At the beginning of 2023, I was fired. Like many people, it came as a shock, and I felt blindsided. Not to mention since I was working remotely my partner had to sit in on my immediate termination with me. My employer basically stated that I worked hard but my employee stats still weren’t where they wanted them, and they saw no future improvement. My first impulse was to just lay in bed and basically hibernate till I felt motivated to continue life. I’m sure the majority of us have been there.
However, many of us can’t take too much time off before the funds start to dwindle away and the emergency savings are empty (if you don’t have one definitely start thinking about creating one). The main thing that stops people from jumping back into the job market is our mental health. If you weren’t already overworked, then most likely becoming unemployed took a hit on your ego as well as put you into financial stress. And let’s not mention the feeling of embarrassment when people ask about your past job, or your ex-coworkers check on your whereabouts.
Getting your mental health in order makes going back into the job market (aka the trenches) a lot easier. Here are 6 steps to kickstart your mental health!
1. Be Accepting of Your Current Feelings
It’s important to understand that your current feelings are valid. The biggest mistake people make after being fired is ignoring their grieving process. Skipping this step is what makes us more drained in the long run because repressing emotions is a job in and of itself but a terrible one. Rather you need to scream at the top of your lungs, cry while watching a couple of movies while eating junk food, or just lay in bed and stare at the ceiling with music in the background. The idea is not to cope with your feelings but release them into the world so you can move on.
This would even be a good time to let people know to give you a moment to catch your bearing. When I was fired my first step was to tell those closest to me. Not because I felt like they needed to asap but because I knew these were the people who would care enough to check in on me until “they” felt like I was okay. But I needed space, not sympathy or inspirational pep talks but space to feel my own emotions before allowing others to influence me.
Now you may be someone who does better with tough situations with others around you, and if so, please do that. Just make sure you aren’t forcing yourself to act like something didn’t happen to you because you don’t want to be a party pooper.
2. Value Yourself as a Worker/Employee
Understand that being fired doesn’t mean that you are a terrible employee. Being fired can mean a couple of things like the environment not being right, choosing a career path that might not be a right fit for you, that the industry needed to make cuts somewhere and unfortunately, it was your position, etc. People who get fired are hired by other companies all the time, it’s a whole cycle. If the last company didn’t value your work ethic and skills your new goal should be finding one that does. Really put thought into what you want your next job to value rather that’s work/life balance, equity & inclusion, employee training, and development, whatever is important for you.
3. Reanalyze Your Career Goals
Now is the perfect time to decide if it’s time for a career change. Sometimes the momentum of life leads us in directions not truly meant for us. And that is alright but it’s important to be honest with yourself. Maybe client-facing roles aren’t for you and you would rather work internally at a company. Or maybe you are an independent worker who thrives with less supervision instead of being in big teams. Really take this time to consider all factors.
Do you need more vacation time, better compensation, or more structured roles? What would make to strive as an employee? Most jobs won’t check mark all our boxes, but you should know what factors are non-negotiables for your next job.
4. Allow Yourself Time to Breath
Take the extra time you now have to take a moment and breathe. No one is realistically doing job applications from 7 am – 8 pm every day till they are hired. Really get to know yourself outside of work. What hobby have you been putting off because your schedule was too busy? Have you been hoping to visit family or friends recently? Maybe there was a new recipe you wanted to try that you saw on TV or while scrolling on social media.
There are so many things you can do within a budget to enjoy the free extra moments you have. Go on morning walks or use that gym membership you bought before the new year because you thought, “new year, new me!” Pick up your PlayStation or Xbox controller and play that game you never finished. Whatever puts a smile on your face and makes time pass by smoothly. You owe yourself that much.
5. Continue a Reasonable Sleeping Schedule
It’s important to make sure we are also still having a reasonable sleep schedule. Just because you got fired doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have some routine in your life. Your body and mind still need to recuperate and most of that is done while we sleep. Keep your morning alarms still and try your best to get up even if you have nothing planned for the day. This will also help to make sure you’re still eating, energized, etc. You might find some nights harder to sleep than usual because you’re getting used to your new normal which is perfectly fine. It’s about the effort of still taking care of your minimal needs that matter. You can wake up and sleep later but making a normal schedule out of it is important.
This is not only for your mental health. You will also be appreciative of this once you sign a new employment contract, and you need to start getting up at 6-7 am again. If you start sleeping in and waking up at 12-2 pm that transition will be a lot to handle. You want to make the whole process of finding a job and starting a new job as smooth as possible, so we aren’t beaten before we even start our new journey.
6. Now Plan Your Next Steps
Rather you decided to do all these steps before applying to jobs or did both simultaneously feel free to continue to plan the next steps when you feel you are ready. That could mean going straight to an employment website or doing some outreach to friends and family for opportunities. Maybe you look back at previous offers and see if they have the same or similar positions open. You will know what next step is best for you once you have let your heightened emotion pass and can think rationally about how you want to move forward. However, that looks for you I just want to wish you the best of luck. Remember the process and be long or quick but the most important thing is to stay patient with yourself and keep your chin up. I know you will absolutely crush those interviews!