Adding activity to your life

Does “exercise” just sound like a chore to you? We’ve all heard the message: exercise is good for you! It helps you sleep better, improves your mental outlook and the list of beneficial effects on physical health keeps growing.

The thing is, we don’t always love what’s good for us, and if you’ve been sedentary for a long time it can be very hard to get started.

Try thinking about being “active” instead! There are all sorts of ways to increase your activity level, and you can make it fun for yourself!

The power of doing nothing… for a few minutes at least

We hear so much about the wonders of meditation – it will help us sleep, make us more creative, lower our blood pressure, alleviate depression and more – but how many of us actually take the time to do nothing but focus on our breath for more than a few moments?

Why not give it a try? Here are some introductory videos to get you started!

(You'll need Adobe Flash Player to see them on this site, or you can click on the title of the video to open a YouTube window) 

One-moment meditation

An engagingly-presented animated video on learning to meditate, starting with a one-minute practice meditation and lots of reassurance.

Beginner’s Guide

Anyone can follow the five easy steps described (and drawn!) in this video to get comfortable, optionally listen to binaural frequencies (to block out extraneous noise) and breathe deeply.

Mindfulness

A live video in which an experienced teacher provides some details (at the beginner level) on techniques for sitting properly, focusing on your breathing, and labelling your thoughts as two students demonstrate.

There are many free resources for meditation on the internet. You can listen to or download free guided meditations, such as the one here: Free Mindfulness Resources. To find more just type something like “meditation download” in a search engine.

And if you’re not convinced about the benefits of meditation, here are some links to articles backed by solid research:

• The science behind meditation, and why it makes you feel better
• 7 Health Benefits of Meditation 
• Mindfulness Meditation Benefits: 20 ReasonsWhy It's Good For Your Mental And Physical Health
• Strongest Study Yet Shows Meditation CanLower Risk of Heart Attack and Stroke

So, perhaps it's time to go do nothing for a while!

Avoid the reject pile!

Let’s say you apply for a job for which you are well qualified: you meet all the requirements, your experience is a perfect match and you have great references to back you up.

Did you know there’s a chance the employer will never find out about you? It’s true – some applications hit the reject pile following the briefest of scans. Here are some easy-to-fix things that can knock you out of the running:

A messy-looking resume

No employer is looking for a sloppy employee, so make sure your resume doesn’t say that about you! Use a clean-looking, simple template (just type “resume template” in a search engine to get started). If your computer skills aren’t strong, make sure you get some help!  

A disorganized resume

Make sure the most important information is near the top and visible. Use standard headings and make sure your content fits the heading. You don’t want your key qualifications to be overlooked because they’re in the wrong place.

Proofreading errors

Depending on who is reviewing resumes, a simple typo can get your entry thrown out. Why? Because attention to detail is a quality that employers look for, and you have just shown that you don’t have it. Your best bet is to take a close look at everything when you think you’re done, and then have someone else look it over too. Even if your word processor catches basic spelling errors, they won’t catch everything – look for inaccurate word choices, missing words and information that is obviously incorrect (often resulting from copy/paste actions that were left unfinished).

Failure to follow directions

This is another quality that is valued by an employer, and if you can’t follow the instructions given in a job posting properly, why would they possibly think you’ll be any different on the job? Read the posting or website instructions carefully and give them what they’re looking for!

For a quick look at these and other mistakes, check out these examples of bad resume elements.

For some more reading on resume "don'ts", check out these "Resumania" articles.

Check your public image before starting a job search

In our tech-savvy world, it’s not always easy to manage your image. We often use the internet, voice mail and other resources for personal communications and forget that others can see or hear.

If you’re looking for a job, it’s especially important to make sure you present yourself well. Check your public image by reviewing the following things:

How does your voicemail message sound? Save that super funny greeting for later use and replace it with a greeting that sounds mature and professional. Speak clearly and keep the message simple – a greeting, your name (optional), phone number and a brief statement about returning calls as soon as possible.

Your email address shouldn’t raise any eyebrows either – no mention of partying, sexual themes or potentially controversial words – instead, just a simple variation on your name or occupation.

Hint:  it’s very easy now to set up a free email address to use just for job searching, and have it forward all messages to your regular one so you don’t miss anything. Use this email address on your resume, job applications and follow ups.

Do you use social networking sites, such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or Instagram? There are countless sites to which you may have supplied information at some point, and many of them can be tracked back to you. Many employers will do an online search to find background information on job applicants. Make sure your privacy settings are set appropriately and take steps to hide or remove information that you don’t want found. It’s always safest to conduct yourself online as though you are in a public place!

The article here makes some great points: Why your image is everything

Psychotherapy resources

As rehabilitation consultants, we work with many claimants who struggle with depression, anxiety, sleep issues, eating disorders, and many other problems that make it difficult for them to maintain a good quality of life. Although we don’t provide treatment, we can certainly help our clients with access to helpful resources.

The following websites are a great start:

• Depression Hurts, from the Mood Disorders Association of Ontario 
• Mental health-related brochures, from the Canadian Mental Health Association
• Workplace Strategies for Mental Health 
• Worksheets and useful tools for cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT)

Welcome to our blog

Our consultants have many years of experience working with insurers, employers, claimants and treatment providers. Along the way we have picked up many great tips and resources and we are thrilled to have a way to share them!

Please keep visiting us here; we'll be updating on a regular basis to provide disability-related resources, great stories, and lots of job search information.

If you would like more information about us, please visit our website! We're here: Salus Cura website