Coping with a Layoff: POST STICKIED SO PLEASE CONTRIBUTE.

[overshoot]

EDIT BY ADMIN DENNER... Thank you for posting this. I am going to sticky this post at the top as a place where we can all share ideas about Layoffs and work related problems. This was something I was thinking about already so I'm glad someone else started it. So this will be anchored at the top of the Financial Page for the time being..

Thank you all in advance for the good advice that will be collected here for all to share. REMEMBER we get through this with the help of our friends and neighbors, EVEN IF WE LIVE half a world apart from each other and have never really met in person.

I thought that this might be a timely topic.   Having been laid off twice in 18 months during the 'tech wreck' of 2002, I learned a few valuable lessons.   I thought I would start a list and others could provide their thoughts and experiences as well.


1) You are NOT your job.  Try to separate yourself from your professional identity.

2) Exercise.  Every day for at least a half hour.  An hour a day is better.  Exercise and being in shape will help you feel good about yourself and deal with the stresses that follow a job loss.  It will also help with your confidence which is vitally important when job searching.

3) Try to look as this as a gift.  I didn't lose my job, I got a summer (and fall and winter) vacation.   I took up hiking and drawing.  I never made time for these before and now enjoy two great hobbies.

4) Volunteer.  I worked in a nursing home a couple nights per week.  Believe me, the problems I was experiencing were minor in comparison to the issues these wonderful people were dealing with.


Just some thoughts, hope they help.

Overshoot

[guitarguy423]

5) Take a course (or two) at your local (community) college. You never know what you'll learn
and who you'll meet.

[chopper]

5) Take a course (or two) at your local (community) college. You never know what you'll learn
and who you'll meet.

its also good to take advantage of extra time to get new skills. aim for ones that 1) may be of help in a recession and 2) may be useful in a new post-recession economy.

[haniel]

My advice is for everyone who is working to assume that they will get laid off and plan accordingly. Then hope/pray for the best.

[skrysakj]

My article written on this topic should also be helpful:

How to Endure Unemployment
http://nordicranger.wordpress.com/how-to-endure-unemployment/

[wiccawench]

Layoff causes negative stress. You need to keep an eye on it and watch your own reactions.

It will affect self.....and any other members of the family......your spouse/partner and your children.

Be aware of 'kids eavesdropping' what they take away from a stressed out conversation will be uncertainly and a bit of fear.

talk to them in 'kid language' about the changes..... and be as honest as you can.... including them in 'knowing' what is going on age appropriate will make YOU feel better too....as it is a pull up your sox moment.

If you are married...... be NICE to each other as i imagine this is one of those..... grow closer or grow apart moments. Keep it in your mind one thing that matters right now is put time into your relationships.... let's face it....you have the time.

Establish a new daily routine.....and that means continue to get up and get dressed as if you are going to work.......NO SLEEPING IN DURING THE WEEK.......I cannot stress this enough. Limit time online and get outside and DO something physical is so important.

Include something for self.....something for family, (ie honeydo list  ) and use the extra time to strengthen your physical and emotional fortide and health..... (eg ride a bicycle...improve fitness).... volunteer whatever you can think of to keep you socially connected.....and of course..... deal with looking for another job.

As a doomer i think that a lot of the things that go with layoffs are probably part of your skill base.....but then if not use the time to increase your knowledge or skills.

[hoopers2]

I think PO pretty much guarantees most US jobs will disappear, or at least change in scope and pay.   Now I am thinking out 3-5 yrs from now. If its not the first round of cuts, then it will be the 2nd, 3rd, or following layoff....

My experience is the first round of layoffs at a company is usually the best package....by the later rounds, the company is usually short of cash, and is not looking to give any decent separation package....

So if you do get layed off, it might be better to be laid off sooner than later...assuming your company is going down the tubes, like many seem to be.

I read an article a few days ago, maybe on this board....be prepared to be unemployed for at least 2 yrs...hard times are coming!!!

JMO.

[Anarchist]

Got laid off from Pratt&Whitney when oil spiked. They closed thier test facility down and ran back to Montreal

[wiccawench]

My article written on this topic should also be helpful:

How to Endure Unemployment
http://nordicranger.wordpress.com/how-to-endure-unemployment/

EXCELLENT ADVICE....

(not sure about the shower thing..... i would say..... shower with a friend......) LOL!

[skrysakj]

EXCELLENT ADVICE....

(not sure about the shower thing..... i would say..... shower with a friend......) LOL!

