How to fill your day when you're unemployed?

judgefudge · 10-02-2014 06:22PM #1

Hey folks,

Heading into a spell of unemployment at the moment, hoping to find a job obviously or maybe get on jobbridge. So, aside from applying for jobs and brushing up the cv, what do you people do to fill your days when you're unemployed?

I like to keep busy, and when I'm not productive I can get quite depressed. Things I've come up with include:

Going to the gym
Reading
Learning a language
Learning to cook
Fixing up the house
Gardening

Although how I'd fill the day I don't know. Any ideas?

Ihatecuddles · 10-02-2014 06:24PM

Throw some major depression into the mix and you don't even have to leave your bed!

120_Minutes · 10-02-2014 06:26PM

boards and reddit. there's a good chunk of your day gone.

zcorpian88 · 10-02-2014 06:27PM

Stay away from Jeremy Kyle on the box, or your mind will turn to mush!

Gummy Panda · 10-02-2014 06:27PM

Furious masturbation

shopaholic01 · 10-02-2014 06:28PM

Volunteer at a local charity, help older people in the community or fap.

eviltwin · 10-02-2014 06:29PM

Volunteer for something, it gets you out of the house and looks good on a cv.

4zn76tysfajdxp · 10-02-2014 06:29PM

Head down to the bookies, spend several hours watching the races of the day before retiring home with a few tins of Stella and getting absolutely monged in front of the telly. :cool:

kneemos · 10-02-2014 06:31PM

Make babies,good money spinner as well.

Jesus Wept · 10-02-2014 06:37PM

I'm hearing good things about this flappy bird lark.

Wacker The Attacker · 10-02-2014 06:40PM

**** and gambling

The Backwards Man · 10-02-2014 06:42PM

The things that you've listed are more than enough to keep you occupied. It's not what you do that puts the day in, it's how long you spend doing it.

kneemos · 10-02-2014 06:44PM

The three holidays a year and new flat should keep you occupied for quite a while.

saintsaltynuts · 10-02-2014 06:46PM

Internet.Gym.Movie.Internet.T.V.F.M.104 Phone show.Bed.

Fudge You · 10-02-2014 06:46PM

Just spend the whole day everyday looking for a job.

J_E · 10-02-2014 06:50PM

Teach yourself a new skill or just broaden your mind

Languages
Coding
Bunch of different topics here!
Random Wikipedia page
Find something new

I'm currently learning German and doing an online Harvard Computer Science course.

Fran1985 · 10-02-2014 06:58PM

If you've no real financial commitments to worry about, then enjoy every minute of it.

Obviously keep looking for jobs, but don't spend all day sending out CV's for jobs that aren't in your field. Spend an hour or so in the morning applying for everything that you are suited to and once that's done get out and exercise or volunteer or study but definitely don't sit around feeling sorry for yourself.

If you've got financial commitments then there's a bit more urgency about the whole thing but still make room for leisure time. It's key to keeping the mind from going to mush

dundalkfc10 · 10-02-2014 07:01PM

Smoke Weed and get stoned all day every day

Some my friends do it, and are all happy as larry

Earthhorse · 10-02-2014 07:10PM

shopaholic01 wrote: »

Volunteer at a local charity, help older people in the community or fap.

Do not mix and match these activities.

bnt · 10-02-2014 07:15PM

Write a novel and publish it online. Stick to a straightforward three act structure if you're wondering what to do. You could even do it in instalments, start a free blog at e.g. wordpress.com, and go for it.

Aidric · 10-02-2014 07:21PM

judgefudge wrote: »

Learning a language

Should be your first priority. Will open doors for you.

SamAK · 10-02-2014 07:23PM

dundalkfc10 wrote: »

Smoke Weed and get stoned all day every day

Some my friends do it, and are all happy as larry

I tried that, great way of doing feck all forever more.

Couple furious weed smoking with marathon Xbox live gaming and within a week your body clock and sleeping patterns go into Owl mode.

I had enough after about a year and a half, so I binned the smoking, punched the telly (true story), sold the xbox and went to college. Much happier now!

There's one for you OP - sit on the dole for a year and then claim back to education allowance, get yo'self some skillz!

phasers · 10-02-2014 07:23PM

write angry letters to fictional characters.

boobar · 10-02-2014 07:24PM

Learn some new skills...try to pick up some certifications, study etc.

For fun, along with reading, catch up on some boxsets etc.

I suppose the thing is to try and have a balance of exercise, fun, learning...

You could try a new hobby, I've been promising to take up photography but I'm just too busy.

tomwaterford · 10-02-2014 07:36PM

dundalkfc10 wrote: »

Smoke Weed and get stoned all day every day

Some my friends do it, and are all happy as larry

left out playing xbox:o:o

in all seriousness emm take up hurling or cycling (aside from the obvious - job-hunting)

Lyaiera · 10-02-2014 07:45PM

You're not allowed volunteer when you're on the dole, you have to get their permission first. So feck 'em and volunteer somewhere.

SamAK · 10-02-2014 07:46PM

Lyaiera wrote: »

You're not allowed volunteer when you're on the dole, you have to get their permission first. So feck 'em and volunteer somewhere.

So we're not allowed to volunteer but jobbridge is okeydokey?

Hah.

J_E · 10-02-2014 07:49PM

Lyaiera wrote: »

You're not allowed volunteer when you're on the dole, you have to get their permission first. So feck 'em and volunteer somewhere.

I never knew that...doesn't seem to make any sense.

Lyaiera · 10-02-2014 07:55PM

SamAK wrote: »

So we're not allowed to volunteer but jobbridge is okeydokey?

Hah.

The Community Employment Scheme was set up before Jobs Bridge. It was aimed at long term unemployed people (I think you needed a year on the dole before you could do one) and people on Disability Allowance and Carer's Allowance who could get into more flexible workplaces that would cater to their needs. The groups that could hire people with it all had to provide a service to the community, whether it was arts, sports or charitable in some form. For a lot of these groups it was the only way they could get people to work with them (for 20 hours a week) and for a lot of people doing the programme it was the only way they could work. The range of jobs was anywhere from cleaning jobs (long term, hard to employ people) to database admins and web programmers (college graduates whose disabilities or family situation held them back.) It was an extremely useful system and a huge financial incentive for people on it as they could get up to about €350 a week (dole plus extra) for 20 hours work (which is all they might have been physically capable of.) When Jobs Bridge was introduced the money was dropped to the same as jobs bridge (dole plus €50) and a lot of the CE workplaces were screwed.

The CE Scheme kept a lot of community organisations out of difficulty and helped a lot of people who were in difficulty themselves. It's disappointing it's effectively been neutered with the alterations to it.

fryup · 10-02-2014 07:57PM

Gummy Panda wrote: »

Furious masturbation

angry wankin

it should always be a pleasurable pastime

Tombi! · 10-02-2014 08:02PM

You can volunteer on the dole AFAIK.
I believe you have to notify them and you still need to be looking for work.

How to fill your day when you're unemployed?

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