Getting the pink slip is horrible. It feels sort of like a black-hooded executioner chopping your ego into bits. Then stomping on the bits. Luckily, you don't have to feel horrible forever. This is a quick tour through how to bounce back after a lay-off.

Limit Your Sweatpants Time

Most people, after losing a job, need some time to feel terrible. That's okay. Put on sweatpants and rattiest band T-shirt and camp out on the couch. Eat donuts for dinner, watch Bruce Willis save the world in 17 different movies. But, you've got about 72 hours moping time, max. Taking more time than that builds sorrow into a habit, making it harder every day to feel confident about looking for a new job.

Enjoy Something Every Day

One of the worst tricks of unemployment is that just as you finally have the time to do the things you love, take up French, or train for a Marathon; you might feel as if you don't deserve it. This is a lie. Take some time every day as a gift for yourself. This won't just give you the happiness of the thing itself, it also works to improve your state of mind, which in turn helps give you the energy to write stronger cover letters and resumes.

Update Everything

You'll need an updated resume. In fact, depending on your field, you might need several default resumes depending on which of your skill sets you're trying to sell. Write these default resumes now so when a job pops up, you'll only have to do a small amount of fine-tuning before hitting send. Draft a default cover letter for your ideal job, even if it doesn't exist. Though you won't send this letter as-is to anybody, it gives you a strong base to work with, again saving time, so your application is ready to fire off at the first opportunity.

Accept Help

Let people know you're looking for work. You never know who has the connection you need to get your resume to the top of the pile. Let personal recommendations (or nepotism) do some of the work for you. And remember, it will be okay.