Tuesday, April 30, 2013

What do you do all day?

I've been unemployed for a month now. I'm trying to limit the whining because I knew this was happening. I made the choice to be unemployed. I made the choice to move to a new state which would necessitate a new job. I have to say, I'm very, very happy in my new environment. Most of the time, I'm much less stressed and I'm spending a lot more time laughing and being social.

But there's still the day time. The time when people go to work. The time when those of us who aren't currently working look out the window and wish we were. It's an odd feeling. I don't look out an office window and dream that I'm doing what I really want to be doing. I just dream of having an office window to look out of and dream about doing what I really want to be doing.

So what do I do all day? I really, really try to treat unemployment like a job. I still get out of bed by 7:30 and take a shower. I put on clothes (albeit not the clothes I'd wear to a job). I still eat breakfast and drink coffee. At 9 AM, I go back to the office. I sit at my desk. I check Craigslist, Indeed, SimplyHired, Careerbuilder, and Monster for any jobs that might interest me and that I might be qualified for and I apply for them. By then, it's 9:15-9:30. It won't help to check all those boards again for at least a few hours.

So I take surveys for $1.50-$3.00 in Amazon credit. I mute promotional videos and let them play in the background for Amazon credit. I hope to earn enough in 3-4 weeks to buy myself a new board game or video game or something. Just so I don't have to spend money on it.

I read articles about how to improve my job search. How to improve my skills.

I try to better myself. I'm exercising. Not as much as I should or could be, but much more than I used to. I'm trying to learn computer programming languages. I feel like I'm going too fast seeing as I've been at it a month and I'm on my third language. I'm sure when I go to do a practical application, I won't have much in the way of retention. We shall see.

Believe me, though, when I say I have no regrets. I really do like living here. I like having friends over for dinner and board games. I like seeing my family/in-laws on a regular basis. I like knowing the support is there. I like that day to day life is a lot easier. I love that my wife is working in the field she wants to work in and that she's far exceeding the expectations we both had one month in. Things can only keep going up.

I just wish I could find work. It's only been a month and I know I shouldn't get discouraged. I know there are a lot of people out there who are unemployed not by choice but by circumstances outside their control. I know there are people who have been looking for a lot longer than I have. I know that I could walk across the street to the McDonalds and probably get a job there, but we're not to that point yet. I know that I'm being looked out for. I know that job will come. I just have to keep moving. At least I'm not spending my days playing video games and watching movies.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Good luck in that! (: