When I left my job in September, I fully expected to wake up the next day feeling liberated and relieved. After all, I no longer had to go to my old soul-sucking, mental health-destroying job. I had money saved up to get me through a few months, and it was my time to focus on finding a good job. This was my chance to turn my career into something that I found fulfilling and meaningful instead of shallow and fruitless.
Liberated and relieved is not even close.
The first thing I felt was a complete lack of purpose. I didn’t know what to do with myself. I didn’t know how to even begin looking for jobs. As the days progressed, fear and shame started to set in.
I left in the middle of September, and for the remainder of the month, I was unable to do anything other than stress about the things I should have been doing. I beat myself up over my lack of productivity and told myself I was a fool for leaving a job during a pandemic. I’d say to myself, “other people are getting laid off and here I am, a fool who voluntarily quit her job.” Needless to say, my inner dialog was not helpful.
After a few weeks of feeling like crap, I finally decided something had to change. I needed to find a job and figure out what my next move was. Feeling lost without a plan clearly wasn’t doing me any favors.
From that point on, I began implementing daily practices that helped me feel like a normal, productive human again. I’m happy to say I am much healthier and more productive today than I was before I left my job. Nearly two months later, I am here to share my tips for staying sane during unemployment with you.
In this post I cover:
Let’s dive right in.
My Top Two Tips for Staying Sane During Unemployment
Follow a Routine
Creating a daily routine to replace the one you had when you were employed is essential to surviving unemployment. If you worked a 9 to 5, you spent SO MUCH time at work during the day. Now you need to figure out what you are going to do to fill those hours.
I cannot emphasize this enough. Your routine is key to feeling like a functioning human again.
Here are four things to keep in mind when creating your daily routine:
- Your routine should follow whatever daily schedule works best for you. If you are used to getting up at 7 and working at 9, try to implement a routine that does the same. Take your lunch when you took lunch at work, and try to keep your evenings as similar as they used to be to help with your transition. If your old work schedule didn’t suit you, now is the time to experiment with one that does.
- Your routine should include some kind of professional or personal development activity tied to a goal. If your goal is to find another job, your routine should include things like updating your resume and researching companies. My next tip – implementing career development sessions – dives deeper into this. Not only are developmental activities beneficial to finding a job, they also give you a much needed sense of accomplishment.
- It probably sounds cliché at this point, but you should try to include at least one self-care activity in your routine. I don’t care if this is taking a short walk, reading, or watching an hour of your favorite comedy show. Whatever you can do to make yourself feel more like yourself, do it. During times of uncertainty, taking care of yourself is a priority.
- End the productive portion of your routine around the same time every day. Just like your job *should* have a set end time each day, so should your job search. If you spend every waking hour of your day job hunting, you are going to burn out. End the productive portion of your day and go watch Netflix. You’ll be better off for it.
Out of everything I talk about today, creating a daily routine is the easiest way to sane during unemployment.
Implement Career Development Sessions
Career development sessions are chunks of time you dedicate to learning anything related to work and professional development. If your main priority right now is to find a job, your career development sessions will include updating your resume, writing cover letters, and filling out applications.
While you may consider this time just “job hunting,” I prefer to call it career development. If I say, “I have to job hunt today,” I instantly feel dread set in. But if I say, “I have to do a 2-hour career development session today that includes researching resume tips,” it instantly feels more achievable. It’s all in your mindset!
What to include in your career development session:
- Set a dedicated day and time to have your career development session. When I am heavily applying for jobs, my sessions happen every weekday at 10am and last for approximately 5 hours. If I’m really into whatever it is I’m working on, I let them last longer. When I have other priorities, these sessions only happen once or twice a week for roughly 2 hours.
- Each session should have a goal attached to it. When I needed to update my resume, I dedicated several sessions to that specific goal. During my first few resume sessions, I researched what should be included on a resume. Later on, I spent these sessions actually designing and tailoring my resume. To ease yourself into it, it’s okay to have relatively unstructured sessions at first.
