. And this is your life. Your work does not have to define you. Think about what’s truly important (friends, family, children, your cats), and you’ll see that you need to show up for them, and you can do so by taking care of yourself. Everything else will follow.