7 Habits for Highly Unemployed People

Back in 2014, I underwent an unexpectedly brutal job search.

Over the course of 9 months, I applied for over 150 different jobs. The majority of these were positions I was well qualified — if not over-qualified — for.

After some preliminary screenings (phone interviews and online tests), I was invited to interview in person for a total of 9 of these jobs.

Of the 9, I was called back in for follow-up interviews for 3 of them.

When all was said and done, and despite my best efforts, I was offered none of them.

NONE!

Out of desperation, I then signed up with a couple of agencies and secured a temp gig, which eventually (though not at all easily or straightforwardly) led to my being hired by the company where I had been temping.

Why do I share this story with you now?

I have been hearing similar stories coming from current job seekers who are at their wit’s end and understandably feeling quite demoralized.

Capable, intelligent, hard-working people not finding a place for themselves in the job market despite their competencies, prolonged efforts, and sincere desire to work.

The purpose of this article is not to offer any sage advice in regard to landing a decent job (other than you may want to try getting your foot in the door as a temp, if all else fails, as I did).

Rather, my purpose here is to share with you some of the other things I did while hustling to find work. Because, for me, these amounted to something of a psychological lifeline.

I truly believe that these activities played a large part in helping me manage my anxiety and endure the whole process with any modicum of composure or grace.

Because — let’s face it — even if it were possible to spend every waking moment searching for work, and even if you did so intelligently, you could still end up with the same net result as if you had spent none of your time on this.

In other words: you can do everything right and, through no fault of your own, still receive no job offers.

What my experience confirmed for me was how hugely important it is to take really good care of yourself. Yes, that’s true in general. But it is especially the case when enduring a stressful and potentially confidence-shattering ordeal such as this.

My bottom line point:

It is crucial in a prolonged job-seeking scenario that you attend to other aspects of your well-being, and not simply obsess 24/7 over the financial one.

I instinctively grasped early on during my unemployment (when I did not imagine it would take nearly as long as it did to land another job) that there was an opportunity here.

Having long swaths of unstructured time each day, free from externally-imposed obligations, afforded possibilities that having a full-time job simply did not.

Over time, I adopted seven habits (practiced to varying degrees) that gave me some positive results to show for the depletion of my savings, which apparently was going to happen anyway, whether I made time for these things or not!

Note that all of the following are activities that cost little-to-nothing, so they are perfect for the budget of the unemployed or the underemployed:

Habit #1: Meditation (Aka “Don’t Just Do Something…Sit There!”)

I had experimented with mindfulness meditation in the past, but had never been able to get myself to do it with any real consistency until this stint of unemployment in 2014.

Mindfulness meditation is deceptively simple.

All it requires is that you be still and focus on your breath. When your mind wanders (and there’s about a million percent chance it will), you simply internally acknowledge that this has happened in a non-judgmental way and return your attention to your breathing.

That’s it.

You can do this for 5, 10, 15, 20, or 30 minutes at a time, on a regular basis (preferably daily).

Simple, right?

But quieting the mind in this way is often far from easy. Especially for those of us who have been culturally conditioned for constant busyness, and who are inundated all day long by endless distractions and calls for our attention.

It requires discipline and intentionality to make a regular practice of it, and may not come easily even after extended practice.

So, why bother? Why bother “doing nothing” at all?

Because the potential benefits, it turns out, are many and varied. Among them: relaxation, stress reduction, building your concentration muscle/ability to focus, boosting your immune system, and getting more acquainted with the workings of your mind and its relentless tendency to dwell on the past or anticipate the future rather than notice what’s actually happening in the present.

Odds are you will be astounded by how often you are not “here” and, if you make a habit of meditating, this awareness will likely bleed into moments of your life “off the cushion”.

Each time you become aware of your lapse of awareness, you create a reprieve from the prison of endless (often circular and unhelpful) thinking happening in your mind. You also open to the possibility of appreciating the actual experience of the moment, whether it’s really tasting the food you are chewing, or noticing the beauty of something directly within your field of vision because you are actually paying attention to it.

When you meditate, you gain experiential (as opposed to just intellectual) knowledge of the inherently temporary nature of all things, including your own inner states and sensations.

This can result in your ability to cultivate more calmness and resilience in the face of a noisy and ever-changing world (both internally and externally speaking).

It can become a useful tool for more skillfully navigating your own emotions and life challenges.

What I found particularly helpful (essential, even) to my own meditation practice was the use of guided meditations in the form of audio recordings.

These are abundantly available now for free from various online sources and apps. Test some out and see which ones you like (for instance, you want a guide whose voice you find appealing, and not irritating!).

One practice, besides mindfulness, that I find invaluable is lovingkindness, which I wrote about extensively here.

Habit #2: Reading

As in, actual books.

Books are amazing!

They give us an opportunity to benefit from other humans — still living or long gone — at their their most thoughtful, creative, coherent, organized, wise, imaginative, and inspired.

