Things to think about when you're unemployed

When you are unemployed, most people will tell you looking for work should be your full-time job.  I don't buy that.  I do think you should spend some time every weekday looking for your next job... but if you spend 10 - 12 hours a day on it, some of those hours will not be productive, and some will be downright unproductive.

I believe you should spend some focus on constructive things to help you find work.  You can find many of those things in many places on the Internet, in local classes, local job fairs, or from your state Department of Labor.

On the other hand, those sources do not tell you everything.  I want to point out some things you can do besides simply look for work which will help you in both your short- and long-term search for your next job.

1. Find and join at least one group of people in your area, preferably one with at least a few members looking for work.  If you cannot find one, start one.  There are two good reasons for this.  First, networking is the best way to get a job.  Second, moving from an environment with a lot of people to one with nobody (i.e., an office to a home) the people skills are the first to go.
2. Maintain connections with people you used to work with.  If Facebook is the only option, I guess you have to do that, but LinkedIn is better.
3. Speaking of LinkedIn, become more active in it.  Join groups related to your job skills.  Join groups related to companies you want to work for.  Connect to recruiters and even HR people; develop some sort of relationship with them.  Follow companies as well as people you respect. 
4. Keep up-to-date on your field, publicly.  Commenting on people's posts may be the only way to do it, but be creative to find other ways.  If you do not use your skills they get moved from immediate memory to long-term memory, and in interviews any hesitation is seen as bad. 
5. Learn how to market yourself.  This is distasteful to some, but a must in this modern economy. 
6. Learn new "soft skills" or develop your existing one.  Tech abilities are not as important as being a good teammate. 
7. Do not let searching for jobs take over your life.  People will tell you searching for work is a full-time job, and it is time-consuming... but it's really easy to waste a lot of time on it.  I do not look for work every day because it is pointless (openings stay posted for a week or two at least)... but if I see a job or two I really want I'll put in whatever time I need to qualify for it. 
8. When applying for work, match your resume to what the job is looking for.  I use a base resume, vetted by several recruiters, modifying certain aspects of it to conform to the requirements specified in the position's description.  This does not mean keep dozens of resumes; it does mean making minor changes to make sure key words from the job posting are reflected in your resume.
9. Speaking of resumes, it is impossible to get agreement on the "best" format; I've had a situation where one IT recruiter told me my resume was perfect, and another IT recruiter from the same company, one week later, tell me it was impossible to read.  While there are general guidelines (tell how you did what you did, not just what you did, and give details) there is no one format that works for everything. 
10. Realize you are not unemployed because you're unemployable... you are unemployed because of a lack of job openings in your area for your skill set.  This may mean one of two things:  either your skill set is no longer in demand, or it is in demand but there are no openings.  Regardless, it may be necessary to learn new skills or even change fields.  For an IT person this may be difficult, especially when your skills should be in demand but aren't (there are still a lot of mainframes out there).  Also, don't get down on yourself... not easy to do for some, but really, who else will help you if you don't help yourself? 
11. Do not listen to people who tell you what to do or how to do things you're not able to do.  Examples include "always be positive" (negative feelings are just temporary, and sometimes can spur you to do something different), "just move to where the jobs are" (sometimes you simply cannot relocate, and who's to tell you you can't live where you want to anyway?), and "apply to jobs you aren't really qualified for but could learn" (in today's job market HR people use keyword scanners, and if you don't meet their must-haves your resume will never be looked at by a person).  Of course these are general rules, not hard-and-fast... the best thing is to go with your gut. 
12. If you find days tend to run together, sleep is a problem, worry winds you up... realize you're not alone.  Find a way to manage this which works with your personality.  Set a schedule so you have something to do each day; for example,

• get up at 8:00 AM, eat a good breakfast
• spend an hour scanning job boards and networking
• spend another hour apply to any job finds, otherwise take a class or something similar
• for an hour or two, pick an area of your living space and clean or rearrange things. Another option is running errands
• do a 15-20 minute workout
• eat a healthy lunch
• spend an hour to read the paper, a book, or magazine
• do another 15-20 minute workout, shower
• spend an hour or two looking at and/or applying to finds from the morning
• eat a healthy dinner
• take two hours to work on a project you've been wanting to do

Above all, while a schedule should have you constructively busy, it should be flexible enough to allow for daily interruptions, longer periods of job search, or whatever keeps you employable and alive, not just living.

If you are unemployed, I hope these suggestions help you.  They are also good suggestions for retirement; that is, keep yourself busy doing something you enjoy.