Thursday, November 11, 2010

Busily Not Working

I am surprisingly busy for someone who doesn't have a job and whose kids are in day care.  Since I saw the lay off coming, I had already started working my network and searching for a new job. Some of those efforts are bearing fruit now, and I need to follow up on that. I also need to figure out what I want out of my next job (beyond the obvious paycheck) ASAP. A lay off with a severance package is an great opportunity to redirect your career, if necessary, and I'd hate to waste it- particularly since I was feeling like I needed to make some changes. I don't want to jump into a new job that leaves me feeling the same way. Helping people sort these sorts of issues out is one of the things that outplacement companies do, so I decided to go ahead and start my outplacement services right away. I went to orientation yesterday and met with my career coach today. I'll do my workshop soon, but I couldn't schedule it this week or next, due to conflicts in my schedule. I'm taking Pumpkin to the zoo tomorrow, and next week I am speaking at a conference here in town.

The conference is giving me tasks to take care of, too. I had my slides ready, but I needed to write and practice my talk. I got it written today, but still need some practice. The talk feels a little more important now that the networking opportunity provided by the conference carries more importance- so I figure that I should practice it a bit more than I might have otherwise done.

I also had to fill out the application for unemployment, and I'm working through the a list of other little chores that I should do, like submitting receipts for reimbursement from my health care flex account. All very fun stuff!

So, here I am, with no job but still no time to read all the blogs in my reader. I'm trying to set aside time soon to just relax a bit and recover from the stress of the last month, so I should catch up soon. But if I'm strangely absent from your blog comment section, don't take it personally. Being unemployed is surprisingly hard work!

5 comments:

  1. I can imagine that might be how my life would go too! My mum seems busier than ever since she retired too, it must be just in our natures. Good luck finding your new path.

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  2. Its good to keep busy. :) I find that being on maternity leave, I'm not busy enough sometimes. But, I'm meeting with my old boss for lunch today to disuss my return to work... we'll see what they've got for me!

    Good luck at the conference. And with finding the new job.

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  3. Good for you! It is always so tempting to just allow yourself a couple days to wallow in misery after something like that happens, but you don't really strike me as being a wallower...

    Good luck at the conference. That seems like totally awesome timing. Once upon a time when I used to have a real job (before this grad school thing took over my life) I wound up laid off, for a few months. The first bit was terrible (the job I'd had lined up fell through and I really had no alternate plans), but then a total dream job landed in my lap - with the twist that it didn't start for another 2 months. So I had 2 months of lounging around with a specific end date, and that was honestly one of the best times of my life. So here's hoping you get to enjoy a bit of unstructured time between jobs.

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  4. I'm not taking it personally. :) Same old same old at my blog anyway. A three year old bent on ruling the world through force of personality.
    Best of luck with the conference and the back to work workshop. That sounds really interesting. I hope some good things come of it.

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  5. I feel where you are coming from on this one. I started my mat leave a week ago and DS is still in preschool/with his nanny yet suddenly I have NO time. I feel busier than ever.

    Good luck with this transition period. Hopefully it will be a catalyst for your next awesome phase in life.

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