How to Cope with the Recession
The recession, the global meltdown, the slowdown, and a myriad other terms are being bandied about these days to describe the fact that basically everyone is feeling the pinch in their pocket these days. We are no longer anticipating a recession; it is upon us and no mistake! We all have less money than before to spend, we are doing without some things that we may have taken for granted earlier, we are all taking a sharp look at our expenditure to see what we can cut down on and what we can do without. I thought of some of the ways that one can cope with recession and here are my thoughts:
Do your job: The single most scary prospect in times of recession is a looming layoff of even a chance that one may be fired. What is important to remember here is that the people you work for are most likely to fire those with the lowest productivity; those that are least likely to matter by their absence. Remember this and just do your job so well that when an employer thinks they have to cut costs by retrenchments, yours is not a name that occurs to them. So the single most important insurance against being fired is, JUST DO YOUR JOB THE BEST YOU CAN.
Be Positive: I know this is an obvious cliché, but think about how easy it is to get bogged down by your troubles and your tribulations. Take time out and count your blessings: for instance if you are in good health, think about how much worse off you would be if you were not in good health. There would be medical expenses and low productivity! Surround yourself with positivity and positive people, take time out and do worthwhile things.
Take care of yourself: Make a conscious effort to lower stress levels. Cook food at home (it is healthier and far cheaper) and eat food high in nutritional value. Keep yourself active, keep your brain active. They say mental exercises like puzzles, crosswords, quizzes etc that challenge your mind are important not only to keep your brain healthy and agile, they can also keep dementia at bay! So while you exercise your body for fitness also do the same for your brain.
Read my old posts: All my posts are about money and how to get a great bargain, but here are some you may find particularly useful given the current financial scenario:
4. Hypermiling
I’ve been thinking a lot about the recession lately and why it doesn’t seem to have impacted us. I guess we were really at the start of it all (with droughts and falling profits on the farm) so we’ve adjusted already. What I don’t understand is how many people seem to have less money to spend. I get that for those who’ve had lay-offs but what about those who haven’t? How has it impacted their discretionary income when interest rates have dropped and so have grocery prices (apparently – I’m yet to see that one!)?
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Take time out and count your blessings: for instance if you are in good health, think about how much worse off you would be if you were not in good health.
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I am so grateful that my family has been fortunte enough not to be impacted by our country’s economy. We have been blessed with careers that are in demand, inspite of the economy. My husband, aviation, and myself Scentsy Wickless Candles. At least once a week I hear of someone being “down sized” and my heart goes out to them, and it makes me realize even further how blessed my family has been. This is a time where we all need to support one another and raech out to those in need. You never know when you could be in those shoes, next.
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Staying positive during these times is one of the most powerful ways through which we can deal with these financial storms. There is always going to be a brighter day after all these problems.
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You could have added: watch out for opportunities. While no one likes a recession, they are filled with opportunities and this one is no different.
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Great article, I couldn’t agree with you more on being positive.
While times are rough, we have to realize that all of us play an important role in bring our economy back out of recession. It is tough to prioritize and determine where the cut backs are…but if everyone decides to stop spending…wouldn’t that create an endless downward spiral and worsen the recession?
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I do hope that the darkest phase of the recession is behind us.
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I do hope the darkes phase of the recession is behind us, but I think it will take some time to get back on track again. I’m hopeful the future looks brighter.
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My theory is that everyone should continue to work harder in this phase of recession. Once the recession is behind us, the hard work you put in now, will pay you rich dividends later.
I do think that the dark clouds of recession have already gone. Soon we will see a sunny clear sky!
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That’s right! And staying hopeful and positive keeps us afloat.
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I’m so grateful that we are all feeling a little more hopeful about the economy, but discourage that fear has been replaced with the swine flu, which I hope will soon pass.
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