Becoming unemployed or being furloughed isn’t just tough financially. The experience can deliver a resounding jolt to your self-esteem and sense of personal routine. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, this unpleasant experience is playing out in a growing number of households, and families everywhere are struggling to understand how best to bounce back.
While everyone’s journey in overcoming this life obstacle will be different, here are three essential tips that will hopefully shed at least some light on how to bounce back if you’ve been furloughed or recently become unemployed.
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1. Use Your Time Wisely
Perhaps surprisingly, for many people dealing with unemployment, money issues play second fiddle to the emotional fallout of suddenly having vast amounts of time. Having seemingly endless unstructured time sounds luxurious at first glance, but without structure, procrastination is all too easy. And as days turn into weeks, it’s easy for procrastination to turn into guilt, and a range of related emotional and mental health challenges can flow on from there.
Of course, staying busy may well be part of the solution. And yes, many of us are enjoying the chance to invest solid time in finding the ideal next job, family time, or those long-awaited home upgrades.
But staying busy for its own sake can also become exhausting. One crucial step may be to challenge yourself to think differently about time management. Psychology Today offers this useful resource for those struggling with the unfamiliar challenge of managing time at home without the foundation of a work schedule.
If you’re looking for better ways to build routine into your day, you might also want to explore Udemy’s vast collection of training courses. These may improve your employment prospects while bringing some much-needed structure.
2. Be Smart With Your Finances
Many families are experiencing daunting financial difficulties as one or more in the household may be suddenly facing a loss of income. Of course, it makes sense to sit down and talk about economy-measures that can, for a while at least, lower your household expenses.
But belt-tightening needn’t be your sole solution. This may also be the perfect time to revisit your credit, in particular, checking whether other products might offer rewards and incentives that better fit your lifestyle.
For example, USAA offers a range of credit cards with a variety of reward plans. Some deliver more rewards for dining out, while others provide additional points for necessities, like gas and groceries. Moreover, a range of their cards is optimized for military families, providing added points and discounts for customers with a family member on a base or on deployment.
Finding the right credit card may help you find your financial feet that much easier.
3. Polish Your Job Hunting Game
Finally, now may be the perfect time to seek not just a new job, but a better job, by sharpening your skills in finding and landing a new job.
If you’re like many recently unemployed people, you may not have looked carefully at your resume in months, maybe even years. It’s an onerous task, but it’s worth making sure your resume format and writing style are appropriate for 2020. To that end, job-placement service Indeed offers an excellent guide for building a robust and job-winning resume.
Note also that, while many job hunting networking groups have ceased face-to-face meetings throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Meetup is now reintroducing online events. Now maybe the right time to polish up your networking skills and take a look for career groups active in your area.
Bouncing Back Is A Process
Getting back on track after any significant life disruption can take time and patience. The best way to brave this uncertain time may well boil down to the simple act of being kind to yourself. A mindful approach to time management, a few tweaks to your finances, and a new and improved job hunting process are great places to start.
If you are interested in even more lifestyle-related articles and information from us here at Bit Rebel, then we have a lot to choose from.
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