When you unplug or lose the power to a laptop, the screen goes slightly dim. A sign that the computer has gone on energy savings mode, to stay on longer. It takes quite some adjusting to, for you to keep working. You can also disable energy savings and go right back up to the brightness level you desire, but the trade-off is that you will lose battery power faster. Unless you are sure that power is only temporarily unavailable, it is wiser to keep working with energy savings mode.
When some people lose their jobs, they do not go into energy (money) savings mode to stay on longer until revenue is restored. And in most cases, people underestimate the lag it will take before restoration of revenue.
In fact, I have seen quite a few people make needless purchases, to prove to those not even watching, that they are doing even better without “that job” – new car, new house, vacations. They want to keep up appearances. Really?
That is like starting to play background music and putting the speakers on max volume, when you’re on energy savings mode.
The people that I have found as examples on how to manage job loss, dimmed the screen lights. They made it clear to themselves and their loved ones that appearance no longer matters. Going through this time without shutting down was far more important. Some of them cut some treasured luxuries and some went for much lower paying jobs without any pomp and pageantry. They understood that this will only be a temporary loss of revenue if they can keep going for much longer.
Loss of a job or loss of revenue is not easy for anyone, especially when you are a breadwinner in a family. But it helps to go through your 5 stages of grief (denial, anger, bargaining, depression and finally, acceptance) fast, and move on with a new normal. It might not be better than where you were, but it is good enough to keep you going until you catch another high tide.
– Osasu Oviawe