Your First Month of Unemployment

If you’ve never been through a lay-off, the first time can be an overwhelming life-change to wrap your head around. You may not know where to begin in resetting your life or have the energy to try. I will guide you through the next four weeks, breaking out the logistics and self-care in small steps that build on the prior week’s tasks. By the end of your first month of unemployment, you won’t feel as out of control and can confidently move in your new direction.

Week 1: Get a notebook and an unemployment account

You just got the news that disrupted your life. It’s okay to sit with these facts and emotions for a bit. You only have two tasks this week:

1. Find an unused notebook.
2. Create your unemployment account with your state agency.

Use the notebook for journaling and record-keeping. Journaling helps vent out the emotions, and there will be many emotions. Obviously hurt, anger, shock, fear, and confusion, but also happiness, maybe even a sense of freedom. You might not feel them yet, you might have to dig deep, but look for some positive aspects to this change. Maybe the company was shady and unethical. Maybe you had a horrible boss or a long commute. Maybe it’s something as simple as the office coffee sucked. When I made a pros list, some items were that I would never again have to see the mustard office walls made more disgusting with poor lighting or interact with the incompetent office manager who lost the copy of my social security card she made on my first day of employment. These facts made me smile. Smiling boosted my outlook. A positive outlook is better for my health, my family, and my next employer.

The other need for the notebook ties in with the logistics of setting up your unemployment account. You’re dealing with the government now. The government deals in paperwork. Your benefits may be distributed on a schedule, meaning there are certain days of the week you must request your benefits (or else) and certain days those benefits are paid out. You may elect for the state to withhold taxes now or report them for next year's tax season. Your state might require you to apply to a certain number of jobs each week to stay eligble for unemployment, of which you can be audited for in the future and must provide proof of the applications. Basically, you’ll be doing a lot of record keeping over the next several months so the notebook will come in handy to store the information in one place.

That’s it! Check these two things off the list and feel productive!

Week 2: Grab your sneakers and your calculator

You made it through your first week. Hopefully you spent Week 1 venting out the negative and finding some positives. If not, Week 2 focuses on raising endorphins, making it easier to find the positive. Helpful since, logistically, you need to take stock of your financial situation.

When you are fully employed, how often do you get to have so much autonomy over your time? Probably not often. Now is the time to think of what your new boss - in this case, you - would want you to do. Is it incorporating more movement into your day via yoga, working out, or long walks? Cleaning out the garage? Doing some yard work? Whatever it is that gets you off your ass and on your feet, do this! Break a sweat, organize, purge, keep your body moving. The mind’s cobwebs will naturally clear out. While all your old coworkers are chained to their desks taking on the workload left behind by the laid off crew, eating bonbon after bonbon in fear they’ll be next, you are moving forward with the knowledge that you’ve survived the worst. Yes, survived! Because you will find another job. Like a toxic ex-boyfriend, that last job wanted you to think they were irreplaceable but you know better.

The other reason to keep your energy levels high - you must now address your financial situation and that can be scary. Having full knowledge of your financial situation gives a sense of control and helps you determine if you want to pursue a different career path. Most likely, you know your unemployment payout amount by now. You’ve probably read over those separation papers you were too sad/pissed/scared to read the day of and know your severance amount. Use that notebook from Week 1 to list any income (unemployment, severance, etc). Make a second list of every single expense, from health insurance down to your Apple Music subscription. Maybe journal out some panic that's creeping up as you see the numbers. Fret not! You only have to make the lists and do a little bit of math of what's currently going out verses coming in. Taking action on the lists is for next week. This week, just gather facts.

Psst: While you’re gathering your financials, make note of a 401K account you have with your previous employer, including account numbers, user IDs, and passwords. Keep this info in a safe place (I shouldn’t have to state this but will, just in case). Next year, when you file your taxes, you will report on your old employer accounts, as well as your new employer accounts and unemployment payments. Most likely, in a couple months, you’ll have a new job and kick anything related to your old employer to the mental curb. Do future-you a favor and make good notes now.

Week 3: Practice minimalism

Yay! You know where your money is and you are getting fit, whether in body, mind, or home. Keep riding that feel-good train because you may feel a squeeze this week as you prioritize your resume, job skills, and trimming the fat from your lifestyle.

Last week you assessed your finances but now you need to act on them by deciding what expenses to keep versus nix and living frugally. If you purged your home, consider making some cash by selling the unwanted items on Facebook Marketplace, eBay, or Craigslist. That food collecting dust in the pantry? Eat it. You’ve already spent the money to buy the food. Now, eat the food. Don’t buy more food till you eat that food.

Let’s talk about those subscriptions. Do you really need Netflix and Hulu and Disney Plus and HBO Go? It might be time to cut one or all to conserve your cash. You can always reinstate the services later when you have steady income again. That’s the beauty of modern streaming versus old school cable.

Speaking of steady income, it’s time to update that resume for the positions you intend to target. Over the last several weeks, did you realize you had some tasks you would rather not do again, thank you very much? Now you know what not to put on your resume. What did you like about your last job? Emphasize that. Did you realize you want a brand new career or that you need to brush up some skills? Find a course or certification that you can afford because you’ve trimmed fat from your lifestyle. Hard now, better later.

Psst: Don’t forget to spruce up your LinkedIn profile so recruiters can find you.

Week 4: New schedule, new insurance

Last week and only a couple tasks left to do!

For your self-care task, you need to think about setting a daily schedule for yourself. You will quickly discover that applying to jobs can take up as much time as any full-time job. It’s easy to get sucked into job searching, your eyes glazing over as you pass the hours clicking on job board after job board, creating cover letters and tweaking the resume for key words. It’s also easy to fall into a routine that’s not conducive to regular job hours, like going to bed late then sleeping in. Set boundaries for yourself by blocking out times of when you will job hunt, when you will exercise, when you will do errands, volunteer, or watch tv.

Logistics wise, make changes to your health insurance based on your financial decisions from Week 3. After a job separation, you have time, possibly up to two months, to apply changes to your health coverage and you really should understand your finances to make the best choice as you are now solely responsible for payment of your health insurance. Setting up new insurance takes time and energy that you probably don’t have much of in Weeks 1 and 2. You generally have two months after separation to enact Cobra or switch to a spouse’s insurance under “life change” reasons but I do not advise waiting that long to look into your options, make a decision, and start the process. Changing insurance requires some time and paperwork.

Congratulations! You’ve made it through the first month of unemployment. You are organized, embracing new habits, and discovering a path forward. Good riddance to the 'ole ball and chain previous employer! Good luck to the new you!