Thanks redreamer! And, I think your advice on showering with a friend is something I should add. 

I turned out the lights once, to bug my wife while she was in the shower, and that prompted her to inform me that as a child they
were used to showering that way... or by candle light. Power was very intermittent in Ecuador while she was growing up and outages
were common, frequent, and part of life.

[Max und Moritz]

Don´t hide, don´t shut others out or yourself in. Unemployment is NOT something to be ashamed of - and you´re NOT alone. Network with others in the same situation and your chances at a new job, even a bridging job, will increase exponentially. Swap interests, ideas, contacts, calls to acquaintances, share job ads  - scratch one anothers´ back.

Let everybody know you´re on the market for any new, unusual, even exotic job chances where you can put to use your hobbies and "unimportant" skills (a pal of mine got a job playing the organ in a funeral parlor. Another one, who had two smart poodles, apprenticed herself to a retired circusman and became herself a travelling dog-trick show-woman for hire for corporate parties, kids´ birthdays etc. Another one who liked alternative healthcare learned to do healing massages. I walked dogs for a time, cleaned houses and kept old folk company - and so on.)

I always thought borrowing the books by Barbara Sher at a local library and using the jobless phase to find out what you´d really want to do with your life now that you´re not jumping with gritted teeth through corporate hoops for a pittance anymore are one of the best first steps anyone can take for oneself by way of turning an all-negative blow like sudden unemployment into a likely win-win situation.

[JurisDoctorOfDoom]

Definitely a good one to make a sticky. Thanks R. I have some ideas I'll post later, not anything new but permutations on the stuff already mentioned.

[Animus]

Everyone says to exercise and I could not agree more. But you need to know what you want to get out of it. Most Americans are overweight, and if you fall into this category let me tell you that I know what that feels like. I used to weigh 320lbs (I'm 6'2). I lost 120 lbs in 6 months using the following method...

I am an overeater. It's not that I'm hungry, I just like the feeling of being full, and the taste of food. It makes me feel warm and cozy and satisfied. I know that I can NEVER feel that way every night again. That feeling is for Thanksgiving and Christmas ONLY.

You need to learn to like feeling thin. Not hungry, but definitely not full. To lose weight, you have to eat slightly less food than your body requires every day. Don't starve yourself. It does not work. Eat small amounts of all-natural foods. Eating vegetarian is great because the normal rules don't apply. You can eat all the Broccoli you want

I spent lots of money and several years in a gym and got nowhere. I get the best results with push-ups, sit-ups, and squats. I work out every day, even if it's just a little bit.

To lose weight you must tear muscle, and to tear muscle, you must feel the burn in your muscles. It does not take much effort, and the amount you lose every night depends on how much you tear the muscle. To begin, I started with 4 sets of 5 repetitions. After a few weeks I moved up to 10 reps... and so on. How much you move up is IRRELEVANT. If you are tearing muscle you are doing it right. Now I do 100 reps of each. I only do one type of exercise a day; sit-ups today, push-ups tomorrow, etc...

DRINK WATER! The salt that you eat makes you retain the water in your body. This also has the effect of slowing down digestion. If you drank over half a gallon of water a day (I usually drank 3/4), then you cleanse your body of most of the salt and also the excess water... which adds weight.

I weighed myself every day to measure my progress, and yes... I screwed up a lot. Chinese food is my weakness. But you start right back over and keep on going. Don't get depressed, just keep going.

After 6 months, the effect was dramatic. I felt better than I did when I was 21, and I was definitely stronger, and had the energy to outlast my 4 year old. People I had known for years did not recognize me. Women started to flirt with me again. You can't imagine what that feels like after so many years of having given up on feeling attractive... And having the confidence to talk to anyone, anywhere.

I am a changed man. Stop wasting your life. You did not get this way in a day, and you cannot undo it in a day. This is a process... NOT an event. Slow and steady, wins the race.

[731]

Neurochemical depression, a quite possible (even reasonable) result of a layoff,  can set you back a long way if you are not prepared to fight it.   Depression hurts you because it takes away your very ability to recover from a crisis, and makes it impossible for you to recognize, let alone capitalize on, whatever advantages or opportunities you might still have.  Be careful out there!

[Iceland]

First of all i think is just not losing your spirit. Continue life, you are not any worse of a person.

Do not sit and think. That is what breaks the spirit. If you have no hobbies, get up and find yourself a hobby.
Do whatever it takes to hold on to your spirit.