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Ten Things You Probably Don’t Realize About Being Off Work — 26 Comments

    • There’s so much I need and want to do on the computer, but since I’m not sitting in front of it for a job I’m not doing it. Kinda hard to stay in when it’s 70 degrees outside.

  1. I remember all that well, from my periods following a layoff.

    I mostly found that I couldn’t enjoy being off work at all, until I knew I had another job lined up.

    • Oh, the daytime TV! I used to tape 3 hours of soaps every day. For years. I watched them when I got home every night. Then I started turning off the TV more and more. When I started trying to watch it again, I had stopped liking a lot of shows. I can’t watch soaps, sitcoms or dramas anymore. But I can watch cheezy sci-fi for days on end so there’s no accounting for taste. 🙂

  2. first, i must mention that if I had an exemplary inmate in my family, i would also proudly display that sign.

    second, having been unemployed, i feel ya. I really feel ya. Suddenly, I had so much time but I wasn’t getting anything done ’cause I, uh, didn’t have the time. Ironic.

    • I used to love the “My dog is smarter than your honor student” bumper stickers, but then I saw this one. Now this is my fav.

  3. omg i can’t read books anymore either. for me it’s ADD. blogs, internet new stories, emails, maybe a magazine article are all i have the attention span for.

    i need sunshine! i’m dying here on the east coast. please come save me.

    • I think I’ve developed ADD. Or I’m losing my memory. Probably both. I can only read half a page before I have to get up and get something I forgot. The cat is getting really pissed about that. She has to get off my lap every time.

      Come to sunny Cal! Today should be 70 degrees. The weather report said you guys are getting a bump up in temps today, too. But I think you would have more fun here.

  4. I’ve learned not to turn the TV on during the day (unless it’s TCM). Too depressing. And living in sweats has proved to be dangerous to me: makes gaining pounds less noticeable until I do get to wear those nice street clothes…!

    • I’ve been trying to keep the TV off, but my mind isn’t in the right place and I keep turning it back on. Oh, yes – living is sweats is not good for my diet. I put on my “skinny” jeans the other day only to have to figure out how to hide the muffin top. Where the heck did that come from??

  5. This is exactly what I needed to see before my last job ended–I remember having plans…Great post. 🙂

  6. You’ll push through this like a champ! I think everyone needs a break from time to time. When ur ready to do something else U’ll just find yourself looking for it.
    I hear ya on he TV thang! Got rid of cable and then got NetFlix… Do u stream it through though 2 ur TV? If u like sci fi n horror u U’ll luv it! I just recently put an antenna on my place to get some good ol free TV lol!
    I think if u stick w booty camp lo g enough you’ll see results… Maybe not all on the scale but in the way ur clothes fit and general sense of well being! If u really wanna measure ask ur bitty camp counselor to body fat test u! Lean body mass is the key… The scale lies!!! I know u didn’t ask 4 this but rely’n on the scale can frustrate peeps into Quiting when there successfully replacing body fat w muscle!!!
    Keep up the great work girl! U’ll get there!

    • Thanks Jeff! May have to join the Peace Corps because I can’t go back to working into a cube.
      I do stream Netflix through my Roku box. It’s been the one thing keeping me from going totally insane.
      Booty Camp is still kicking my butt. I’m in it to lose inches so the fat count doesn’t mean as much to me. I’ve worked out a lot before and only gained muscle, but stayed the same in inches.

  7. I’m so terribly jealous of you and your motivation to do things like read and exercise. Since I’ve begun working from home, I actually developed a knot in my shoulder from being on the computer so much without doing any discernable work.

    • I still feel like I need something else. Funny thing is I sometimes don’t have as much time as I used to. I also know I let a lot of things go… one of which now has to be fixed with exercise. 🙂

    • I’ve pretty much stopped the vacuuming at this point. The fridge becomes clean pretty quick when you stop shopping: You eat everything in it. But then starts the cycle of shopping more than once a week – without a regular focus to your day you tend to go to the store a lot more often. Just to go somewhere.

  8. I was unemployed for 3 months once and I thought it would be awesome but I got bored after 2 weeks. It would have been awesome if I could have afforded to go drinking every night then I think I wouldn’t have been so bored.

    • I’m starting to get past the bored part, but still looking for a focus and purpose to my day/life. What I need is a personal motivator.

  9. It is crazy how little time you have when you have all the time in the world to yourself. Right? It will self-adjust. You will have an ebb and flow to it. All good, girl, all good.

    • LOL I keep trying to read this one page in a new book, but never get past re-reading the same two paragraphs. So instead, I picked up a book last night that I got from the library a week or so ago. The characters seemed familiar. Part way through the first chapter I realized I’d read it before. Maybe a year ago. So on top of ADD I also have the memory of a goldfish: Once around the bowl, and I’m all “Oooh, that rock is new!”. Yeah, right.