1 – Being let go from my day job really is a good thing. I have been unhappy there for a long time (years) and have felt underused and undervalued. Being out of that kind of an environment can only do good things for my health, mental and physical. To say nothing of no longer getting up at 5am!
2 – The worst thing about leaving the day job is that I will miss a handful of friends that I enjoyed seeing every day. We plan to do a monthly lunch. I hope we do. I am on a delayed departure in order to help them with the transition. My last day is 10/31. Since I only work 4 days a week that means I only have 28 working days left. Woohoo!
3 – There are all those changes that are to come that have necessitated a lot of budget crunching. How far will the severance package go? When will unemployment kick in and how much will I get? How much more expensive is it going to be to switch to my husband’s health insurance (a lot – but at least it is an option.) In the end there is a certain confidence in seeing the numbers match up in a good way on the page. Money in the bank is no guarantee of anything but it does buy you a few choices. I’ve had an idea that I would be let go ever since the "merger" became a real deal. Much of what I do is already automated for the other company. So I crunched the numbers some more and put forth the idea that perhaps I didn’t need to try and bring as much money into the household which would allow me to try and make what money I did need to make from freelancing/speaking/teaching, etc. And because I am lucky enough to be married to a wonderfully supportive husband, the answer was okay.
4 – Best things about working from home? No 5am alarm. No commute. No expensive gas. Comfy clothes only!
5 – Worst thing about working from home? Learning to be more disciplined. The adjustment that is inevitable between me and my husband since he works from home much of the time too!
Wow that’s a big change, but it sounds like you have it all figured out. Way to go! And now you can write write write!
Well figuring it out and then executing it are two different things. 🙂 We’ll see. And hope.
Good luck with all of these transitions and transformations! You may appreciate what happened in my library today: one of my fifth graders came in for the first time this school year asking for more books “just like Hugging the Rock.” I’ll be reading it aloud to my older kids in the spring, but she remembered it from reading it after I booktalked it last year. I suggested that perhaps we should write some fan letters to the author!
Oh oh oh!!! You totally MADE MY DAY. Do you know that I can count on one hand (sigh) the number of KIDS that I have heard from that have read the book? Adults, yes but kids, no. Thank you for sharing this with me.
Oh, hooray! I’m so glad :). I’m doing it as a read-aloud in the spring, so hopefully there will be more feedback and letters heading your way.
I watched many folks in my dept. let go and kept hoping to be one of them. Didn’t happen. But quitting in February was the best thing I’ve ever done (after having my daughter and getting published).
Prediction: you’ll love it.
Yep, that’s what it has been here. At least a dozen layoffs over the years and never me, until now. I do believe it is the best thing I could do.
It will be even better if we can figure out how to get the new dog to sleep past 5am. It will stink to be home and still have to get up early. 🙂
Congratulations for seeing the light past the big change. I hope hope hope it works out fabulously for you; the mental and physical health issues alone sound most encouraging. (and those are the things it comes down to)
Yes, that’s what I want and need most of all, the physical and mental changes.
Spouse retired about three years ago, necessitating us living even more frugally than before, but we’re making it. It’s amazing just how much a person can live without and still be happy. More thought goes into what we buy and when, but we enjoy and appreciate it more because of that. Jumping out of the rat race with lower expectations really is a life saver. Best of luck to you!
Yes, I just want to spend this second half of my life happy. Easy living, less stress, more love and laughter.
As difficult as this will be, I sense it is one of those turns in life that turn out to blossom into unexpected joy. More time to write, more time to relax and maybe more opportunities to fulfill any dreams you harbor.
Congratulations on this new adventure.
LJS
Thanks, Linda Joy. I think it is going to be a wonderful adventure and I can’t wait to get started.
I’m glad this is turning out to be a positive for you. A friend of mine was let go from her job a few months ago, and she has been much happier ever since. And productively freelancing in her chosen field!
Yeah for turning things to our own good. The stress and the unhappiness from here is doing horrible things to me. I can’t wait to live a life more in alignment with myself.
I wish you happiness and health and harmony in your new season of Harvest.
AND SUCCESS!
Thank you.
I’m sorry to hear that, but if it’s any comfort, I once lost a job I loved, and it turned out to be a blessing in disguise (Got fired halfway through my maternity leave and decided to write a book!). I once had a job like yours, where I felt underused and I could not get fired. I’m sure it will all work out.
Thanks, I think it is all going to be good. I just wish I was already gone. It is hard to wait. 🙂
Best of luck with the transition, Susan. 🙂
Thank you! It is an exciting time.
#1 and 2 I totally dig. I do miss my friends at my old job. But I didn’t realize how much I hate the job itself till I didn’t have to haul my butt in there every day.
Yeah, the friends are the hard part. One I know I will see because I already see away from here. There are a couple of others that I hope I will be able to keep up with but things change.
And honestly, to be out of engineering and tech, what a relief that will be!
I would think that kind of job would STIFLE your creativity.
It does! I used to be able to go to work early (get up at 5 and go home at 3) and come home and write but for the last 3 years or so the stress has been so much that I just can’t do it.
I hope I CAN write when I’m home. What if I can’t? Yikes! 🙂
You WILL!!!! I command you!
Promise to nag me, okay?
Ohh, yeahhhh! 😉
Congrats on moving on to your new adventures with dignity and style! Very inspiring!
Thank you. Let’s hope I can keep it up. 🙂