Mindful tips for job loss

I won’t sugar coat it. Job loss sucks.

Regardless of if you thought you had a) the best job in the world or b) the worst job in the world, or c) something in-between, a layoff feels personal. In the blink of an eye the comfort, structure, and stability of your 9-to-5 job are gone. Gone too are the list of tasks you had to complete and the regular meetings you had with colleagues. The days stretch out before you, empty, unscheduled, and vast.

I know how losing a job feels because I lost my job in February 2023. I had watched other tech companies go through similar layoffs, but I told myself that I wouldn’t be affected. I had survived other economic ups and downs before, how was this any different? But this time was different, and I was affected.

I won’t lie, the last month has been hard. Yes, losing my job was challenging, but my job loss quickly took a back seat to a series of personal losses that put everything into perspective including the passing of our sweet cat, Susu.

This might be a season of grief and loss for you too, so let’s figure out our job loss together.

Here are the mindful practices I am using to process, grieve, and move forward after losing my job:

Take time to grieve.

To cope with job loss, take a few days, a week, a month, whatever you need, to acknowledge and process everything. If you can, wait at least a week before jumping into networking until you’ve created a narrative around your value and what you see yourself doing next.

Call someone you trust (your mom, your best friend, your therapist, or all three) and hash it out. And be honest. These people care about you and want to hear how you’re really doing after your job loss. Maybe call your work bestie, but don’t overburden them. They may still work at the same company, and they’re likely navigating a lot of internal changes and politics right now.

Try to move every day

Make the time to move your body. On days that I don’t start with some sort of gentle movement, I feel unsettled. My schedule feels so wide open some times that I need movement to bookend my day.

You can move with me here (for free) on YouTube or take an in-person yoga class with me.

Ask yourself: What do I need today?

Not ‘what do I need to do today’, but ‘what do I need‘. This question feels so radical I get giddy just thinking about it.

Often the answer to ‘what do I need’ is automatic. Your body knows what you need, all you have to to do is ask and listen. (Some days that might be, I need an iced coffee, to take a nap, to go running, to skip my run, or to take a break from my screen.)

Show up for what and how you’re feeling today!

Go a whole day without scheduling a single thing.

When’s the last time you had a whole day without plans? How did you spend it? Did anything come up for you?

Give yourself that time and space to do the deep thinking and deep work required to create something worthwhile.

Admittedly, I’m really bad at this, and I often over-schedule my days in order to feel busy and productive. But I’ve set the intention to sit with the discomfort of an empty schedule. Who knows, if I let myself sit still, my creativity might have a moment to express itself!

Meditate every morning.

And heck, do that 15-minute meditation because you have time for it now. Now more than ever you need to make time for yourself and the activities that make you feel grounded, certain, and settled.

When job loss makes everything feel like it’s out of my control, meditation reminds me of what I can control:

1. my breath
2. my attention
3. how I respond to situations

You can read about how I took my own meditation practice from inconsistent to a fixed, daily habit here.

Control what you can control.

While I can’t change the fact that I lost my job, I can control my response to it. I could rage and resent. I could blame everybody but myself for the layoff. But, at the end of the day, none of that bridge-burning would get me my job back, quite the opposite.

Because I lost my job I now have the chance to work on my own wellness + travel company, Wondering Soul Yoga, full-time, build out my different revenue streams, and dream of what’s possible. While I could never have predicted this timing, the universe must have known that I needed a push out the door to pursue running my own company full-time.

My meditation and mindfulness practice allowed me to shape my perception of losing my job.

Losing my job was a gift.

This perspective has made all the difference.

What perspective can you take on your job loss? What have you always wanted to do? Can you use this time to do that?

Set your bedtime and wakeup time in stone.

Okay okay okay. I’ve been hit-or-miss on this one. If you can, try to keep a consistent wakeup time and bed time after your job loss.

In my first few weeks of my unemployment, I found myself sleeping later and later, so much so that half my day felt like it was already done before it had even started. (More than once I’ve stayed up late watching Ted Lasso and stayed in bed past 9 am re-reading the Throne of Glass series by Sarah J. Maas.)

I know myself, and I know that I need 8+ hours of sleep in order to feel rested. In a perfect world I would go to bed around 10 pm and wake up around 6-7 am.

I’m still perfecting my sleep routine here, so let me know in the comments how you stick to a bedtime.

Choose your words and response carefully.

I’ve waited weeks to post anything publicly for a reason. I’ve journaled, meditated, and gone to therapy in order to move forward.

So think, process, and move on before you post!

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I want to hear from you!

If you just lost your job, I am sorry. I’m figuring out what’s next as much as the next person, and it’s been a whole journey!

Tell me in the comments below: Have you recently lost your job? How are you handling things? What will help or has helped you regroup?

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