A good book represents an author’s concentrated focus on a story or subject matter they have researched or wrestled with considerably for the sake of entertaining, educating, and/or enlightening the rest of us.

The care and discipline involved in seeing through the writing of a book wins my respect and admiration as much as any human enterprise.

If you are on a tight budget, consider borrowing from your local public library, a resource whose value cannot be overstated.

Habit #3: Creative Play

You could do this for any activity that calls to you, something new or old.

For me, it specifically meant sitting down with my guitar in “exploration mode” for a designated period of time each day.

Just hanging out, and messing around playfully to see if any ideas emerged that I liked. Success was defined as simply showing up and putting in the time, regardless of the results.

The idea was to see what would happen if I trusted in the process in this way, and was loyal to it. I made sure to keep a notebook handy to record any ideas I felt had potential (I “took notes”, in other words 😉). When in doubt about whether an idea had any merit, I wrote it down.

Doing this was an incredibly big deal for me.

I had let far too many years go by without making any real effort to write songs, and this was perhaps the single greatest regret of my life. I had certainly thought of doing an experiment along these lines many times before. Yet — for the better part of 18 years — I very rarely actually let myself even attempt it.

My best explanation is that — irrational as I knew this to be — I had linked the writing of songs to some of the most extreme emotional pain of my life. So much so that the prospect of doing it again was, to some part of me deep within, utterly unacceptable. (Even though on the surface it actually caused me great pain to not be writing songs.)

I think the most difficult part of songwriting, for me, is just allowing myself to do it. Making “creative exploration time” a priority, in other words, and being sure to fit it into my day. Avoidance runs deep. Very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very deep!

In my experience, getting started on a task you are avoiding (even one that is likely to be rewarding, and maybe even fun) is by far the hardest part.

Once you allow yourself to do it — once you actually clear the time in your schedule for it, sit yourself down and tell yourself that for the next “x” number of minutes you are devoting yourself to this activity, and then proceed — the hardest part is typically over, or will be soon after.

Once you get going, momentum tends to kick in. And you may even find that you are enjoying the task you so dreaded with all of your being.

Were there times when I would sit with the guitar for a full hour and nothing at all inspired came about as a result of my showing up? Absolutely.

However, I usually still experienced some amount of satisfaction just for having put in the time. Just from the knowledge that I had done right by myself in this way.

And, actually, I was kind of amazed at the sheer number of ideas I accumulated in my notebook, even if many of them weren’t so great. Turns out that’s actually part of the process of getting to the great ones. Who knew?!?! (Oh, yeah — I did!) What is required is diligence, willingness, letting go of outcomes, and a great deal of patience. No getting around that.

Being unemployed afforded me huge blocks of time and space to experiment with songwriting again. The time and space alone were not going to ensure I would do this, mind you, but this “breathing room” proved to be essential for me. That, combined with my willingness and determination to take advantage of the opportunity, made it happen.

My advice: use the time and space that unemployment grants you for things other than worrying or feeling bad about yourself.

Use it to your advantage.

Indulge in some creative interest, old or new. Do this while you can!

And detach from any kind of result. Give yourself permission to suck. No one has to know. You’re completely off the hook. Enjoy the peace of mind that comes from each hour you’ve put in giving it a shot. You have nothing to lose, and what better gift can you give yourself, really?

Habit #4: Exercise

Endorphins are real, and physical exercise is an upward-spiral activity. You tend to feel better and more optimistic when you do it, and this makes you healthier and more vital — which, in turn, makes you feel better and more optimistic.

This is especially important when your income and financial health (and, perhaps, self-esteem) have taken a hit.

As mentioned before, often the hardest part is getting started. Overcoming inertia. Actually driving yourself to the gym, lacing up the running shoes and heading out the door, etc.

Personally, I prefer to get all of my exercise outdoors, so I did not even have the cost of a gym membership to contend with, making it a perfect “unemployed” activity!

A tip for finding the motivation to exercise when you don’t feel like doing it: remember how good you felt after working out in the past.

The more reference points you have of this in your memory banks to draw upon, the more this technique works.

If you don’t have any, there’s no time like the present to start creating some!

Habit #5: Journaling

I have written more extensively about the benefits of journaling here.

You can use a journal however you like.

Personally, I have found it an invaluable tool for:

Taking my psychic pulse on a regular basis.

Documenting my observations.

Brainstorming ideas.

Making lists of things I want to accomplish, and increasing the likelihood that I’ll actually do (at least some of) them.

Tracking my daily activities.

Noting my progress.

Being my own coach/cheerleader/best friend.

The sheer act of journaling means you are taking yourself (your thoughts, your feelings, and your life) seriously and, therefore, is a gesture of self-respect.

I cannot recommend this practice highly enough.

Habit #6: Writing (and Publishing)

The difference between this and journaling?

