If you are currently unemployed, you may be stuck in a vicious cycle of searching and applying for jobs. While determination in your job-hunt is a positive thing, don’t let your life be reduced to being ‘a jobhunter’. Here are a few ways to ensure that you don’t:

Find other things to do

While diligently job-hunting, make sure you have other constructive activities filling your time. Not only do employers like seeing that you have spent gaps in your employment wisely, but having other activities in your life will help you from going job-hunter crazy. Whether it’s volunteering, working on a personal project, or learning something new, have something else in your life that you can thoroughly enjoy and that will give you a guilt-free break from the search.

Find the things you have to do, and do them

Once you have non-job-hunting-related activities in your schedule, make time for them! It’s easy to get discouraged, overwhelmed, and confused after an extended period of applying for work. If you have other projects in your life, however, you will always have a goal to work toward and something to pursue. Don’t underestimate the value of having meaningful activities in your life. These ‘extracurricular activities’ may even take a turn toward employment one day, or help you to discover different interests that you didn’t know you had.

Put job-hunting time in a box

Let’s face it: there are more jobs out there that you could potentially apply for than you can even comprehend. It’s hypothetically possible to spend all day, every day applying for work. If there are no limits on the time we spend job-hunting, it is easy to become lethargic, un-motivated and disoriented. When we have an endless amount of time to look for work, we lose motivation to be choosy in the jobs we apply for and be efficient in our use of time applying. Don’t let job-hunting take over your life.

Advice I received from a friend recently was to give myself ‘working hours’ for job-hunting. If I make certain days (or certain time slots within my days) my designated job-hunting time, I am more likely to be focused, determined and goal-oriented in my applications. I won’t waste time on less-worthy applications, and I’ll give 100% to the ones for which I do apply. This maximises my efficiency and productivity and, in the end, means I will produce more quality applications than if I left the job-hunt open-ended.

So – what things are you with your time doing, besides job-hunting?