When to pause (this week is our turn).

You just got laid off. You never saw it coming. You'd worked there for nine years.

You know you should know what you want to do next. But you don't.

You've been gutting it out for weeks, trying to land an interview, anywhere. And no one is calling.

You've, somehow, acquired a horrible cold, or cough, or crushing headache ... and it's preventing you from doing anything productive whatsoever.

You're stuck. Sick. Confused. Sad. Confounded. Exhausted.

Weary.

For the moment, you're just done.

But, but, but... wait!

You can't be done. You've got to keep moving. Keep scrambling. Keep racing toward that "what's next" if it's the last thing you do.

YOU'VE GOT PROGRESS TO MAKE.

Sound familiar?

If it does, guess what?

It's most likely time to pause.

Not stop.

Pause.

When should you pause?

When you're physically wiped out, incredibly confused about what you should do next, or too emotionally hot, exhausted or mired to make sound long-term decisions.

It happens to all of us sometimes, I swear it does. And many of us try to just steamroll our way right on through.

But guess what? Almost all of us who take that approach end up right back where we started, or worse... 10 steps backwards.

Pause.

Don't freak out about it. Pausing doesn't mean giving up; it means giving yourself what is likely a much needed rest. A much needed opportunity to think. A much needed opportunity to reflect. A much needed time to recover.

A much needed time to decide how you want / need to proceed.

I am about to take my own advice.

Not because I'm the most prudent woman in town; because I ran so hard I got sick.

In fact, I'm writing this as one who had a simple little cold 10 days ago. I ignored it and, just like magic, it morphed into bronchitis and has now earned me a trip to a specialist, just to make sure it's not pneumonia.

I know that everything will be fine. (Don't worry, clients! All systems go for you!)

But here's the lesson in this:

There comes a time in which you're going to spin your wheels at best to keep going and, in the process, you're going to damage your health, relationships or well-being (or all three) if you keep going.

And once you've reached that moment?

It's going to be a much larger pain in the rear to get back on track than it would have been had you listened to your heart, your body and yourself long enough to realize that sometimes ...

It's really just time to pause.

Here at JobJenny.com, we will be pausing for a few days -- not for existing client projects, of course, but we are officially "sold out" of resume and Whole Enchilada packages for October. If you've attempted to order and received a SOLD OUT message, we do hope you'll come back again on Friday, Nov. 1, as inventory will be replenished (and I will, I hope, be well on my way to healthy again).

Got a story about how you failed to listen to your body's urgent PAUSE message? Or a story about how you DID listen to it? Please share in the comments section below!