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Step 1
Establish a routine. Not having to get up and go to work in the morning may seem like a benefit of unemployment. But without a daily routine, your life can unravel pretty quickly. Make yourself a daily schedule and stick to it.
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Step 2
Contact your support system. Even though unemployment is nothing to brag about, talk to your friends and family about your situation. Their support may give you the emotional boost you need to get through this difficult time. Also, they may be able to help you find work, at least on a temporary basis.
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Step 3
Adjust your budget. There's no way to know how long unemployment will last, so until you have a steady paycheck again, cut unnecessary expenses. Happy hour is not so happy when it doesn't follow a full day of work and unemployed people have plenty of time to pick up their own dry cleaning. Eliminate all non-essentials from your budget temporarily.
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Step 4
Research free and inexpensive entertainment. Surviving unemployment requires occasional fun. Find out where the dollar movie theater is and which day they offer half price popcorn. Make note of all the free entertainment options available to you, from a walk at the local park to dinner once a week at Mom and Dad's house.
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Step 5
List your contacts. You will need contacts to get back into the workforce. Make a list of all the people you interacted with while you were on the job. Include casual acquaintances from other companies in your building, vendors you regularly do business with and friends of friends you met at lunch. It feels good to see how many people you actually know. One of them could be your ticket back to the 9-to-5 world.
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Step 6
Volunteer. Of course, this is not a substitute for finding a paying job, but volunteering gives you a purpose and helps structure your day. Through volunteering, you will stay in touch with working people and have an opportunity to demonstrate you abilities. Volunteering could also bring you into contact with people who are worse off than you are, helping you realize that unemployment isn't the worst thing that could happen to you.
Comments
rhapsodi13 said
on 10/23/2009 find a hobby that you enjoy and get paid to do this while you are looking for a perm job. House sitter (for those "snowbirds), dog-walker, land scape ok mowing the lawn, delivery or shuttle service (this is what I do on the weekends with referals from family and VERY close friends)to and from local grocers or laundry center. Advertise Tutoring services at local College or University billboard, don't forget to get permission from Main Office to post Ur ads.
myriame68 said
on 7/26/2009 great advice, check out my unemployment articles
http://www.examiner.com/x-16583-Dallas-Unemployment-Examiner
hope they help someone, i have been going through this with my husband having difficulty finding steady work.
sodacon said
on 7/23/2009 Everyone hopes they are never in that situation, however I can't imagine eating starchy food as described above, or cheap beer. You have to have energy from good food to feel good about yourself and be able to accomplish things, employed or not. There are local stores everywhere with cheap fruit and vegetable produce. You can't survive a down time by eating unhealthy. No matter what my employment situation, eating healthy is my number one priority.
28yearoldguy said
on 7/23/2009 I should also mention spirituality has helped me quite a bit through these times. I personally read alot of zen. I reccomend Bruce Lees book Tao of Jeet Kune Do not for the fighting lessons but the philosophy. In times like this one must realize thier own inner strengthe is all they really need. One must not define themselves in money or a job.
28yearoldguy said
on 7/23/2009 By the way...almost everyone can find work somewhere. It all depends on how much you want to degrade yourself in some crap fast food job or labor job. Personally id rather hold out for the real job and live cheap.