Being made Unemployed can be one of the most stressful things that can happen to a person. Not only do you lose your regular income but you also lose your identity as an employed person who spends time with colleagues. When you lose your job you are relegated to sitting at home alone whilst everyone else is seemingly working. This can create a lot of negative emotion. Anxiety about finding a new job, financial worries. These negative feelings can even put stresses on relationships. If you have mental health issues it can be even worse.

It is a natural biological reaction to be down at these times but if possible you need to look at the lighter side of the situation. This downtime can actually be a productive situation if approached in a different way.

Your job isn’t your identity

We go to work typically 5 days a week, 8 hours a day, and we get invested in what we do. Love or hate your job you end up identifying with it and whatever status it gives us amongst our friends and colleagues. However, what we must remember is that we are more than that. So much more. We have other dimensions to who we are. We might be a parent and all the joys and responsibilities that come with that. We might be a child or a sibling, and each of these relationships add to us.

So instead of mourning the job you’ve been made unemployed from take the opportunity to reconnect with the other you. The true you. Take this break as a chance to read books you’ve always wanted to read. Go back through all your old CD’s and let them take you back to a pre-job you. This is your time to nurture and refresh yourself

Don’t compare yourself to others

It’s so easy to look back at your old colleagues and compare yourself to them. This is like punching yourself in the face. No good can come of looking back and comparing yourself. Your life has moved on. Theirs hasn’t. You have the opportunity to think about what job you want to do. You could go back into the same career and continue as you were. Alternatively, you could take this as your chance to follow your dreams and do a job that really fulfils you.

Don’t compare yourself to strangers either. When you are out of work and have financial problems it is very easy to find yourself looking at people in brand new cars and thinking you’ll never be able to achieve that. This is not helpful thinking. Whether or not you have the same material assets as them or not isn’t the question you should be asking. Instead, try and put a value on the freedom and opportunities that you have.

Keep a schedule

When we are not working it’s quite compelling to ditch our schedules. If there is no job to go to why not get up at lunchtime? Hey, let’s watch re-runs of tv shows instead of cooking a meal?

As boring as it is the human brain loves a routine. It likes us to get up at the same time and eat breakfast. Preferably in the same place each day. We love structure in our days and if we start to lose it it can impact negatively on our moods.

So try and treat your job search as a job. Get into “the office” for 9am and concentrate on it until lunch. Spend the afternoon on your hobbies or volunteering. A simple fix for a positive mood.

In tough times we need smart tools to help support ourselves.

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