Furlough..."a temporary leave of absence from employment, either voluntary or involuntary". Notice, the definition says nothing about this being vacation, sleeping in or cleaning out the garage time.

A growing number of sectors, in various industries, are using furloughs as another means of cutting expenses. A furlough CAN be a red flag that your job, department or company is in danger.

If you are in the midst of a furlough now, or in the future, here are some tips for making the most of your time. The more proactive and resourceful you use the time; will only put you ahead of your competition.

1. Develop a structure-just as you got up in the morning, planned your day, developed your to-do lists and managed your projects, treat your furlough time the same. Develop your plan for how you will use the time and what you want to accomplish. Track your time and your accomplishments, just like you would for your job.

2. Create your layoff plan-face it, most likely you will be bringing home less income. Plan for it. Adjust your expenses accordingly so that you can manage your finances vs. your finances managing you.

3. Assess your strengths, skills, passions, accomplishments etc- Use this time to do some assessment of what you have to offer and what it is that you might want to be doing next (whether within or out of your current company). Determine what your brand is, what your unique promise of value is and what will separate you from your competition. And if you determine that you want to develop a weakness, take a class, attend a program or seminar. This is the time to do this type of reflection, NOT when you have been downsized, right sized, laid off.

4. Develop your network-If you haven't taken the time to establish a professional network, now is a great opportunity. Start with a small group of people that you know, touch base with them, let them know what's going on for you (and find out what's happening with them), get ideas from them on how you can and how they have done an effective job/career change, and build (and maintain) the relationship with them. Now would also be a good time to develop your presence on social networking sites such as LINKED IN and FACEBOOK.

5. Volunteer-this is a great opportunity for you to not only give something back to your community, professional association(s), or other affiliations but also can help you develop some additional skills and a way to enhance your network.

6. Plan some stress-reducing activity-Worrying about your furlough and possibly losing your job can take a serious toll on your body. Plan some time to exercise (or increase it if you are already) will help to offset the stress, give you more energy and help you sleep better at night.