Unemployed days...

Anyone that leans to the overachiever style of work ethics can imagine how scary it is to not have a purpose everyday.  It has been a month now since I returned from Peru to my newly laid off lifestyle.  Don't get me wrong, I am not sad about my situation, I am just BORED.

I did the visiting with family and friends, the lunches with past colleagues, and tried the luxury of sleeping in (didn't work, seriously, my mind starts working at 6, I can sleep some other time).  Now however, life is starting to get dull, dull, dull.  So here is my survival guide for an executive lady that suddenly has too many hours in her day.

1.  Take a university course.  I am enrolled in my MBA so this was easy.  I started HR Strategic Management the first week I was back from holidays and it eats up 4 hours/day at minimum.  Take a challenging course that makes you think, no basket weaving for you driven woman.

2.  House and yard work.  Not the dusting and laundry but the painting, the cleaning out the storage room, attacking the disgusting gunk in your eaves troughs.  You can do the laundry anytime.

3.  Join the gym.  I know I know, I can hear the whining.  There are a few reasons for this so hear me out.  If you are like me you need to be able to feel in control of your environment.  This is a perfect way to make a difference.  The other reason is a tough one, join the gym because it will make you leave the house everyday.

4.  Everyday get up, shower, get dressed and do something constructive.  Keep your routine of waking time and bed time.  Drag your sorry ass out of the house.  Turning into a depressed Netflix watching, candy eating, lump on couch will not be good for your soul now or your future self when you have to get back into the work world.

5.  Do good.  Help people, talk to an old person, hold the door open.  Make a difference in someone else's life by taking the time to be a friend.

6.  And at the bottom of the list, Look for a new job.  If you can afford to take time off then do not rush.  Research what is out there and spend some time researching what you want to do with yourself.

In summary, in order to continue to be a strong, ethic leader you need to continue to work on your emotional intelligence.  Do not let your feelings of inadequacy drive your decisions any more than you would let them if you were working.   Control the things you can and find a way to accept the things you can't so that you don't end up obsessing about things at 4 in the morning.

This pretty car was my project today.   When I put it away for the winter I didn't clean it properly so I spent some time today giving it some tender loving care.  It also wouldn't start because the battery that needed replacing.  Us unemployed people are really happy when replacing things like that turn into a warranty job, score!