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Rabbit Rabbit Rabbit
May. 1st, 2024 08:30 am
It's May 1st! This will be a challenging month for a few different reasons. First, the day job has instituted a mandatory overtime policy until we catch up on a backlog that's been around since I've been hired. Second, R. and I have agreed to take a "tolerance break" from marijuana for the month, ending on Memorial Day. Third, after doing the math on how much less income I'm making I've decided that it's time to start actively looking for a new job. Overall, it feels like May will be a "nose to the grindstone" month; I'll need to narrow my focus down to a few important projects and work on them bit by bit, day by day.
I've been working OT with the day job for a few weeks now, so things have already been a little stressed. I haven't been extremely productive in that time -- mostly, I'm just getting caught up on the things I've fallen behind on or getting better acquainted with new reports to check against. I'm hoping that the time spent will pay dividends later and I'll be fully pulling my weight by the summer. The productivity trend-line is going in a positive direction overall and I wholly intend on keeping it that way.
At the same time, I'm making $1500/month less than I was in my Udacity days at this job. I knew the lowered pay would require a lifestyle adjustment, but...there's a difference between knowing something in your head and actually living through that experience. I'm still burning through my savings here and there to cover overspending, and the tax return this year just put a huge dent in the debt I've already accrued. In the meantime, I'm curating a small list of expenses I'll need to take care of when I have "disposable" income, like new shoes, a screen door for the patio, and some re-upholstery work for our dining room chairs and corner couch.
I don't think I've really sat down to create a budget with the monthly income I have, so now might be the time to do that. In the meantime, I'm building up my resume to match better the kinds of position I'm looking out for. I'd also like to level up my LinkedIn game; completely re-build my profile and experience to tell a more coherent story and form the "foundation" of my professional brand.
What IS my professional brand? Well, that's something I'll have to think about seriously. I would like to present myself as a team player who prizes culture and collaboration, who celebrates learning as a lifelong activity. I'd like to highlight the things I've learned from each position in my "generic" resume, and pick from a small selection of career achievements depending on the specific job I want. The good thing about being employed is that I can move a little more carefully, give myself the best shot of landing the best possible job.
The tolerance break for marijuana is long overdue. It's become far too much of a crutch for my stress management and it interferes too much with my ability to be productive elsewhere. I'm looking forward to reclaiming my focus and...mindfulness, though the process of getting there will be no picnic.
I typically go through a period of insomnia when I'm first off the stuff, and it takes a couple of weeks before I get into the "weird dreams" phase. The craving tends to be pretty intense at first so I'm anticipating a rough weekend coming up. Saturday will be a little easier because I'm working on the day job in the morning, but Sunday the urge to wake and bake will be so strong!! I'll need to have an alternative activity ready for the morning; something relaxing and chill. It might be a good time to go for a walk around the neighborhood or even walk down to a coffee shop and read. I anticipate that my tea and alcohol drinking will go up significantly this month.
Somewhere in the mix here is...writing, game-building, burrow straightening, and all the other stuff I'd really love to get going with. For now, though, back to basics -- building the meditation habit, focusing on my quality of sleep, making sure I'm cleaned and groomed every day, reading, writing, relationship-building. It's a bit of a simple life right now, but there's no shame in a simple life lived well is there?
I've been working OT with the day job for a few weeks now, so things have already been a little stressed. I haven't been extremely productive in that time -- mostly, I'm just getting caught up on the things I've fallen behind on or getting better acquainted with new reports to check against. I'm hoping that the time spent will pay dividends later and I'll be fully pulling my weight by the summer. The productivity trend-line is going in a positive direction overall and I wholly intend on keeping it that way.
At the same time, I'm making $1500/month less than I was in my Udacity days at this job. I knew the lowered pay would require a lifestyle adjustment, but...there's a difference between knowing something in your head and actually living through that experience. I'm still burning through my savings here and there to cover overspending, and the tax return this year just put a huge dent in the debt I've already accrued. In the meantime, I'm curating a small list of expenses I'll need to take care of when I have "disposable" income, like new shoes, a screen door for the patio, and some re-upholstery work for our dining room chairs and corner couch.
I don't think I've really sat down to create a budget with the monthly income I have, so now might be the time to do that. In the meantime, I'm building up my resume to match better the kinds of position I'm looking out for. I'd also like to level up my LinkedIn game; completely re-build my profile and experience to tell a more coherent story and form the "foundation" of my professional brand.
What IS my professional brand? Well, that's something I'll have to think about seriously. I would like to present myself as a team player who prizes culture and collaboration, who celebrates learning as a lifelong activity. I'd like to highlight the things I've learned from each position in my "generic" resume, and pick from a small selection of career achievements depending on the specific job I want. The good thing about being employed is that I can move a little more carefully, give myself the best shot of landing the best possible job.
The tolerance break for marijuana is long overdue. It's become far too much of a crutch for my stress management and it interferes too much with my ability to be productive elsewhere. I'm looking forward to reclaiming my focus and...mindfulness, though the process of getting there will be no picnic.
I typically go through a period of insomnia when I'm first off the stuff, and it takes a couple of weeks before I get into the "weird dreams" phase. The craving tends to be pretty intense at first so I'm anticipating a rough weekend coming up. Saturday will be a little easier because I'm working on the day job in the morning, but Sunday the urge to wake and bake will be so strong!! I'll need to have an alternative activity ready for the morning; something relaxing and chill. It might be a good time to go for a walk around the neighborhood or even walk down to a coffee shop and read. I anticipate that my tea and alcohol drinking will go up significantly this month.
Somewhere in the mix here is...writing, game-building, burrow straightening, and all the other stuff I'd really love to get going with. For now, though, back to basics -- building the meditation habit, focusing on my quality of sleep, making sure I'm cleaned and groomed every day, reading, writing, relationship-building. It's a bit of a simple life right now, but there's no shame in a simple life lived well is there?
