UbUMade redundantYour days
Made redundant · Your days
The days with nowhere to be.
A routine you can keep, free ways to move, and places to find other men. Small and steady beats big and rare.
Structure goes first.
No commute, no meetings, nobody expecting you. The days go soft, and that is when the mind gets loud. You do not need a plan for the whole of the next six months. You need a skeleton for tomorrow.
A routine for you, not for show.
I kept my 4:30 alarm going for months. It was a performance for an audience of one. Ask who your routine is for. A good one holds you up. A show for other people wears you out. If you have children at home, that year can be the hardest and the best. Mine turned out to be both.
A skeleton day
- 7:30Up. Dressed. Not in your pyjamas at the laptop.
- 8:30Outside for twenty minutes.
- 9:30 to 12:00Job search or learning. A block, not all day.
- 12:30Lunch away from a screen.
- AfternoonOne useful thing, and one person.
- 5:00Stop. The rest of the day is yours.
Try one thing today
Set tomorrow’s alarm. Get up, get dressed, and be outside by 9am. That is the whole task.
Five things that hold a day up.
Same wake-up time, and get dressed.
It costs nothing and it is the first win of the day.
Why: You decide what the day is before the day decides.
Go outside before 10am.
Twenty minutes. Walk. No headphones if you can manage it.
Why: Daylight and movement lift your mood, and they cost nothing.
Move three times a week, free.
NHS Couch to 5K is a free app: about nine weeks, three runs a week, a trainer in your ear. parkrun is a free timed 5k every Saturday at 9am. Register once, run, jog or walk it. Or just walk further each day.
Why: The body keeps the mind company, and most people sleep better for it.
See one human a day.
A coffee, a call, a walk with a friend. Andy’s Man Club meets on Mondays at 7pm, for men, free, with no booking and no referral. Men’s Sheds are community workshops for men, more than a thousand across the UK. Or volunteer for a few hours through Do-it.
Why: It is easy to hide, and hiding makes it worse. I know.
Do one useful thing with your hands.
Fix something, cook the tea, do the school run, give someone a lift. Real work that finishes.
Why: Usefulness is what the job gave you. You can get a measure of it back in small doses.
Where to go
- NHS Couch to 5KFree beginner running plan and app.
- Andy’s Man ClubFree weekly talking groups for men, Mondays 7pm. No booking.
- UK Men’s Sheds AssociationFind a Men’s Shed near you.
- Do-itFind volunteering near you.