4 Things I Wish I Had Done After Getting Laid Off

I got laid off in July 2020. I had an inkling it was coming, but wasn’t positive. When I woke up on the morning that marked the end of our fiscal year, I saw an email from HR telling me they would calling me between 9:00 AM and 12:00 PM, and that’s when I knew for sure. Here are 5 things I wish I did after getting laid off:

1. I wish I reached out to all of my former coworkers
   It’s a weird situation, they don’t know if they should reach out to you and you’re still under this guise of not knowing what kind of announcement has been made to the company. I wish I had reached out though, because I never heard from some of them again.
2. I wish I had taken more time to grieve
   On one hand, moving on was the only thing I could do so I did it fast. I packed my office up the next day and shipped my laptop back the same week. I didn’t really take time to think about what this meant for me or how much I would miss it.
3. I wish I had taken time off
   I told myself I was going to enjoy the time I had off because I was given a severance. But I panicked and ended up job searching almost immediately. I landed a job in October 2020 and I think I could have given myself a little more relaxation before that happened.
4. I wish I had put less pressure on myself
   I really just took the whole world on my shoulders and said I HAD to be productive during this time, I HAD to move to NJ, I HAD to find a new job as soon as possible. As someone who just had a life-changing thing happen to them, I think I should’ve given myself more credit.

Have you ever been laid off? What’s one thing you wish you had done?