Advice

Yeah, I know it's been a while, anyhoo ...

A friend on Facebook has been ill for a while and has had serious problems getting a job. He posted this question:

"I wonder if any of my friends have felt as I do and how they got better ?
Due to ill health and age it is my belief I will never work again and that makes me feel worthless.
Also due to ill health and poverty I am virtually housebound, surviving for the moment off the proceeds of the sale of my car.
I owe thousands to both friends and others and worry everyday how I will ever pay them back.
Being housebound and broke means i never socialise anymore and don't speak to another human being for weeks on end apart from rare trips to watch football which will cease soon.
The sense of isolation and worthlessness is worse than cancer or anything else i've dealt with.
I'm not looking for sympathy or pity, mine or anyone elses, i',m genuinely reaching out to see if anyone has any constructive suggestions or has felt similarly.
Thanks for reading ..."

This is how I replied:

" ...Been thinking about an answer ... : Around 15 years ago I was unemployed for two years, during which time I had a major [accident] which nearly killed me and from which I still have issues. Here's some things I did (though as I have no control results I don't know if they made a difference): 

1. Routine - I job hunted Sunday to Friday, taking Saturday off but making sure recruiters had my application when they started on Monday morning. 

2. Recording - I kept a record of my applications and tracked numbers applied versus hits (any sort of positive response) and any interviews - using a spreadsheet it was slightly interesting when I plotted it to look for trends and calculated averages, std dev etc. 

3. Writing - I kept a contemporaneous blog about my job hunting activities, recording any humours adverts etc. This blog was even read in Brazil. I tried adding Google ads but never received any hits. Done properly this may have yielded some revenue. 

4. Studying - even passed some exams and it helped answer interviewers' questions about what I was doing during my "time off". 

5. More writing - I also have another blog with short stories which practically no-one has read but, helped me. Nowadays there are vlogs and podcasts as well. 

6. Exercise - for a while it was difficult but as I regained my strength it became part of my regime. 

7. Contact - not much (I was also a bit disfigured and was running out of money, plus exhaustion) but there's Skype etc. 

It still sucked the sweat off a dead man's balls and I too thought I would never work again. 

TL, wtf, DR: - routine, creativity, exercise, embrace the suck."

He seems to have found it positive.