Are you currently unemployed? Looking for a new career just waiting for the right opportunity?
Being out of work can be one of the hardest times in your life. We spend most of our lives working so to be out of a job can hugely knock your confidence and turn your life upside down. For some people their job is who they are, it’s their identity, it is their livelihood.
Here are some useful tips to help get you through being unemployed –
Routine
Get yourself into a daily routine. Set your alarm for the same time every morning, get showered, get dressed and have breakfast. Start as you mean to go on. Structuring your day will enable you to be more productive, having a structured routine will make you feel better rather than just wasting your time, routine is good.
Goals
Come up with a list of daily or weekly goals, write them down. Try to achieve all of these goals whilst job searching, baby steps will get you far, it is not a race! It is far better to set yourself little targets to work towards than put too much pressure on yourself to get to the end goal of finding a job and feeling overwhelmed.
Get out!
Have you been spending too much time at home since being unemployed? Leave the house for a few hours a day, catch up with a friend for coffee to get out there and get some social interaction, job searching can be an isolated process. Go for a walk and get some fresh air, a change of scene will be good for you mentally and might clear some of your stresses.
Talk it out
You are not the only person out of work, plenty of people are in the same boat. Try joining some groups in your area, people in similar situations might be able to suggest new ideas and provide social support. Join professional organisations within the industry you are looking to work in or have worked in, this will keep you up to date within the industry and you will meet others who are in that field. This provides networking opportunities which can be helpful for job searching as well as providing that social interaction you are missing out on from not being in the work environment.
Contribute
To keep your skills up to date, think of ways that you can contribute them to other causes. Perhaps volunteer for an organisation that means something to you so you can help someone else whilst staying current and still use your skills and experience.
You might not realise but being unemployed can play a big part on your mental health and wellbeing, try some of the above tips to help maintain a positive state of mind whilst job hunting.