Daylight saving time will end this Sunday at 2 A.M. The time shift tomorrow means you’ll turn your clocks back and “gain” one extra hour. To help you get the most out of this time, CNBC Make It asked experts for their tips on how you can use that hour to get an edge on your career.
Use this hour to conduct a check-in with your goals, bestselling author Jen Sincero told CNBC Make It.
Take stock of your strengths and weaknesses and plot out what you’ll need to do to turn your big goals into realities. You can also use this time to connect with a peer or friend who can keep you on track, said Sincero, the author of the upcoming motivational book “You Are a Badass Everyday.”
You might even split your extra hour into smaller blocks of time, conducting check-ins at key points during the day, such as in the morning or evening, said Marsha Haygood, a career coach and founder of professional development firm StepWise Associates.
These check-ins could be the start of a new routine that keeps you motivated and progressing toward your goals, Sincero said. “Doing this is like going to the gym to stay strong. If you don’t exercise your success muscles, you risk slipping backward.”
If you’re exhausted and overworked, don’t use your extra hour to “get ahead,” said Leah Weiss, a lecturer on compassionate leadership at Stanford Graduate School of Business. “Regard the bonus hour as an opportunity to step back from the grind.”
Take this chance to catch up on your rest and start Monday refreshed. A study released this summer found that those who got less than 5 hours of sleep a night were nearly 30 percent less productive the next day than those who slept for 7 or 8 hours.
“Sleep is not wasted time,” said one of the study’s researchers. “It’s wisely invested time.”
In addition to resting, Weiss told us you could also recharge by spending time with a friend or simply reflecting in a journal. The more rushed you are, she said, the less compassionate and productive you will be in the week ahead.
“If we can use the extra hour toward feeling more rested or clear on our priorities, our work will be improved,” added Weiss.
Take a moment to make a list of twenty people whose careers you admire, said Dev Aujla in his book “50 Ways to Get a Job.” This won’t be a list of celebrities, but people in your industry. If you’re stuck for ideas, Aujla said you can check out “top 30” and “top 50” lists of creative and successful people.
Study the names on your list to better understand how these individuals have navigated their careers and what skills they’ve attained. You might even track the types of events they attend and get those types of professional events on your calendar, too.
Consider reaching out to one or two people on the list for coffee, explaining that you want to know more about their careers and how you can learn from their example.
Consider writing an email or letter to a work friend or colleague you haven’t seen in a while. You might even write a few personalized thank you notes, Haygood told Make It.
Make the notes timely and sincere, reflecting on something that your colleagues taught you that you’ve recently put to use. You might even congratulate your colleagues on a successful project they’ve recently completed, sharing how much you learned from their work.
These letters will only take a few minutes to write, but they’ll “set you apart from the crowd and build your brand,” said Haygood. In short, they’ll “make people remember you.”
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