Journaling is entirely private. There is no need to be concerned with orderliness; with spelling, punctuation, or grammar; or with any rules whatsoever other than ones you might choose for yourself. It is exclusively for your personal use.

Writing — as I am distinguishing it here from journaling — is done with an intent to (potentially, and at your discretion) share your ideas with others.

In 2014, my choice for this was my personal blog (on which I published a version of this article while still in the throes of my own difficult job search).

Honing your writing — taking the time to organize your thoughts into cohesive and shareable ideas — is good for your brain, potentially cathartic, and might even help you network and make important personal or professional contacts.

Writing requires a certain amount of time, space, and lack of distraction — all typically available to greater degrees when you are unemployed.

Habit #7: Decluttering

There are myriad benefits to organizing and paring down your stuff, not the least of which, for the unemployed, include:

Making some extra cash by selling off unwanted items.

Having a more pleasant living space (that you’re likely spending a lot more time in).

Getting clearer about how little you actually need, and about what things are most important to you.

Making room for new things in your life, materially and otherwise.

The “Seven Habits” — in Combination

I have found, in general, that when I do any of the above activities I feel better about myself and how I’ve spent my time.

But the coolest part about these seven habits?

They are synergistic. They positively reinforce one another, and the gains multiply when they are done in combination.

A few examples from my own experience back in 2014:

Immediately after doing a guided “Lovingkindness” meditation via an audio recording by Jack Kornfield, I was inspired to write this song, due to both the heart space the meditation left me in and the fact that I had also already begun intentionally spending time with my guitar on a regular basis (habits 1 and 3 above).

I often have inspired ideas pop into (or out of?) my brain while exercising, and one of these was the idea for a series of posts I ended up writing and sharing on my blog (habits 4 and 6 above).

I laughed out loud so frequently while reading the book 10% Happier that Samantha (my wife) commented that I was already 10% happier just from reading it! The book is all about the author’s personal exploration of meditation — despite his initially being a pretty hard-core skeptic — and how much he has come to benefit from it. This, of course, helped reinforce my own commitment to meditation practice (habits 1 and 2 above).

I had an epiphany at the end of a stair-climbing workout one morning that I captured on paper shortly afterwards in my journal. The thought was that if I have a purpose in life maybe it is simply (and very broadly) to “create and share” — and that if I do these things repeatedly and steadfastly, everything else (work, income, etc.) will sort itself out. Maybe I would attract “correct” opportunities — vibrationally matching ones, if you will — just by being consistent and true to my purpose in this way. And, even if this turns out not to be the case, I’ll still have made arguably the best use of myself that I can while I’m around. This encouraged me to brainstorm ways in which I could create and share — including blogging more — and led to my seeing through a 30-day challenge to myself of spending time with the guitar every day (habits 3, 4, 5 & 6 above).

Installing multiple habits at once, even if they are mutually encouraging ones, is not necessarily the best, or most advisable, approach for everyone.

But I attempted it anyway because of the glorious amounts of free time unemployment granted me, and out of a desire to put this to the best use I could. I wanted to (once I was employed again, not to mention before), be able to feel good about how I had made use of this precious free time rather than lament having wasted it.

Did I execute my plan perfectly? Not by a long shot.

I would be consistent with some habits for a time, while others would fall by the wayside. It’s impressive to note how difficult it proved to be to fit all (or most) of these things into a given day, even without a job to go to.

This made me that much more aware of the importance of establishing priorities — if things are not prioritized (especially ones that, for you, are easy to procrastinate on), they are much less likely to ever get done.

The nice thing, as I learned, is that you can be imperfect in your implementation and still reap genuine benefits from choosing and adopting helpful habits.

Obviously, consistency is the goal, and ensures more gains. But I found that to whatever extent I was able to practice these “seven habits” it was for the better!

Final Thoughts

You may notice that the “seven habits” I’ve mentioned are primarily introverted activities.

It is important to find a balance for yourself, while unemployed, that also includes (positive, supportive) connection with others.

One option is to practice some of the above-mentioned habits with other people to add a social element to them.

Alternatively, you could try:

Joining a low-or-no-cost meet-up group or club to find other people with a shared interest.

Volunteering (highly recommended both for the social interaction component and the self-esteem boost).

Using your freed-up schedule to see more of your friends and/or family.

There’s no one-size-fits-all prescription for best handling unwanted unemployment. It’s a matter of figuring out what works for you, in your current situation.

However, I encourage you to consider what activities might reap you huge payoffs over time if you habituate them, and then take steps to do just that.

Your time unemployed, like everything else in life, is temporary. You might as well take advantage of the opportunity to attend more to your overall well-being. This is likely to help you in your job search, and otherwise.

Naturally, once I did secure employment, a number of these habits I had been cultivating dropped off. One has only so much time, energy, and resolve.

So, do your best to seize the opportunities within an undesirable situation.

Take good care of yourself.

Godspeed!