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Surviving a Layoff
How to Stay Positive When Coping with Job Loss
All the advice on surviving a layoff says to stay positive, but this can be difficult when your income and part of your identity and social network are ripped away. Coping with job loss requires more than good financial management, it requires good emotional management too. The good news is that science shows that we usually over-estimate how much pain we will feel. We consistently think negative events like loosing a job will depress us more and for a longer time than they actually do. But, Research shows that we quickly get distracted by other events and feel those associated emotions- often within hours. Science also shows that as long as we have food and shelter, we will eventually come back to a happiness set point. Research on lottery winners and people who become disabled through sudden injury shows that we tend to adapt and settle at a basic level of life satisfaction- often within a matter of months. So even if you do nothing, your positive approach to life will return. Now, here are 7 more quick tips for staying positive an surviving a layoff: - Make an emotional survival plan as well as a financial one.
- Stay connected to other people. Don't back away from family and friends, they are your best support.
- Focus on What You Want. Not only does this invoke the law of attraction, which is that you get what you think about most, but it activates different brain chemicals that help you think better.
- Stay busy, stay active. Activity keeps you from thinking about all the things that could go wrong. Exercise helps to lower the stress hormones in your body and improves mood.
- Have some fun. Make sure that you do something fun every day to keep you in touch with why it is good to be alive no matter what your job is.
- Sing songs. Even singing the blues lifts your spirits.
- Count your blessings. Gratitude has often been called a vaccine against stress.
There is no question; surviving a layoff is hard and coping with job loss takes work. Staying positive requires more than telling yourself the glass is half full when you think it is really three quarters empty. But, science shows that your natural happiness mechanisms will help you cheer up over time and there are lots of things you can do to move the process along. Science also shows us the effort to stay positive is worth while because positive people are statistically more likely to solve problems and find creative solutions. This article, Surviving a Layoff-- How to Stay Positive When Coping with Job Loss, is the first in a three part series on how to use emotion focused coping skills to survive an economic depression with your smile intact. Look for Part 2,Coping with Job Loss-- Emotion Focused Coping Skills to Help You Stay Positive, and Part 3, Coping with Layoffs -- How To Survive a Depression With Your Smile Intact.
Return to Finding Happiness in the News from Surviving a Layoff
Check out the Learned Optimism page for more information on positive coping skills.
For tips on how to be happier now, try this article on Ten Little Shots of Happiness
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