Yesterday I wrote a diary about becoming unemployed. I got so many helpful comments and suggestions, that I thought maybe I should start a diary series. Maybe my experiences over the coming weeks will help my fellow kossaks. Maybe writing a series of diaries will keep me honest in my dedication to the search, and keep my motivation level higher.
I'm going to take this journey, and anyone that wants to travel with me is welcome go with me, observe and comment.
More below
Yesterday, I had a job. Today I don't. That seems to be the first hurdle that I have to clear. I'll work on that.
Today is all about befuddlement and organizing. I drank my morning coffee until well into the afternoon, because I didn't have to log in to work. I looked through today's headlines without much interest. I guess I was having a Mazlow moment. It was difficult to concentrate on items from the stimulus package, or events around the world. I guess I am too concerned with more primitive needs at the moment. I need another source of income. Granted, my income of less than $1k per month really wasn't that much in the scheme of things, but it sure made a difference in our lifestyle. It's the difference between keeping DirecTV or canceling it. It's the difference between the higher quality cuts of meat at the grocery store. You get the idea.
Ok. I figured out that being befuddled isn't helping me much. On to organization! I just spent about 2 hours going through all of the comments from yesterday, and picking out all of the good links to helpful sites. I started a special bookmark folder called Kossak Tips and will continue to add to it as I go along. I took a brief glance at jobs that were available on those sites and I found it encouraging. I don't want to delve into the specifics yet, because I'm still so disorganized, it will only side-track me!
Many people made personal offers of help. Those are so unbelievably valuable that I didn't want to leave them buried in the comments where I might never find them again. I copied each of those golden nuggets and pasted them into a text document so I can retrieve them later. If you were one of those kind people, thank you! I will probably be getting to those tomorrow.
I could easily flit back and forth from one website to the next, spending hours browsing, and accomplishing nothing. ADD anyone? So... what is the first thing I should do? I believe I need to set some goals, and make some observations. The first thing to do, is make a list of my skills. I don't have a skill-set, I have a skill dump. Lots of different skills that don't necessarily all go together. Write 'em all down! Remember, I'm looking at things I can do, not specific jobs.
The next thing to do is ask myself some questions. Do I want to work from home? Do I want to do one specific type of work? Do I want to do lots of things? I think I have that part figured out. I was a private contractor in my last job, basically freelancing, but for only one company. I think I'd like to continue the freelancing. I really like the flexibility. I like setting my own hours and basically doing things on my terms. I think where I made my mistake last time, was that I put all my eggs in one basket. Diversification is smart for more than just your 401k. My skill dump is looking better and better. Diversification of skills and diversification of jobs... that seems to work.
The next part of my process is going to be brainstorming. I'm going to take my skill dump and play with it. What kinds of jobs would I qualify for? I may even post all of my lists, as long as everyone promises not to laugh ^_^