So, you’re between jobs? It happens to the best of us. Hopefully infrequently, but it happens. It is a trying experience. Emotionally, physically, financially. I have a few tips below for how you can make the best of a bad situation and make it to the other side.
Disclaimer: Read these with an open mind. I know that sometimes overcoming the unemployment blues is easier said than done. It is easier to roll into your little cocoon of no-job-depression. But hear me out.
I know most of the time unemployment is bound to be spent trolling the web for opportunities (such as the Law Street Media job board!) but you need to come up for air from the screen every now and then.
See it as the gift of time. When you’re employed, more often than not your job takes up a good portion of your time. Your free time. Your friend time. Your me time. All of your time. You now not only have your weekends, but your weeks. You’re free as a bird.
Sleep. Think about all those mornings you had to drag your tired bones to work. You don’t have to do that right now! Hit snooze! Enjoy!
I think it’s helpful to still maintain some sense of order. You can let yourself go rogue for a few days, sure. But waking up, getting dressed, and filling your days will combat depression and anxiety.
Become the person you want to be…or the person your resume says you are. Want to learn Photoshop? Do it! You have the time. Want to learn French? Oui? Go for it. There are so many online classes and downloadable podcasts. You could develop or craft an entire new set of skills. You can actually come out of this period of your life for the better. Not as a chubbier, more sarcastic and bitter version of your former self who is on a first-name-basis with the Chinese delivery guy.
Work out. You have time. Go to the gym! Go to yoga! Go for a run! Just go! You’ll feel more confident in interviews if you’re feeling active. There are a lot of free classes and promotions offered, so don’t try to play the money card. Now you’re just being lazy. I’m on to you.
Reconnect. As I said, jobs do have a way of taking over your personal time. Call up your friends. Have them over for game nights, wine nights, movie nights. Whatever floats your boat. You don’t need to hibernate by yourself. Plus, you never know what opportunities your network might know about that you’ll never hear about holed up in your apartment.
Do you even want a job now? Yes? Yeah, I figured. I would too.
Happy hunting!
xo, The Capitalista
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Alexandra Saville (@CapitalistaBlog) is the Media and Writing Specialist at Law Street Media. She has experience in the publishing and marketing worlds and started her own publishing company right out of college. Her blogs, The Capitalista and Capitalista Careers, focus on the young and the entrepreneurial.