• Jakarta
• Thu, October 13, 2022

When we talk about career, we typically sweat the “big” things: career path, compensation and benefits, company culture and many others on our wish list. The “small” things are usually put on the back burner, to be picked up whenever convenient. 

But do we not all agree that small habits are the foundation of big things in life, including our career? Here are a few that come to mind:

Maintaining an updated resume

It does not come as a surprise that most people only update their resume when they are looking for a new job. That can be once in a few years. It is a classic case of procrastination. Who would make the time to add just a few details to the resume?

But memory often fails us. Those few details may not be there when we update our resume so infrequently. The scope of our project, the revenue we generate for the company, the impact to the bottom line and other information that speaks about our qualifications and achievements in a tangible way. 

Updating our resume is akin to a career reflection: where we are with our skills now, where we want to be in the future with our career and what skills are to be developed in between. That is why it is a good practice to update our resume as soon as there is significant new information, even when we are still in the same job, with the same company. 

Besides, it is always a good thing to have an updated resume on-hand, because we never know when recruiters will come knocking on our door. 

Performing monthly financial reconciliation

Many think that financial management is only about saving money. It is not. Much more than that, it is about awareness. As professionals, we always need to be aware of these three things with regards to our finances:

How much do we actually earn? This requires awareness of how much of our earning lands in our bank account at the end of the day, considering the extras as well as the deductions. Can we sustain with this level of income going into the future?

How much do we spend? Are we aware of the amount of money we spend, where and how? Cash? Credit? Where can we cut our spending without hurting ourselves?

How can we grow our money? Have we built awareness about the many financial instruments out there which can be used to grow our money rather than keeping it in the saving account, earning minimum interest? How do we make the risk versus reward decisions?

Cutting down digital clutters

Ever lost an important file and could not find it in time for a business presentation? Ever accidentally showed embarrassing pictures when trying to show the video from a recent field trip on your cell phone? Inundated by numerous streams of digital information every day, our world is more cluttered than ever and so is our mind.

A cluttered mind makes it hard for us to focus and process our thoughts. We start forgetting things, feeling as if we are pulled in different directions and becoming mentally tired easily. Routine digital decluttering helps alleviate this problem. That meme in your cell phone sent by a colleague to make fun of your boss? Delete it. The outdated draft report from last year? Archive it in a proper folder or send it to Recycle bin. 

How to find time, and more importantly motivation, to do this digital decluttering? It seems like a waste of time, during which we can do more interesting activities. Start small by doing it during idle times; for example, when riding public transportation or queueing for the supermarket cashier. When regularly done, deleting a few unused pictures or organizing a few critical files does not take that much time. We also feel good afterwards because things are in order and easier to retrieve. 

Small is beautiful

Indeed, small things can lead to something big, but only when we are disciplined enough to do them regularly. It is about building a solid foundation, with which we can boost our career. Remember, the devil is in the details!