Avoid Depression: Make an Adventure of the Recession
Fun is not a word usually associated with an economic slump. But if you’ve lost your job or your savings or your business is slow, you have a choice to make. You can stay in bed and mope or you can stay positive, get creative and make the best of your time. Below are some ideas I’m currently living by and imparting to my life coaching clients. In between job searching, resume sending and marketing schemes you could:
– Get affordable vocational training, or certifications to beef up your resume.
– Learn to cook, sew, knit, paint, draw, and take digital photos. Anything you’ve been meaning to try that’s affordable to learn and practice.
– Use your gym membership! Make your health and fitness a priority if you already pay for it. Go every other day or more if you have new time on your hands.
– Hike trails, jog your neighborhood and talk to your neighbors, climb the tallest stairs you can find. Use your bike or kayak. Join a sports team. This is your free (or very low cost) gym!
– Use your health insurance. If you have it, get up to date on check-ups, dental cleanings, mammograms, pap smears.
– Research affordable private insurance or catastrophic insurance if you don’t have any. Or call providers to see if they give cash discounts if you don’t have insurance.
– Learn to jar, preserve and freeze local fruit and veggies in the summer. This will save you money next fall and winter when prices for produce are unreasonable.
– Get reacquainted with your library. Learn for free instead of buying books. Check out movies, documentaries, educational films and music on CD!
– Organize your home. It’s an easy way to gain a sense of accomplishment and peace and to see where you may have spent in excess.
– Finally succumb to updating your house with money and energy and water-saving tips like Compact Fluorescent bulbs, power strips, and low-flow shower heads.
– If you’re out of work, stop using the car and become a bus-rider and power-walker. Appreciate how cool it is that being out of work for a while helps you save the earth.
– Carpool or take the bus if you still have a job. Save money on gas, maintenance and wear and tear on your vehicle.
– Network. You now have the time to have coffee with people you’ve been meaning to follow up with. They may help you find work or be excellent contacts when things pick up again.
– Meet new friends. Try out groups of people who share your interest and hobbies. Join a book club, writing group, bowling league, basketball team.
– Volunteer. You now finally have the time to give to others. Every psychological study, religion and 12-step program promises that helping others is the ticket to staying happy and sane when life feels rough. Let it be somewhere local you can walk or drive to.
People who are desperate don’t do well in job interviews. People who are healthy, boredom-free, happy and positive bring that energy into their new workplace. If you faithfully do even a few of the items listed above, you will be prepared to ride the economic waves and come out the other end physically and emotionally fit and full of life. Surf’s Up, Dude!
Amen to that! I would say that people who are desperate don’t do well on first dates, either. Which is why I tend to view them as job interviews.
These are some very good tips :). It’s very true, when you’re out of a job it’s good to get out and enjoy the time that you have off because once you start working – that’s it, no more free time to do cool stuff 🙂
I second the volunteering suggestion- I make volunteering a regular part of my life, and I always leave with a smile on my face. I’ve met so many inspiring and wonderful people, and my life has been much enriched because of it.
And so my adventure begins…
Today I was laid off from my job of 12 years. This morning, my dept of 15 nurse case managers was ushered into a room and given information about our severance. Our company has 4000 employees- but we were the first 15. I am trying to not have it feel personal– but it does. Others in my same position, with less seniority- are keeping their jobs– only because the company decided to close our region’s department- and other regions went thru unscathed.
I am getting paid full pay for one month, then severance of one week for each year, then vacation pay owed me. Then I would qualify for unemployment… and I have a few months emergency money stashed away. It’s still scary knowing the whole family relies on me…(me, hubby, and the 4 little ones).
I am taking the next few days to regroup- then begin the job search.
DivaJean: I’m really sorry to hear this news… you’ve written many times about being the bread winner for your family and I can imagine that your loss feels very overwhelming at the moment.
Over the last ten years, I’ve worked for several startup software companies… some good, some not so good. The point being I’ve been laid off a number of times. The best advice I was given the first time it happened was this: start your job search today!
Often times, people with a severance check will say, “I’m going to take a couple of weeks off and then I’ll start looking.” Don’t! Find a job first. You can always delay the start date by two weeks to squeeze in true down time.
Plus, by making your job search the focus from day one, you keep the “work mode” momentum working for you. Treat it like a job each morning with assignments and goals (and of course, you still will have plenty of time to fit in many of Moorea’s suggestions above).
If you don’t have an adequate home office – with a desk, computer and Internet access – then make that today’s goal. Next, create a spreadsheet of contacts… because your network is how you’re going to find your next job! You should treat this spreadsheet like a project plan.
I’ve used this approach and have coached many friends with this method… if you need help or inspiration, I’m happy to email or speak with you on the phone. I’m sorry you’re hurting… as one of our community members, I’d like to do what we can to help you.
Oh, no! Diva Jean, I’m so sorry to hear about your job. Best of luck with the new job search. I’ll be sending some good chi in your direction.
Hey DivaJean — sorry to hear about your loss. When I was laid off, it did and didn’t feel personal. Yet in the end, it is all “business decisions” so follow what Don Miguel Ruiz has to say in “The Four Agreements” – don’t take anything personally.
Grab the momentum you can and ensure you take a job that is a good fit for you and not just a desperation move. Those desperation moves never work out 🙂
Sending you my best!