Flat tire.

Last week was bummer central. I was exhausted from work, my car hadn't been fixed (it still isn't) and I was sick of riding the bus everywhere to conduct all of my business. ...then I got fired.

Being fired is like getting a flat tire. You're going about your life, on your way to some place, and then all of a sudden you have to stop and take care of something you hadn't planned on. Right now I'm at the tire change part of the flat tire. I've gotten over the fact that it happened, but I'm not quite back on the road yet. Luckily, I'm not SOL as far as money is concerned, as I've been able to work up a bit of a savings, and my boss agreed to pay me through the end of the month which was very kind of her.

In any case, I thought I'd write a post about how to deal with your post flat tire bum out.

OOPS, I DON'T HAVE A JOB. NOW WHAT? 

1. Take a minute and breathe deep.

I was really sad most of the weekend. The thought of not having work was totally stressing me out, as well as bumming me out majorly. I didn't want to be sad anymore, I tried to fight it off because it totally felt counterproductive. This was stupid. I just needed to take a minute and allow myself to be a little bluesy. I was really angry as well, and nothing I was trying to do in those few days was productive AT ALL. I didn't have a sound enough mind to just sit myself down and be like "Yo, hey self, it's ok if you just check out for awhile." Remember it's ok to take some time for self care.

2. Don't make any big decisions. 

Luckily I hadn't agreed to make any big financial commitments before I lost my job. I decided I was going to treat myself with a tattoo, which my mother advised against; but I thought about it for a long while and decided it was what I needed to help me push forward into whatever my next step is. I thought about doing a lot of other rash things as well: going out to eat a bunch of times, getting drunk with my housemates when we went out, new shoes, other miscellaneous expenses I hadn't budgeted for. The tatt I'd been saving up for for awhile, so I figured it would be ok to allow myself one major indulgence and let the little ones fall by the wayside. I may write a blog post on my experience in the next few days, but we'll see how things go.

3. After you've recovered from bummertown, get a game plan together. 

I hate people coming at me being like, "it's for the better." Alright, yeah, I had some issues with my last job, but it was comfortable and I was able to survive financially unassisted which was a thing that I'd never been able to do before. I don't need people getting up in my business about how fate has better things in store for me. I know that I'm going to need to get things together and find a new job.

Think about where your skills are and what's on your resumé. Could it use a punch up? Could you think of more creative ways to word your job descriptions? Are your references current, and relevant to the next jobs you'll be applying to? Now is a good time to give it a once over and see if it needs a little freshening up.

Next, set aside a few hours each day to dedicate to resumé bombing. I know it's daunting. (Trust me, I'm well aware.) You need to make sure your brain is ready, and up to the task. Make sure you have a full meal, and if you survive mostly on coffee like I do—make sure your stomach has some complex carbs inside of it to absorb all of the caffeine. No sense getting jittery from anything more than anxiety.

Set a goal for yourself of either an hourly, or daily amount of resumés you want to send out. For example, I usually stop at 10 in a day. After that, reward yourself with something nice to cool down. Maybe you decide you want to go out and have a beer afterwards, or get something sweet to eat. Maybe you've been drooling over something in your Netflix queue. Give yourself a pat on the back for all of your hard work.

My friend Hannah always tells me that looking for a job needs to be your job until you have another job; and she's absolutely right. Even if it takes the piss right out of you, it's important to remain diligent in your search.

Another thing I would suggest while you're looking for work is to pick a couple of pipe dream jobs, and apply for them for fun. So maybe Vogue Italia isn't going to hire you, but it never hurts to try anyway. You may be surprised!

Anyway, for someone who no longer has steady employment, I'm actually quite busy with work this week. Picked up a few interim gigs, one of which will put all the money back in my tattoo fund that I'm taking out. We'll see how everything goes.

In any case, I hope no one's in the same boat as me right now, because being unemployed is TOTALLY LAME.

Hopefully though, we'll be able to find something else that suits our talents.

Happy job hunting!

~Mac