Day 8 of 107: The New Normal?
Apr. 28th, 2023 08:34 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jakebeI updated my resume and sent it off to a few friends for review. L. came back with a heap of good suggestions, so I'll be making my first edits today before sending off for a couple of positions. In just a few minutes I'll be on a video chat with my ex-manager as well to catch up and (presumably) get some advice on the job hunt. I'm...surprised that she would take the time to chat with me, seeing as how I didn't think she held me in that much regard.
Overall I'm just really grateful for the outpouring of support and help people have been willing to give over the past few days. It's made the prospect of finding another job much less daunting. It's still pretty daunting, though.
Udacity laid off a lot of workers in Egypt and India yesterday, so my LinkedIn was filled with more notices of people suddenly looking for work. I'm seeing headlines that there's another flood of hyper-qualified candidates coming from Amazon and Meta as well, so this is going to be a pretty intense summer. I think it'll be a lot of "hurry up and wait", where you're fishing for a bite and have to move as quickly as possible once an opportunity presents itself. Suitable jobs will not remain open for very long.
I spoke to my colleague about the possibility of freelance writing as another source of income while I'm looking for something a bit more full-time. Yesterday it felt like a really good idea, but today I'm feeling the difficulties of managing that a little more. I'm not the most disciplined person, and to be a true professional I'll need to find a way to put in quality work even when I'm not particularly inspired. I haven't managed to crack that egg yet, so that's a major consideration.
Next month in addition to searching for a job I'll try to be more disciplined about writing. I know that I won't be able to take off like a rocket on May 1st, but I could at least work on publishing something on a consistent schedule. And instead of freelance writing jobs, I could dust off the old Patreon and make another serious run at it. If I can maintain the blog and Patreon on a regular cadence through the summer, maybe I can look into building a professional portfolio in the fall.
Writing is honestly this...last frontier for me when it comes to building confidence and a better self-image. I've held this narrative that I'm a terrible writer for so long. I'm not -- I'm not an award-winning author or anything, but I do OK. The thing I'm really lacking is grit. I haven't figured out a way to stick through it when it gets tough, frustrating, or if I'm burned out. But I'm better at building habits than I used to be. Writing brings me joy, and I want to get good at it. The only way to do that is through deliberate practice.
I've also been skipping out on personal study. I haven't touched my SQL Nanodegree program since being laid off, and my Masterclass subscription hasn't been touched in longer. I've even been lax with Duolingo, missing two days this week to barely save my streak. Then there's exercise, game preparation, reading. Even without a job it feels like there aren't enough hours in the day to get everything done.
Ah well, I'm still new at this; learning how to manage multiple projects while being self-directed is always a good skill to have, and this is a great chance to learn.
After the meeting with my former manager, I have to see if the Apple Store can fix my MacBook Pro and pick up the Prozac and Adderall prescriptions my psychiatrist filled out for me. Then I'll finish folding and storing the clothes, clean up the kitchen a bit and make the beans and rice I've been threatening for a week now. It shouldn't take too long, but that's all I have planned for now. We'll just have to see where the rest of the day takes me.
Overall I'm just really grateful for the outpouring of support and help people have been willing to give over the past few days. It's made the prospect of finding another job much less daunting. It's still pretty daunting, though.
Udacity laid off a lot of workers in Egypt and India yesterday, so my LinkedIn was filled with more notices of people suddenly looking for work. I'm seeing headlines that there's another flood of hyper-qualified candidates coming from Amazon and Meta as well, so this is going to be a pretty intense summer. I think it'll be a lot of "hurry up and wait", where you're fishing for a bite and have to move as quickly as possible once an opportunity presents itself. Suitable jobs will not remain open for very long.
I spoke to my colleague about the possibility of freelance writing as another source of income while I'm looking for something a bit more full-time. Yesterday it felt like a really good idea, but today I'm feeling the difficulties of managing that a little more. I'm not the most disciplined person, and to be a true professional I'll need to find a way to put in quality work even when I'm not particularly inspired. I haven't managed to crack that egg yet, so that's a major consideration.
Next month in addition to searching for a job I'll try to be more disciplined about writing. I know that I won't be able to take off like a rocket on May 1st, but I could at least work on publishing something on a consistent schedule. And instead of freelance writing jobs, I could dust off the old Patreon and make another serious run at it. If I can maintain the blog and Patreon on a regular cadence through the summer, maybe I can look into building a professional portfolio in the fall.
Writing is honestly this...last frontier for me when it comes to building confidence and a better self-image. I've held this narrative that I'm a terrible writer for so long. I'm not -- I'm not an award-winning author or anything, but I do OK. The thing I'm really lacking is grit. I haven't figured out a way to stick through it when it gets tough, frustrating, or if I'm burned out. But I'm better at building habits than I used to be. Writing brings me joy, and I want to get good at it. The only way to do that is through deliberate practice.
I've also been skipping out on personal study. I haven't touched my SQL Nanodegree program since being laid off, and my Masterclass subscription hasn't been touched in longer. I've even been lax with Duolingo, missing two days this week to barely save my streak. Then there's exercise, game preparation, reading. Even without a job it feels like there aren't enough hours in the day to get everything done.
Ah well, I'm still new at this; learning how to manage multiple projects while being self-directed is always a good skill to have, and this is a great chance to learn.
After the meeting with my former manager, I have to see if the Apple Store can fix my MacBook Pro and pick up the Prozac and Adderall prescriptions my psychiatrist filled out for me. Then I'll finish folding and storing the clothes, clean up the kitchen a bit and make the beans and rice I've been threatening for a week now. It shouldn't take too long, but that's all I have planned for now. We'll just have to see where the rest of the day takes me.
