How to Cope with Job Loss and Unemployment Stress
Indeed, losing a job can be very exhausting mentally, physically, and financially; nevertheless, their things that can be done to regain control of the situation to avoid a downward spiral.
The stress of losing a job
Regardless of what led to your unemployment, this experience is an unfortunate and stressful one. Apart from the financial implications that come with the loss of a job, it can also affect your mental and physical well-being.
Jobs are not just a means of survival; jobs orient our ways of life. Even if you didn’t love your job, it likely provided you a social outlet and gave a structure, purpose, and meaning to your life. Suddenly finding yourself out of work can leave you feeling hurt, angry, or depressed. You might be questioning your identity, grieving all that you’ve lost, or feeling anxious about what the future holds.
Coping with job loss stress tip
1. Allow yourself to mourn the loss
There is no way not to be shaken by the news of dismissal, and it is normal for discouragement to overtake. The way is to embrace that discouragement for a while, cry, get depressed and then throw all that negative energy out and make room to be willing and move on. “Spend time alone, but not long.”
2. Focus on positive things
Thinking about the things that didn’t work in the old job doesn’t help. What you can do is keep your attention focused on the good things you have professionally. Improve the curriculum, study a little more, research new market possibilities, develop new projects, and investigate which areas have opportunities.
3. Reassess your professional performance
Thinking about what went wrong is bad, but thinking about your posture in a more impartial way can be fundamental for improving as a professional and as a person. Suddenly, if you were too shy, start working on your social skills. If you were having trouble delivering projects on time, consider that punctuality is a positive aspect and look for ways to speed up your productivity or, at the very least, reduce your distractions. Learning from mistakes is essential.
4. Surround yourself with people who can help you
Creating a good network of professional and personal relationships is essential, regardless of your area of expertise. For example, now, make a mental survey of how many stories you know of people who have already got jobs thanks to someone’s referral. Were you able to remember any case? Possibly, yes. The idea here is to meet people in your area and participate in events, lectures, courses, workshops, and Facebook groups. Anything goes, as long as the people who worked around or with you, know that you exist, that you are a nice and qualified person, and looking for a job. Whenever one of them finds out about a vacancy, she/he will remember you. This is really how it works.
5. If it is to save something, save money, not bitterness
Your former boss sent you away because it was necessary. There is no point in reminiscing about the scene every five minutes and thinking about how cool it would be to see the person who took your job hitting a block. Let it go. A grudge is a bad feeling that only brings us negative thoughts. Accepting the reality helps to lessen the pain that comes with the loss of job. The rule is to think less about the job that went wrong and more about future opportunities: focus on tomorrow.
Eight things you shouldn’t do if you lost your job
At the moment of unemployment, the tension increases, but you need to maintain control. Check out these eight tips of what you shouldn’t do.
1. Discourage
Of course, losing a job is a big blow. But it is in times of difficulty that it is necessary to gather strength, stop thinking negatively or look for reasons to explain the situation, “why me?.”
Take the time to reflect, let off steam with close friends and family. In addition to receiving such important people’s support, it is in these conversations that new ideas and motivation to deal with this new experience emerge.
2. Toasting the money leftover or received
Did you receive money from termination, and will you receive unemployment benefit? Great! See this money as a reserve that must be used with great intelligence and as the basis for maintaining you while trying to return to the job market. Do not be tempted to spend without thinking about tomorrow.
3. Make big life-changing decisions
Many people assimilate these moments as if they were a “sign” to take courage and follow those dreams of leaving everything and going to another country and start again or take a trip of months to think about life.
All of this looks great, and it is, as long as it is done with planning. However, decisions based solely on the heat of emotion can result in major financial difficulties in the future.
4. Avoid increase fixed costs and purchasing things
Avoid hiring services that will generate fixed monthly costs or buy expensive goods, whether paid in cash or installments. That desire to change cars needs to be reviewed and all the expenses of the house as well.
5. Ignoring the real financial situation
Raising monthly costs is critical to maintaining financial balance and knowing what can be cut and maintained. One tip is to put everything in a spreadsheet to have a financial picture of your condition.
After that, analyze how much you have to cost per month. If you are going to receive unemployment benefit, try to spend less than you earn and save a part. It may be necessary to make cuts, and that saving could mean that extra money that will save a month ahead.
6. Avoid making a high-risk investment
There will always be those opportunities that seem unmissable, and that promise to be the solution to all problems. Do not spend your rich money on those courses with formulas that promise wealth quickly, or make high-risk investments if you are unaware.
There is no magic formula for making money; you need to take the time to study hard about the opportunity to monetize your money.
7. Not chatting at home
Do not try to hide your reality from the family, because in addition to not doing well for the harmony of the house, doing so is very risky. This is because other people will be following life with the same consumption habits, and at some point, they will know that the situation is different.
It is better to have a frank dialogue right from the start so that everyone can contribute somehow – be it paying attention, thinking together about alternatives to get around, and, of course, being able to count on the people you love to help in that fleeting moment.
8. Not looking for work
Staying at home receiving unemployment benefit and not looking for work to not lose the benefit is an option adopted by many. This option may work in the short term, but staying out of the labor market for months, which is already difficult, is a big risk – one hour the benefit ends, and it is not possible to predict how long it will be to get a new job.
Bonus tip:
Being unemployed is very bad but failing to take advantage of the time available in this situation is even worse. There are many learning opportunities.
Take the opportunity to understand more about your finances, learn how to deal with money, learn about the investments available, and of course, watch videos related to your area of expertise, read blogs of professionals specializing in careers, and so on. Be aware of the relocation initiatives that take place in your city.
Conclusion
It is important not to be afraid and not to let pride keep you from starting over. If the job was formerly a manager and today, the available position is a salesman, this does not mean taking a step back, but taking a step forward for a new start.