How to avoid feeling crap when you don't have a job

15th March, 2018    |    By  Reach Out    |     2.5k

Not having a job can make you feel pretty crap. These young people have some ideas of how you can feel better. https://au.reachout.com/


Also check the related topics:  

Stress Finding and starting work Managing Money

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How to avoid feeling crap when you don’t have a job

I don’t think it’s ever fun, never sitting there being like, “Yeah! I have no job today.” When you don’t have a job, you feel like everything’s sort of unpredictable. You don’t know where you’re going next. At points, you just feel really worthless and horrible, like you’re not wanted and you’re not needed. It’s just so stressful because I’m like, “How am I going to pay for rent this week? How am I going to pay for bills? I want to go out with friends, but I can’t afford that.” It kinda makes you a bit antisocial, and it’s kinda upsetting.

If you want to go out and do something, you have to say, “Well, can I eat this week?” I can just feel like a loser because I don’t have that extra money to be able to go do things with my friends. Just sitting at home and letting my anxiety brew in my head makes me feel very guilty about just sitting at home and having nothing to do. I felt down every day from that. Because I wasn’t on Centrelink, I had to rely on my parents for money, and I hated that. I really wanted to be independent from them, but I can’t.

Having no job does feel shitty, but if you just keep yourself busy during the day—whether it’s a hobby or something, even just looking for jobs—it keeps your mind off it. I think it’s the little things. It’s never about the big things you can change, just something little, and they build up, and it makes you feel a lot better. Read a book, watch TV, or even play a video game for a few hours. I love building blanket forts. Exercising helps too, even if it just gets you out of the house in general.

It just makes you feel like you’ve done something, even if you just walk into town and walk back or something like that. If I do feel myself getting anxious about not having a job, I try to talk to someone about it, like my parents or a friend. On the days when I’m not feeling great, I allow myself, without feeling guilty, to have a movie day.

Stay motivated. I think that’s the biggest tip I can give—to stay motivated and to stay energised and positive that something’s going to come around soon.

If you are feeling crap, don’t be afraid to ask for help, even if that means you have to go see a doctor or a professional. My best tip at the moment would be to get a pet, if you can. I just got a rabbit who’s the cutest thing in the world.

Video by Reach Out