My natural tendency when faced with something fearful, unsettling or troubling is to withdraw; to curl up in the fetal position; go internal and work the problem from the inside out. If I do this in this circumstance it will lead to withdrawal, isolation, and loneliness. In the last year, I have been learning about the power of community, both virtual and physical community, and have been trying to take a different approach than what is natural for me. This new stance includes continuing to expand the my network of support; continuing to connect more pieces together in this network, and focusing on giving and receiving help going through career change. Opening up and expanding instead of closing off and isolating.
I recommend this to avoid the isolating tendencies of getting a warn notice. Being separated from your co-workers is a big influence towards isolation. Spending hours and hours on the computer searching for jobs and preparing resumes also tend towards isolation. There is no way to avoid these influences; both will happen but I can consciously counteract the effects of these.
In the book iBrain: Surviving the technological alteration of the modern mind by Small and Vorgan, I learned the way we stimulate our minds over time physically alters our brain over time, “The current explosion of digital technology not only is changing the way we live and communicate but is rapidly and profoundly altering our brains. Daily exposure to high technology—computers, smart phones, video games, search engines like Google and Yahoo—stimulates brain cell alteration and neurotransmitter release, gradually strengthening new neural pathways in our brains while weakening old ones. Because of the current technological revolution, our brains are evolving right now—at a speed like never before.”
Since I do lot of work at home, also important is making sure that I get out of the house and do things like gardening and walking. Face to face interactions with others is also important. The last two days in the OSR classroom has provided very rich set of personal interactions. In this upcoming week, I have several face to face meetings: a layoff briefing, a resume building seminar, a discussion with a co-working, a meeting with my HR rep., and coffee with another co-worker. Keeping the number of these personal interactions up will be important as time marches on.
Counteracting the technological aspect has meant paying more attention to diet and exercise; making sure that I’m exercising every day and increasing the amount of exercise. I have continued to take tennis lessons and lift weights at the Y. I also plan on continuing to do brain puzzles and reading.
One of the next steps for developing my resume is to develop further detail for each position that I have on my resume—developing the ability to share what I learned in this position, the skills I developed, key projects worked on and accomplishments for each position. Several times in the past I have had interviews that I have not done all that well in and from this have developed a feeling of being weak in this area. Having these details readily available for me to review before an interview is one way to bolster my interviewing skills. I have also heard of an interviewing skills workshop and I need to see if any are available. If not I may have to create the space for one to happen.
Today, I put a note our on Facebook about getting the warn notice and looking for a job. Several people have responded giving encouragement, support, and empathy. These messages have been empowering—I’m glad I put the note out there.
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