When you no longer have the demands of a job to structure your day, one may feel like they can lose control of themselves pretty easily. When you don’t have to be up to go to work, you may stay up late as a treat because you know you can sleep in tomorrow. Well, when you are unemployed every tomorrow is a sleep in day. Sounds exciting, right?
When you are unemployed it is important that you keep some kind of structure in your life as best as you can. You become your own boss in a way. We take for granted our lives being scheduled for us. I used to think, ‘if only I didn’t have to work I could do so much more,’ and now here it is, I have all of the time. Well, I find this is not always the case when funds are limited and there are no demands on your time. You will push things to next week, or tomorrow, because you can. For me, I will admit that I am terrible at forcing myself to go to bed at times, because knowing I don’t have to be anywhere in the morning can be a hard realization that wears on me. So when I realized that it was getting more difficult to sleep at night, easier to not leave the house, and my showers weren’t taking place until the afternoons, I realized there needed to be a change and it was up to me to take control. I needed to restructure my day. No, I needed to structure my day period!
I feel like being unemployed is not always a choice, in my case, I feel as though I have no control in the matter, but I can control my day. Losing control can equal hopelessness, so become your own boss. For example, I write this blog and post it by lunch every other day. I have a deadline, created by me, followed by me. I work on my book Monday’s through Friday. I do not put a time limit or maximum on it, because it is art, and you need to let art flow. Plus it doesn’t hurt that I like my “job”, so if I feel it on the weekend, I put some time in.
I force myself to do my errands in the morning. First off, it’s the best time to go to the grocery store. It’s like everything has been prepared fresh just for me. I used to shop on Friday nights when the shelves were half empty, and it was a chore after a long day of work. Now it seems that everything is brighter and the people whom are working are happier on a weekday morning, smiling is contagious, do it. Plus when I’m done with whatever I have left the house to do, I have already accomplished so much before lunch. And that is the goal, to feel like you have accomplished something every day, regardless how big or how small. Never stop doing!
Love the blog! I must say that although, I do not know what it is like to be unemployed,I felt the same way when I stopped teaching to be at home with my daughters. Being a teacher is one of the most structured and jobs of routine I have ever experienced. Although, like any stay-at-home Mom will tell you, being one is a full-time, 24/7 job which you can't escape. But, I had the same determination to stay on a daily schedule. If I didn't I would be lost. You can shower during a child's nap, every other day; stay in all morning and watch Ellen and just go with the flow. Yet, I realized even if it was just showering, cleaning and grocery shopping, I needed a schedule and needed to stick to it. I made a pact with myself that I would always shower, never go out in public in my PJ's, put makeup on, even if it was just for the park. Being a mom is a job, so I decided to act as such. You can lose your sense of self so easily with no scedule or routine. Cheers to you!
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