What people do? Depends? Young, single, no bills/family, employable skills? then take your time. Else? people try to survive. Worry about money, look for a job. Learning new skills is good, some people go back to school.

1- Not a choice

2- As little time as I can (have bills to pay)

3- Get back to work and worry all day. It takes time to search. As a freelancer, how do you get projects? they just happen? How do you find gigs, online?

I don't know what you define as 'large percentage' of people - If you really want to know what people, you could read this Gawker series and get a sense of what is out there.

http://gawker.com/tag/hello-from-the-underclass

I spend 1-2 hrs in the morning reading industry news, research, and studies. The rest of the day (5 hrs) I refine the framework I would follow when/if I get a job.

I view it as an outstanding opportunity to learn and prepare. I did something similar 10 years ago during the dotcom crash. When biz was slow, I spent my time learning about strategic planning. It paid dividends for the next decade.

I've been searching for an opportunity for 1 year now, so the framework is quite robust.

The target position I've been looking for is Ecommerce Manager. I've been very close to landing a few jobs, and the reason I haven't been hired was because I'm "overqualified" or "too much horsepower".