I was made redundant from a senior design role. 8 weeks later, I’m doing all the right things, but I feel numb. Nothing excites me anymore.
This post is part of THE DEEP STUFF — reflective answers to the questions senior creatives ask when confidence and direction start to shift.
I write these pieces as a coach and a former creative director. I work with experienced creative leaders who are navigating confidence loss, change, and the pressure to stay relevant. No platitudes. No fridge magnet philosophy. Just saying what I hear.
Redundancy doesn’t just take your job.
Eight weeks on you may feel like you are back in motion, updating the CV, following up the leads, but the truth is redundancy is one hell of a depleting force, particularly when you’ve held a responsible role. When a role ends your nervous system doesn’t just reboot, it often powers down.
Most advice after redundancy focuses on momentum: apply, network, reframe, stay positive. Useful, but incomplete. If you move too quickly into doing mode, you can end up applying from emotional flatness. You’re showing up, but not as your full self.
It explains why nothing particularly excites you. Not because the opportunities are wrong, but your loss hasn’t been properly processed. There’s no doubt, even if you have months to prepare, or it's an elected decision, redundancy can rock confidence, without even announcing itself as a confidence issue. It unsettles meaning before it touches motivation.
So until you can process the change in an honest way, enthusiasm might not be on demand. And despite what you might want to happen, there is plenty of evidence to support the fact that this is not a moment for forced reinvention.
Instead, try and separate change from self-judgement. Make space to recognise what’s been lost, not just what’s next
In coaching, this phase is all about restoring contact with curiosity, preference and energy. And it’s done gently, not aggressively. Over the years I have found working with The Collage Coaching Technique™ a really powerful way to go deeper than reactive thinking.
The simple truth is that creativity comes back through permission, not pressure. And come back it will.
If you like this mini series and have a question you don’t mind being answered publicly (no names obvs) get in touch by email
Discover more thinking from THE DEEP STUFF — the real questions senior creatives ask.