So today is the first day of the rest of my life. Or something like it. In any case, last Thursday was my last day at the former job, and after a lovely long weekend, today is the first Monday in a while that I’m at home with no idea when I’ll be back at work.
Hopefully it’s sooner rather than later.
Those who know me well beyond this blog know that one of my worst nightmares is to be a “stay-at-home” anything. I don’t begrudge anyone else their choice to not work outside the home or even “work” at all in the traditional sense (because holy hell, children and some academic pursuits are serious work), but that lifestyle is certainly not for me. I really enjoy having a job, contributing to a team and creating something at the end of the day that helps an entity outside of my four walls succeed and prosper.
But I don’t have that right now. So I’ve made a list of things that, in addition to looking for something outside these walls, will make a bit of a difference inside them.
I have a friend (who will remain nameless) whose domestic partner didn’t work outside the home. While I’m not sure if he ever said these words to her, he told me that he didn’t mind bringing home the bacon, as long as she optimized her time at home to do two things:
1. Keep the house clean
2. Keep herself hot.
He figured that some quality time at the gym and with the vacuum should be easily accomplishable with the 8-10 hours/day available that she’d otherwise spend at work – and that arrangement kept him perfectly happy.
I’ve set the same standards for myself.
Now that I’m back to 100% after the jetlag fiasco, I’m going to attempt to get back to working out daily. I feel far better when I do it and have all this extra time on my hands – so no excuses.
There are a bunch of things around here that nether Neil nor I enjoy or make the effort to do: Cleaning inside and around appliances (goodbye mystery slime under the crisper drawer), cleaning out the junk drawers (goodbye four-month-old pizza receipts and dead pens), take down the outside Christmas lights (goodbye white-trash balcony), etc. There are also a bunch of things I’ve been meaning to sell (books, dvds, sporting equipment) that I couldn’t be arsed to before – I may as well do it now.
And then of course, there’s that whole “finding a new job” thing. That one will probably take up most of my time and effort, and I hope it pays off and I’m working outside my home again, long before I get to “scrub the floor behind the toilets” on my list.
Good luck on the job hunt.
As someone who was unemployed myself for 3 months this time last year, make sure you do enjoy the “layoff”. That being said, it can be reaaaaallly easy to sit and read blogs all day! 🙂
So the most I can recommend is
1) don’t feel guilty about reading a new book allll day. Or catching up on those “bunch of things” you’ve been meaning to do/or sell. (Craigslist rocks.)
2) “Finding a job” thing can take a lot more time that I thought it would during the day. I applied for a bunch of similar but different jobs with different skillsets. Hence, I would almost spend a full workday tailoring a resume and prepping for interviews. Waking up early in the day helps. Especially when the significant other has been wondering why you’ve been home all day and the apartment is still not cleaned.
And enjoy that sunny spring weather when it comes around!