Redundancy how to cope self esteem

[sharkyandme]

Just that really. I'm being made redundant and it's effecting my self esteem although I know I shouldn't take it personally. What can I do to help myself? I'm a mum of twins and have been a SAHM until they were 3 (a year ago). Before that I had a nasty boss. And before that I was made redundant (public sector cuts).

Everything seems hard at the moment. Childcare was so expensive. Twins have been hard. The pandemic was hard. And now redundancy was hard.

Thanks.

is*

Redundancy is a wallop, even when you know logically "It's not personal, it's a business operational thing". Sorry to read you're having to leave, OP, and have had all that work-related crap pre your twins.

It is a huge blow to self-esteem, no matter how common redundancy is these days and there's a lot of it about. I cried my heart out after my first redundancy. What helped me was staying in "work mode", getting up at the usual time and tackling the backlog of household repairs while I looked for a job. I told myself "I need a clean slate for my next adventure whatever it is!" and aimed to get all chores and paperwork done and dusted before I set out on the next chapter of my professional life. I also walked for at least an hour every day, listening to news and music.

OP, you need an easy win. It might not be housework (urgh!) or home repairs. Are there any short courses you'd like to do? Any quick additions you can make to your CV? You could look on Coursera, which offers all sorts of work and general interest courses online via various universities. You can do as many as you like for a monthly subscription. You can binge-study and cancel when you're done. Coursera is the one I know well, but there are others that offer free online courses.

Good luck, and I hope you find a fabulous new position.

Thank you

It is your role that is being made redundant, OP, not you. Keep reminding yourself of this. Again and again and again if necessary.

I have been on both sides of the table - both making others redundant and being made redundant myself. It's shit on both sides, but it really isn't personal.

When it happened to me, it hit me very hard and it did knock my confidence, but actually, it turned out to be a real blessing as it gave me a much needed kick up the arse to help me decide what I really wanted to be when I grew up. It hasn't got in the way of my career success, I went on to bigger and better things. It was just a temporary blip. A setback but not a catastrophe.

You are probably much more resilient than you think. Have a think about what transferable skills you have, and what you would actually like to do with them. Be creative. See it as an opportunity. The world is your oyster.