- The most interesting career development sessions are the ones that feature some sort of learning aid. This could be reading a related book or article, watching a webinar, or listening to a podcast. When I was working on my resume, I watched the replay of a Career Contessa webinar on identifying strengths at work. It helped me to identify skills to include on my resume and made my strength finding session way more fun.
- Finally, I highly recommend keeping track of your progress each session. I do this by keeping a career development journal where I write what I worked on for the day, what I learned, and what topics I’d like to explore in future sessions. I don’t write much, but summing up what I learned at the end gives me a sense of accomplishment.
If you aren’t actively looking for a job, you can still implement career development sessions. Instead, focus on topics like becoming a better employee, finding balance in your day to day, or having tough conversations. Even more personal development topics – like managing anxiety – are beneficial to work!
Other Great Practices for Staying Sane During Unemployment
Move Your Body
When I first started getting myself out of my post-employment slump, walking to the mailbox at the end of the driveway was one of my favorite parts of the day. Along with getting some fresh air, my body was very thankful to have a break from constantly sitting.
If you can, I highly recommend adding some kind of movement into your daily routine. Whether that be a walk around the block or some gentle chair stretches, any movement is better than nothing.
To be clear, I am not demanding that you go on a run, twist yourself into unnatural yoga poses, or take up kickboxing. Those things are great too, but I really just want you to do something other than staring at a screen all day. If you are wheelchair bound or find walking difficult, even moving to a different room in the house can help!
Spend Time Outside
I recommend spending at least a few minutes outside each day. Along with all the amazing benefits of breathing in the fresh air, getting outside helps squash those feelings of restlessness that come with being stuck at home. I always feel a little better after sitting in the sunshine.
We are in the middle of a pandemic, so please be mindful of your local rules and regulations.
Keep Your Space Clean
I’m not the cleanest person, but I am a big believer in the idea that a tidy space leads to a tidy mind. When my home is messy, I feel like I can’t get anything done. Even though I hate cleaning, I recognize that the mess around me acts as a distraction from things I need and want to do. If you are unemployed and really need to job hunt, it will be a lot easier to focus on updating your resume if your desk isn’t covered in last week’s laundry. Even the smallest tasks become overwhelming when you also need to clean.
Enjoy Yourself
Humans are not meant to be productive 100% of the time, and having some fun is crucial to your success and happiness during unemployment. When you’re crafting your unemployment schedule, make sure you are making time to enjoy yourself.
For me, this looks like socially distanced camping, watching YouTube videos, spending time with my family, and reading before bed. I implore you to make sure you are taking time for yourself during unemployment. While it’s important that you work towards getting another job, it’s even more important to take care of yourself during the process. Remember, we are trying to stay sane during unemployment, not make ourselves even more exhausted.
Final Thoughts (and a Quick Recap) on Staying Sane During Unemployment
It is completely normal to feel a lack of motivation and the onset of shame and fear when you lose your job. It doesn’t matter if you quit, were fired, or were laid off because of a pandemic; leaving your job without a backup plan is uncomfortable. The six tips I shared today are key in my ability to feel like a normal, functioning adult while unemployed.
To recap, the most important thing you can do to stay sane during unemployment is create a functional daily routine to replace your old work routine. If my experience speaks to anything, it’s that having a daily routine is the most effective way to pull yourself out of a slump.
The second most important thing you can do – particularly if you need to find another job – is to implement career development sessions. These sessions are your dedicated time to work towards that goal of getting hired. Keeping these sessions short, especially at first, is a great way to ease yourself back into job hunting when you’re dreading the job application process.
Finally, I encourage you to move your body, spend time outside, keep your space clean, and find ways to enjoy yourself during unemployment. Losing your job is incredibly stressful. Anything you can do to minimize that stress and help your mental health is crucial.
It’s now mid-November and I am still unemployed, but I am happy to say I’m no longer in a slump. My mental health has improved dramatically since September and I’m much more optimistic because I’m taking care of myself.
I hope you found these tips helpful to staying sane during unemployment. There are still going to be hard day where shame and fear creep in. But if you can stick to a daily routine, you’ll be much better for it.
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