As I sit on my big red couch writing, me at one end and Westley curled up sleeping at the other, I am thankful for his company. Being unemployed, my weekdays are spent mostly alone. Having my puppy to talk to makes me feel less crazy. It also is fun as I started going on mini-San Diego adventures throughout the week. This week’s included the dog beach, Balboa Park, a walk along the harbor, and the dog park. There is a definite dog-theme to our adventures, but I want to take my buddy with me. Our adventures are also necessary to balance the hours I am home working through my list of to do’s.

Getting out is important when you’re unemployed, nearly as important as creating a routine. And showering. When I made embracing unemployment a theme for June, I did a little research to find out what advice the Internet has to offer.

What I found tended to be more along the lines of the necessary tasks:

• Give yourself time – Make room for your feelings, whether that be grief, anger, feelings of rejection, and move through the stages until you are able to let go and move on.
• Consider your financial situation – Review your finances and create a budget you can live on, by removing unnecessary expenses during this time
• Sign up for services – Signing up for unemployment can be time consuming, so if you qualify for it, sign up right away. The same goes for health insurance, whether you use Cobra, Covered California (for example), do so quickly to get the processes started.
• Update your resume (and LinkedIn) – It’s important to keep your resume updated with your accomplishments as you go along in your job, but the reality is that most people don’t. Most people ignore their resume until they decide to look for a new position, or until they are forced to look for a new position. I won’t lie, I hadn’t updated my resume in four years. Not only did I need to dust it off and update my the content, but I also had to update the template I was using since the world has become a lot more graphic and visual than the serious executive resume I had previously created. Updating both felt like it took forever. Don’t be like me, do it as you go along, and research resume trends to make sure yours is modern and not dated.

I have more advice than this.
Once you get past The Necessary tasks, it is important to structure your day to keep your life moving forward. It helps keep away any depression, stress, and the feelings of anxiety as you go through your day, week, month that are all part of your job search. This information is what you have to look forward to in the next post.