Look after yourself

Tuesday, July 12, 2016

Depending how serious you are, job searching can be a full time job, or leave you with a lot of spare time. Whatever your goals are, during this time you still need to look after yourself both physically and mentally. It's easy to fall into bad habits and not look after yourself the same way you do when you're working. But if your health deteriorates it can have a big impact on all areas of your life, especially your motivation to look for work.

Here are some things to keep in mind so you can set a good routine, and make sure you'll be at your best when you go into your next interview.

Get enough sleep

Get enough sleep, but don't overdo it. When you aren't working it can be tempting to sleep-in. After all you don't have anywhere to be. But don't treat it like a vacation where you stay up late and don't get up until the afternoon. This is only temporary and you will eventually get a job. But if you're tired, cranky or stressed because you're not sleeping right. Finding a job will be that much harder. You need to be at your best so try to get around 7 to 8 hours sleep every night.

Eat properly

Eating well is always important but when we're unemployed it's easy to not eat properly by skipping meals or stress eating. Eating lots of sugary, fried or fatty foods will make you feel good in the short term. But eating these foods all the time will kill your energy levels in the long term and rob you of that positive feeling. Enjoy everything in moderation and you're on the right track.

Exercise

You may not have had much time to exercise when you were working, but you have plenty of time now. Not only does this help your physical health it can be a great way to reduce stress. It's tempting to sit at home all day and catch up on TV shows or play lots of games. This may be ok for a while, but it will impact on you eventually. When you were at work you had some physical activity, even it was just walking around the office or store. So it's important to remain active.

Make time for the things you enjoy

When your unemployed you may feel like you're a burden on others, or that people think your lazy. To comfort yourself and show others this isn't true, you spend most of your time job searching. It's great that you're so dedicated, but if you're always giving 100% you're going to burn yourself out. Having no time to relax and do the things you enjoy will just cause your stress levels to rise and your state of mind to suffer, so make sure you set aside time for activities you enjoy. It's not selfish to take time out for yourself, and you shouldn't be expected to be looking for a job all the time.

Socialise with friends and family

You shouldn't feel ashamed or embarrassment for being unemployed because there's another job out there waiting for you. You just have to go and find it. Don't hide yourself away or withdraw from friends and family. They play an important part in your support network and talking things through with them can be a great confidence booster. The people you talk to don't even have to be able to provide solutions. Just knowing that you're not alone and people are there to support you can put your mind at ease.

Look at the positive things

When you had a job you had a routine that helped keep you motivated. So create one and stick to it. Having goals to complete each day can give you a purpose and make you more productive. Instead of focusing on your failures, look at the positives. It's easy to lose confidence when you receive rejections. But by focusing on what you know you can do and what you're good at your confidence will remain strong.

If you take care of your physical and mental health you can ensure your searching for a job as effectively as you can. So these were some things to keep an eye on and make sure you aren't getting into bad habits. What do you do to make sure you're looking after yourself, let me know in the comment section below.

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