The Vacuum After Job Loss

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The Mr Job Tracker Job Search Learning and Coaching Program. (Resume writing, interviews, everything your Job Search needs) Helping you to get the job you want .... faster. Mr Job Tracker (thinkific.com)

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A vacuum is a space devoid of matter, substance form or thought. That’s how some people have described to me the feeling after losing their job. Psychologists liken these feelings to grief in all its forms and they consider job loss to be an impactful life event and so it deserves serious consideration. Dealing with job loss, whether expected or not can be a substantial challenge for anyone.

I am talking mostly here about retrenchment or redundancy, but all of the elements of this discussion can apply to any form of job loss and the subsequent challenge of making your next move. The subject is even worth consideration in relation to a normal planned resignation and move to a new job.

No matter what the situation or level of notice, most people experience a mixture of emotions associated with job loss and this can occur in different ways over varying periods of time. So, you might find yourself feeling despondent one day, positive the next day and confused the day after. You are definitely not alone as that kind of reaction is completely normal. Dealing with job loss and the emotional and physical challenges of finding your next job are not to be underestimated.

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Re-establishing your routine is one of the principal platforms you can use to take the first steps in dealing with job loss and planning your next career move. Most of us have experienced a work life that is characterized by routine. You get up at a certain time, travel to work, have responsibilities to fulfill that require actions and so forth. At the end of the day, you go home and have a routine through the evening, and you start all over again the next day. On the weekends you have a combination of free time and routine responsibilities. Suddenly, a major part of your week's routine (maybe 40-60 hours including travel) is taken away and replaced by a vacuum. That change alone can cause confusion.

This can lead to all the non-work parts of your routine being spread in a random way across the week with no real structure and a great deal of time wastage. This lack of structure and routine, in my opinion, is a principal cause of a malaise that some people experience in the initial stages of job loss. Also, there is now a distinct difference in your responsibilities. With your old job, people or systems depended on you to perform actions. In your new role (finding your next job), if you do not get out of bed and make things happen, then nothing happens. Everything is up to you! That may look like a small difference, but for some people it is a major change which contains significant challenges. Some people react by taking on some practical tasks that they were ignoring when they were too busy working. Fixing the car, painting the house or attending the course you always wanted to do on Asian Cuisine. While such activities can form a useful part of your new routine, they should not overshadow the main game of formulating your objectives and establishing activities towards your next career step.

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Establishing A Routine Could Be the Answer A response to this, that seems artificial in a way, is to impose a routine across your week. For example, Monday to Thursday you dedicate a certain amount of your time to your job search. Then you don't feel so guilty if you decide to play golf on a Friday.

Having a routine with structured tasks as part of your weekly job search schedule also has another benefit. It enables you to tick off the achievement of smaller milestones on your way to the big objective of finding your next job. The achievement of these smaller milestones then gives you your own feedback that you’re making progress and contributes to emotional wellbeing.

Re-establishing a routine is not the whole story of how you can respond effectively to the emotional and physical challenges of job loss. However, it does represent a good foundation upon which you can respond and step up to the job search challenge.

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There are two other strategies for dealing with job loss that I will discuss in another newsletter, but they are important enough to refer to briefly here. The first is that physical exercise (even if it’s walking a bit more than you walked each day within your work routine) contributes to emotional and psychological well-being and there is much research that validates this observation. So, get a bit of movement going - it won’t do you any harm and, according to the research I have read, it will do some good.

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The second strategy is to get a friend or mentor to talk to periodically about what you are doing in your job search. This might be someone who has been through job search before, it might be a family member, or it might simply be someone you respect. Having the outward look that comes from discussions with this person is, in my experience, very helpful in managing your way through the complexities of a job search.

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That’s all for now? ….? Have a great week.????????????????? Phillip Powell

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The Mr Job Tracker Job Search Learning and Coaching Program. (Resume writing, interviews, everything your Job Search needs) Helping you to get the job you want .... faster. Mr Job Tracker (thinkific.com)

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