The first day of school was on Monday and my official unemployment has begun.
Before we start: I realize how privileged it is to voluntarily leave a job without another one lined up. I’m thankful that Ryan has supported and encouraged me to end my contract after seeing the toll it took on my mental health over the last 2 years.
I decided not to go back to being a speech-language pathologist this year. I made several videos on TikTok explaining my decision which you can find here, here, here, and here. It was absolutely not an easy decision to make, but it was necessary for my mental health.
After ending my contract in June, I spent the summer as I typically would: relaxing, recovering… and casually looking at jobs. Since I was an independently contracted SLP, I would typically not make any $ in the summer, so I didn’t count that time as being “unemployed” even though I technically was.
ANYWAY, this newsletter is going to be a first-day-of-unemployment day in my life… sharing some of the things I’m filling my time with. Disclaimer that it’s just one snippet of my life and I’m sure I’ll have better and worse days to come. But truthfully, this is how I hope most of my days go until I’m finally starting my new career.
It might be weird to be so open about being unemployed but I know this phase isn’t going to last forever. Also, I know a heck of a lot of people (smart, fun, cool, caring people) who have been dealing with unemployment during the past few months. I have always loved writing about my experience— not only for myself to look back on but to help others who may be going through it or are thinking about making a change like I did. Experiences always seem scarier when you’re alone and feel like you can’t talk about it. So I’m talking about it!
7:00 AM — I woke up Monday morning in a bit of a funk which turned into a negative thought spiral: “What am I doing? Do I really think I can do anything else but be an SLP? Who am I to be applying to these jobs with no marketing degree?”
7:30 AM — Took a bike ride down the boardwalk with Ryan before he started his workday. The wind was insane and my legs were jello by the time we got back home.
8:15 AM — Breakfast, scrolling, etc. Note to self: this did not help my mood and mindset :)))
10:15 AM — Drove to Target, windows down, music blasting to clear my head and refocus my thoughts. Here’s the playlist.
10:45 AM — Grabbed my fav Iced Brown Sugar Oatmilk Shaken Espresso from the Target Starbucks. Walked down all the aisles. Grabbed what was on the list plus two new wooden wick candles… #necessary.
11:30 AM — I came back home, unpacked groceries, and sat down at my laptop. Decided to type up one of those cringe life story LinkedIn posts to see if anyone in my network knew of any positions I’d be a good fit for.
1:00 PM — Actually had some success posting on LinkedIn and in a Facebook group. Had a revelatory thought: “Nobody can help me if they don’t know I need help”. I felt a lot better. Applied to 3 jobs and sent my resume out to a friend.
1:38 PM — Scheduled a phone interview for a job I applied for last week (!!)
2:00 PM — Logged in to HubSpot to finally finish my SEO course/certification because the interview is for an SEO analyst position.
4:57 PM — Finished the SEO course and passed the exam 🥳
5:15 PM — Candy Crush & scrolling break
6:00 PM — Dinner w/ Ryan
7:00 PM — Breaking Bad marathon! Ryan’s seen it but I never have so we’ve been working on watching the whole series this summer. We finished watching season 4.
10:00 PM — Reading, journaling, etc.
11:00 PM — Bedtime! Some more reading in bed if I’m not too tired.
Journaling daily, preferably in the morning when I wake up and again at night to document the day.
Some sort of physical movement aka bike riding, walking, gym, or spin class.
Getting out of the house whenever possible. The days blur together if I don’t.
Enjoying myself while also getting stuff done. This season won’t last forever so I fully intend to enjoy my freedom as long as I have it!
Accepting allllll the good vibes and thoughts during this job hunt! I keep reminding myself that all I need is ONE “yes” to kickstart my career. I can do that! See you in two weeks for the next issue!
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