Lessons Learned in Unemployment #1

Being unemployed over the last few months has really afforded me the opportunity to de-stress and really think about my whole situation at Former Company.

I was so miserable.  Every morning, I woke up dreading what was ahead for me during the day.  Every evening, I couldn’t get out of that prison fast enough and I was just so tired and frustrated that I didn’t really enjoy my evenings at home.

Lesson Learned #1:

If you don’t like the situation you are in, DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT.

iStock photo

I bought into that “Oh you should just be lucky to have a job right now” BS.  I did try briefly looking for another job elsewhere since it was pretty obvious my opportunities at Former Company were limited, but after a few unsuccessful shots, I gave up and figured I’d try again in the summer.

I think companies need to do a better job of keeping and cultivating the talent they worked so hard to bring in.  When they feed “you should be thankful you just have a job” lines to their employees that doesn’t really do anything for morale or productivity.

Likewise, I also think that employees need to assess their situation and figure out if that’s where they want to be.  I had dinner a few nights ago with some of my former coworkers.  They spent the better part of the evening bitching and complaining about work, our boss, and other people there. In the same breath, they said they thought about looking to get out but decided they didn’t want to step out of their comfort zone since they already knew the job, the company and the people there.  Alright, fine.  Then quit your bitching and let’s talk about something else

It doesn’t make any sense.

I recently read a really good article about this… it even gives you handy dandy tips on things you can do to get out of a crappy job situation: DO YOU FEEL STUCK AT YOUR JOB BECAUSE OF THE ECONOMY?

I think I was one of the lucky ones.  They let me go, but it didn’t phase me at all.  I was lucky that I had a financial safety net to carry me over in case I didn’t find something else right away.  I was lucky that I got a pretty awesome severance package that is going to buy me a new car later this year.  I was lucky that I embraced my funemployment as much as I did and didn’t go batsh!t crazy.  I was also lucky that I found something in a relatively quick time frame.  I’m also lucky that it was me, because I know if it wasn’t, I’d still be going there everyday hating it, complaining about the extra workload, longer hours, and our idiot boss.

So take it from someone who has had some time to comtemplate it all.  No matter what you’re getting paid every two weeks, it’s not worth it if you are THAT unhappy about it.