Surviving a lay off...DAY ONE

"The company is taking a different direction."

"The company has re-organized"

"Today is your last day"

Any of these statements might be the vehicle through which your boss tells you that you've been layed off. You might be sitting across a table from your boss, alone. Or...you might be sitting around a table with several of your co-workers. Worse yet, you might be in a large group, listening to some HR person who only just introduced himself to you five minutes ago. No matter how you slice it, it stinks. And it hurts.

You probably had to quickly pack up your things. One box. 10 minutes. Goodbye.

On the drive home, you probably cried. You might have swore a bit. Once home, you may have sought comfort in the arms of your loved ones. Or you might have just sat in your home, quietly trying to understand what happened to you only minutes ago.

Ther's no magical elixir that you can drink or healing incantation you can chant that will either make you feel better or help you understand the situation. It just is. Most often, there isn't much sense in what happened. The timing doesn't seem to make sense, the people who got layed off vs. the employees that stayed doesn't seem to make sense and the conversations that you had, up to mere minutes before they let you go don't make sense.

Unfortunately, the longer you dwell on it, the less it makes sense.

On this first day, and for the following days, here is my advice to you.

1. Be with people you love.
2. Tell everyone that you know about what happened. This makes it way less "scary" and "shameful". You'll be surprised how many others are affected as well. Also, maybe one of those folks you tell knows someone who knows someone who is hiring?!?
3. Exercise. Walk. Run. Work out. Whatever you do, be sure to do it.
4. Resiste the urge to start spamming your resume all over the place. Spend the first week or two creating a strategy for your search.
5. Breathe and relax. You're not working. Do a thing or two that you've wanted to do but which work prevented. Go to the ballet. Go to a matinee. Go to the beach for the day.

Ok. You've been laid off. Now let's begin to think about what's next. Stay tuned.

Share your story below.