Keeping Occupied while Unemployed

I am about to be laid off where I am currently working and although I have several applications out there I have no guaranty of employment. I think it is important to fill in the gap of extra time and give yourself a routine to replace the 8 hours of work every day. Here are some I am going to do:

Devote 3 Hours a day on job searching tasks, sending resume's, researching companies, etc...

Increase my exercise, since I have the extra time, using it to get fit certainly will not hurt me

Tackle some long running household projects that have been delayed due a lack of time in the past.

Write, something I rarely get to do these days. I have notes for a novel I have not started yet.

Get a part time job, there is plenty of retail arround me and to be honest I am a far more experianced than many of these teenagers these places hire.

Volunteer, museums always are looking for people to come in and help out, a good way to expand my knowledge of the world for free. Homeless shelters, helping others in dire need and reminding myself that however bad my outlook maybe, it could be a lot worse.

Sounds like you are going to be busy! Good luck. First of course, I'm sorry you are going to be laid off.

You certainly have a positive attitude!

Keep it up and have fun while you do your job searchs.

I've been unemployed since early January and I struggle to fill up my day. I am now a stay-at-home mom to my 3 year old, and you would think that would be enough. But both of us get incredibly bored. I just can't think of things to do together that are fun and exciting. We end up watching way too much TV. And she actually prefers to play alone with her toys, so I'm sitting there watching her and doing nothing.

I have been going for a 1 hour to 1-1/2 hour walk every day to get exercise and enjoy the great weather. I need to lose a LOT of weight, and walking is about all I can enjoy doing.

I take her to the park for a couple hours maybe 3-4 times a week

I come up with projects that need to be done at home - my latest one is to put captions and dates/names/etc. on all of our photos in our photo albums. Right now, they have nothing. Five years from now we'll have no idea who/where the hell that is!

I've also been reading books - some psych books, and my latest one is "How to improve your marriage without talking about it." Great book. My marriage is in shambles so I need to work on it.

I'm an accountant, and lately I've been doing a lot of spreadsheets at home to figure out our debt situation and money situation and come up with a contingency plan if I don't find a job when my benefits run out. We do have enough to get to September without any problems...but after that, who knows. But then I even got optimistic and did a plan if I get a job - this time I'm going to put money into savings right from the get-go. I figured out how much we would have in savings after 5 years, 10 years, etc. Makes you feel a lot better to look at where you'll be in a few years!

And other than that, I spend my time cleaning the house - dishes, bathrooms, floors, laundry, dusting, the works. The house has never been cleaner!