We recently posted on the rare few who are finding an upside to being downsized: more time with family, friends and leisure activities. One management consultant, in a provocative, worth-reading essay on the Harvard Business Review’s Web site, suggests that those who are out of a job may want to try a similar strategy: stop looking so hard for a job, and instead spend time doing activities you love, with other people.

 

The author, Peter Bregman, writes that people should quit spending their waking hours trolling job boards and sending out resumes. He recommends that people spend, at most, 1-2 hours a day on the job search, and the bulk of that time should be spent meeting with people, rather than on job sites, since finding a job or clients is usually based on real human relationships, rather than through anonymous Web sites.

 

The rest of the time, he suggests, should be spent doing things that you love. Start by making a list of all the things you love to do, or that interest you, or that you’d like to try. Separate out the activities that involve other people from activities that you do alone (such as reading, writing or meditating.) Then, he recommends, spend 90% of the time doing those activities on your list with other people who also like doing those things.

Why should this strategy work? “Other people will notice your commitment, passion, skill, and personality and they’ll want to either hire you or help you get hired,” writes Mr. Bregman. He argues that the tactic will also make you a more dynamic, happier person, which can make you a more appealing candidate for employers.

 

If you land a job interview through your contacts, for instance, “you’ll be able to recount all the many things you’ve been doing (and will probably have a good time relating them) instead of saying that the only thing you’ve been doing for the past three years is looking (unsuccessfully so far) for a job.”

 

He acknowledges that many people will dismiss this strategy as one only available to the independently wealthy, who aren’t terrified about putting food on the table. But he argues that the “stop looking so hard” strategy should help anyone find a job faster, and with more enjoyment. He likens it to examples of people who find the loves of their lives when they aren’t actively looking for a date, or who get pregnant when they’re not trying.

 

What do you think of this “don’t look so hard” strategy? How did you find your job? Were you actively pursuing it? Or did it find you?