Teena Wall's then work as a cleaner in the accommodation sector disappeared after the coronavirus crisis struck.
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Mrs Wall, who was ineligible for the federal government's wage subsidy JobKeeper, was faced with uncertainty and no structure in her days - and depression set in.
She said the COVID-19 pandemic had a massive impact on her life.
"I need structure and to plan - that was all gone," she said.
Mrs Wall, armed with her resume, approached businesses in search of a job.
The search paid off with Mrs Wall securing a job at Companion Bakery and Salad Bar after six weeks out of work.
"It just means everything," she said about her new job of three months.
Mrs Wall enjoys the customer interaction and camaraderie with colleagues.
She remains concerned about what the future will hold if a second lockdown is imposed.
"There is a lot more mental anguish out there than people are seeing," Mrs Wall said.
"It is definitely behind closed doors."
Mrs Wall predicts it will take at least 12 months for life to return to normal.
An Australian Bureau of Statistics survey found people were split on when normality will return.
Around one in six Australians believe their lives have returned to normal since the start of COVID-19 or they did not change at all, while nine per cent do not believe their pre-pandemic lives will ever return, according to Australian Bureau of Statistics data.
The eighth Household Impacts of COVID-19 Survey was conducted in early July at a time when the resurgence of coronavirus cases across parts of Victoria was leading to stronger restrictions in areas of the state.
ABS head of household surveys Michelle Marquardt said the survey showed similar numbers of people thought their lives would return to normal within three months compared to those who thought it would be more than a year before a return to normal (17 and 18 per cent).
"We also found that men were more than twice as likely as women to think that their lives would return to normal within three months (23 and 10 per cent)," Ms Marquardt said.
The survey also asked people to assess their general mental health.
Three in five Australians (60 per cent) considered their mental health to be excellent or very good, while around one in seven (14 per cent) reported their mental health as fair or poor.
People were asked about what aspects of their lives they would like to continue after COVID-19 restrictions eased.
Almost 30 per cent wanted to maintain spending more time with family and friends.
Other responses included continuing to have less environmental impact (27 per cent); spending less or saving more (25 per cent); working or studying from home (25 per cent) and slower pace of life (23 per cent).
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