15 Easy Career Development Activities To Boost Your Career Growth

Have you been completely immersed in the business as usual lately that you’ve taken little to no action to invest in yourself? We invest our time and energy into the company we work for, our day jobs, work schedules, day-to-day tasks, family actions, the household demands.

Yet we forget the greatest asset we should continue investing in – ourselves.

Repeat after me: I am my greatest asset.

Yet many of us say we don’t have enough time for self-development.

Do we really? We spend on average 2 HOURS a day on social media! We can surely free some of this time and spend it on our professional growth.

So here are 15 EASY and FAST career development activities and ideas which will take very little of your time. But will give a powerful boost to your personal growth.

1. Listen to an audiobook or a podcast during your commute. Listening is the new reading. It can be done anywhere and anytime – driving, doing house chores, walking, having lunch, or even having a bath. You just soak in the knowledge. If you want to give it a try, I recommend Amazon Audible. It allows easy book swaps in case you chose a book you don’t fancy. Plus unlimited listening to Audible original podcasts, episodic documentaries, comedies and more! 

2. Keep a journal. Reflect on your successes in the evening. Celebrate your accomplishments. Regardless of how big or small. This will boost your confidence and self-belief. And forgive yourself for failures. Negative self-talk not only smashes your confidence but can also spiral into anxiety and depression. Take a more positive view and remind yourself that failures are learning opportunities.

3. Read a book in 10 minutes. Time – our most limited resource. Knowledge – our most valuable asset. If you’re struggling to find time to read inspiring personal development books, then why not read a whole book in as little as 10 minutes? Yes, getAbstract is a game-changing platform for personal development reading. Annual membership costs £82 – the cost of 4-5 books. But instead, you get access to 5000 book summaries, as well as audio summaries. Check them out HERE.

4. Set up Google Alerts for your sector of interest. You can customise the frequency (daily, monthly etc). Reading the most popular articles will give you ideas on how to stay more competitive as well as teach you new things. It’s such an easy professional development activity yes so few people use it!

5. Have an informal feedback coffee chat with people you work with/stakeholders. Enjoy a cup of tea or coffee while getting valuable feedback. What do they think you do well or need to improve? Check these engaging networking questions to ensure you have a meaningful conversation.

6. Look at job ads in your sector. Even if you’re not actively looking for a new job! Which ones appeal to you? What are the skills and knowledge required which you don’t currently have? These are development areas you should focus on in preparation for your next career move.

7. Aim to learn at least 1 thing every day. Regardless of how small it is. If you’re looking to expand your general knowledge, check Reddits such as ‘Today I learned’. For industry-specific knowledge, the easiest way is to follow experts on social media.

8. Follow inspirational and knowledge-sharing accounts on social media. You will learn new things without even realising it! Check out our growing Facebook community of ambitious corporate girls. We motivate and inspire each other every day to take charge of our careers by sharing empowering and interesting content and reads.

9. Become a mentor. People think there’s only value in being mentored. Here are just some of the skills you can develop if you become a mentor yourself –  leadership, communication, listening, understanding, empathy, patience and so much more!

10. Start your day positive. When you’re in good mood, you are more motivated and learn things better and more quickly. Start with a positive affirmation such as:

• Today will be a great day.
• I will achieve my goals.
• I am a focused, organised, [insert your strength here] person so I can tackle any challenges. 

11. Learn to say NO. You can’t help everyone, with everything and give your all to all aspects of your life. Commit to many things and you fail to prioritise the truly important things. This is a critical career mistake. Ask yourself:

• Is it my job to do it?
• Is it in line with my goals, professional and personal?
• Can I learn something from it, develop a new skill, or make a valuable connection?
• Will it have positive impact on my performance appraisal or career?

12. Meditate. As little as 2-3 min is enough to give your body and mind a rest, to allow you to detach yourself for a short period of time from everything and be in the moment. Just focus on your breathing and your body sensation. If your mind wanders gently bring it back. Without any judgment.

13. Have brain breaks during the day doing something creative, such as adult colouring books, lego, and puzzle. Aside from helping you relax from the work stress, you also become more creative and able to generate new, fresh and better ideas for your business.

14. Become a speed reader. Apps such as Spreeder train you to read quickly without losing comprehension. It’s a skill in itself AND will allow you to then read new information faster.

15. Test your skills. Try the Mindtools.com free quiz resources and test how you do for different skills – from team management, through problem-solving to decision-making.