I Also Lost My Job During COVID-19

8 Takeaways I Have Realised In This Journey

When December 2019 ended, I was so confident of the new year to come. After numerous attempts, I finally thought I had a chance to change our lives, improve my career, and just be better. 

Congratulations — I told myself. Finally, I had signed on a promising job at a new company. And in February, we moved in to our new apartment. It was like pushing the Start button and living our own lives again. I was having one of the best days of my life. With all the “new” things unfolding, I was so invigorated and energetic to face 2020 with all I can. 

As all these things are happening in my life, in our lives, so is COVID-19 unexpectedly. And as it swiftly impacted virtually everything in the world — families, travel, retail, professional services, F&B, etc. — I literally started to doubt the bright prospects ahead of me. I could only reassure myself that I won’t be affected until one day, I’ve heard the dreaded words delivered in a WhatsApp call. It was surreal and I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Immediately then, I was at of work. 

My world almost shattered as I was on that call. My world shattered even more as I was smoking my cigarette while crying in my bathroom realising all the new challenges I will be facing together with my family. We’ve just moved in to our new home, how could I help support our finances? When companies across sectors and industries are trying to survive, how long would I be jobless? What would I do with my time now? What would I…..

And all those practical and emotional thoughts ran through my mind since then. It had been a total of 4 months that I was let go and became unemployed. 

Looking back now, I could only see them as opportunities, as windows in time that somehow I was glad it happened. 

I wanted to share some takeaways that I may be able to impart some sort of advice or insight to anyone who is going through what I have been through. 

8 Takeaways 

1. Your family is there for you. 

When this happened to me, it was not only “me” who was affected but my entire family. I was very fortunate that I had the support of my family, most especially my husband. Truth be told, your finances will crumble and sometimes, you’d certainly need to accept any help that they can offer. Not to mention that you will have drained any savings you have. And in my experience, I was out of work for 4 months. 

Best of all, they have offered emotional support for me through this time. They have always checked on me and kept me company to ensure that I was not feeling alone in my situation. 

2. Acknowledge what you are going through and how you truly feel.

There were a few times when I felt the need to cry and take a moment to be alone and sulk it in. Admittedly, I underwent through all sorts of feelings from resentment, shame, low confidence, despair, disappointment, you name it. But as quickly as I felt them, I didn’t want to sit these feelings although I had to recognise that I was feeling them. In my experience, what helped me through is by not shutting them off and instead, I let myself deal with these and ask myself “And then what?” after. 

3. List your goals and make a daily plan.

In my field, I was accustomed to building and planning my day. At work, I have planned my activities and goals everyday. But when I was out of work, I knew it would be the right thing to employ so that I still had things to look forward to and items that I needed to achieve, regardless of their impact. The items included in my daily plan ranged from searching and applying for jobs, getting grocery items to settling bill and running errands. This way, it helped me think that I was still accomplishing tasks on a daily basis. 

4. Spend time with your kids.

This is where I turned this unfortunate situation to be an opportunity — an opportunity for me to spend time with my children. Because they started studying-from-home, I was there to help them navigate this new normal. We made a time-table of all we need to do everyday including their eating schedule, Zoom meetings, to play and sleeping time. 

When it got a little warmer, we had the chance to go to the beach and enjoy the peacefulness of the calm water. Not only that I had some time to relax but I had valuable time I’ve shared with my kids and see them grow and learn, too.

5. Nurture your skills and now you have time to do the things you have always wanted to do.

Before, I have always complained to myself that I didn’t have time to explore things I really wanted to do. I’ve always wanted to learn how to bake bread from scratch, have more time for painting, learn a new language, etc. Despite of the hard situation I was in, I then had the opportunity to do things I never had time to do and be better at it. For one, I was finally able to learn Spanish via Duolingo. In fact, I was always on the Top 10 in the leaderboard and now, I am on the Sapphire Level. 

In the baking front, I have always made delectable cakes and muffins for parties or holiday celebrations, except for bread. Almost every week, I had turned my simple and small kitchen into a messy bakery and made sorts of bread that I could learn — pandesal, rolls with cheese frosting, and even doughnuts. So although flour was then flying off the shelves here in Hong Kong, I was one of those people who made their way to get flour and have used their time to bake during COVID-19 lockdowns and restrictions. 

6. Be with your friends, connect with them, and check up on one another.

This unprecedented pandemic disrupted normalcy at its finest and it made me realise that what I was going through was not an isolated case but almost a universal one. 

Even friends who are close to me were/are still going through the same thing one way or another — lost jobs and still finding jobs, their salaries were slashed, were asked to go on forced leave without pay, etc. We are all impacted by this pandemic and we have yet another common ground that we can share. So we supported each other by taking time to meet at a convenient and safe place to get together and lighten the situations we were in over food, drinks, stories, and laughter. 

In those times, I forgot I was alone and that we’re all actually connected in this situation gave me a sobering realisation that it was extremely important and crucial to reach out to one another. 

7. Stay fit, eat healthy, and exercise. 

Not only that I was able to find time to do things, I also had a lot of time to do light exercises, yoga, and running. One of the ways I freed my mind of all the stress I was going through was exercising — whether I was doing core exercise or running outside for a few kilometres. I enjoyed the sweat and physical challenge to endure pain and soreness that was almost euphoric every time. 

8. Focus your energy on what you can control.

Ultimately, I came to the realisation that I can’t fret over things that I have no control over. I initially had no control over the financial situation of the company that led them to lay me off. I had no control over the companies whether they will evaluate my CV and actually invite me for an interview. I had no control of what is going to happen in the days to come. But I had a long list of items that I had definite control. 

Amongst them are my time, my dedication, my strengths and weaknesses. I took over my day even if there was no work. I owned it like I was reporting to somebody and told them I had done my job and submitted relevant applications well by highlighting my abilities and values. I had control over that and that is something what happened to me cannot take away. 

Regardless of the events that unfolded that brought me into this situation, it turned out to be a great learning experience for me. Truth is, it was an awful and stressful lot of experience, one combined with financial complexities and uncertainties. But with all the support I received and focusing on doing the right things everyday, I’m now where I am today more human than ever.