I love being Mr. Mom, and if it paid as well in money as it did in the abundant satisfaction of being a parent to an 8 month old boy, I would not be looking for a new career opportunity. Being Mr. Mom is a FULL-TIME, RIGOROUS position, one that no husband of a wife who watches kids every day should take for granted. But I digress…

The topic of this post is “not pooping out on your job search,” and I can speak from experience on that. At various times during the last two months, I’ve wanted to just remove myself from the battle and get out of town for a day to get a breath. It sure would be relaxing and rejuvenating to get a quick change of scenery, put aside the computer, the cell phone, and not think about THE SEARCH for 24 hours. However, to do that would be to expose any chinks in my armor, and I absolutely don’t wan to do that. There’s some saying about allowing your nemesis to see your wounds, that it gives them a leg up in the battle. Well, if I have any wounds (I’m not admitting to any!), Mr. Unemployment isn’t going to see them.

You also can’t let your kid(s) see that they are getting the better of you while you focus on your job search. They may be too young to know why daddy is suddenly home and caring for them every day when mommy did it for so long. “So, since daddy is home with me, I should be his only focus!” Sorry, kid, you’re top priority, but daddy has to find himself a job, and a darn good one to pay for all of those cans of formula, toys, diapers, the roof over our head, and on and on and on…

The first reminder for you, and the biggest one of all, is to have Perspective. Do what you have to do to care for your kid(s), but when there’s an important phone call or event related to your job search, ask your family and friends to babysit. It’s too easy to go about your day and realize you did nothing to further your job search because the needs of your kid took up all your time — which it should in the perfect world! But really, if you think about your day, there is always time to multi-task. You don’t have to hold your baby 24/7. A plan for each day helps you focus, and if you only accomplish half of what you set out to do, at least you completed half of what you set out to do!

Like right now — my kid is fussing while I’m writing this sentence. I am looking over to him in his excersaucer, and although it sounds like he’s fussing, he’s having a good time, and a quick few minutes to focus on him, then back to writing this post, is all it takes. Perspective on your day is ESSENTIAL to getting your job search movin’.

Also, Perspective will give you Patience. Knowing what your priorities are each day will allow you to tell yourself, “Hey, I have these things to do, and if unforeseen things pop up, I will have time later to accomplish my plans.” Take a deep breath!

Be Positive. Smile, even when you don’t feel particularly happy. Get out of the house, even if you have nowhere particular to go. Reach out to your network of professional contacts for advice and help, even if you think they are too busy to respond.

Be Professional. I’ll admit to you that I conducted a phone meeting related to my freelance business recently while my kid was fussy. I asked the person I was talking to if I could delay our talk for another time. But she said she didn’t mind talking if I didn’t. We continued out talk, but what I should have done was just politely delay our call.

Uh oh, the kid is crying, so it’s a good time to end this post. You see? Perspective!