A calm news diet

Layoff news is designed to be read: big numbers, scary quotes, predictions about the end of programming. Reading it all day makes you anxious, and anxiety makes you worse at your job and worse at planning. Pick two or three sources that use real data, such as a good engineering newsletter and the reports in this stage, and check them once a week.

When you read a claim, ask who measured it, how, and whether it matches what you see at work. Turn worry into action: each time you feel the fear, write down one thing from the later stages you could do this week.