The Imposed Vacation Gameplan
by Steve
Regular readers may recall the recent carnage at my workplace. Well, it appears now that I too am a marked man. I would love to elaborate, but I would no doubt end up breaking all manner of confidentiality protocols or whatever. Suffice to say, I now have even more material for my Great Office Novel (zero words and counting!). I have decided that it probably best to plan ahead for a possible Imposed Vacation …
So, inspired in no small way by Double Word Score’s unemployment bucket list, what are my plans?
1. Get a job
There is a small part of me that would love to indulge myself and wallow in the unemployed life, to wander around the flat in my dressing gown and get reacquainted with daytime TV. However, I know that the Not-Working Guilt will pretty soon set in. Plus, wandering around in my dressing gown will not pay the bills, unless there is a niche subscription website for that stuff.
So, what sort of job? As it stands, I’m going to look into two options. First – The Perfect Job, where I use all my skills in a fun, creative environment and get paid handsomely for my time. Second (and far, far more likely) – The Lesser Paying But Non-Stressful Job – If I can’t get the right job, then I’d rather take a pay cut and do something that will cover the bills, but not take over my life. Who needs a disposable income anyway?
2. Be a househusband
Well, sort of. I’ll try my best. Another means of fighting the Not-Working Guilt will be to be useful around the house. I am no Domestic God, but I’m sure I can do some washing, cleaning and cooking. I don’t want to become one of those horrible guys who lives off his partner without lifting a finger himself. Also, I think I’ll look good in a pinny.
3. Read books
Without any sort of disposable income I’m going to have to make my own entertainment. I have a huge pile of unread books. Rather than just visiting bookshops and adding to that pile, I shall try to work through them. I will label this ‘self-improvement’. The knowledge gained will yield results in pub quizzes, should I have enough money for a pint to nurse through proceedings.
4. Watch baseball
In a rare case of perfect timing, the baseball season will be starting around the time I may (or may not, depending on future developments) be starting my Imposed Vacation. Those heady early days of the season will be a tonic, and will help my fantasy baseball efforts no end.
5. Write a book
The aforementioned Great Office Novel may get written. Or perhaps something less obvious and clichéd. Either way, my efforts will probably never see the light of day, but will hopefully keep me entertained. I may even attempt my own personal NaNoWriMo, just without all those social elements. And not in November, obviously.
So, what else can I get up to, if the working world decides that I’m just not welcome anymore?
Wait until next year 
If I were to lose my job, I’d learn a new tech skill. Teach yourself some programming language. A friend taught himself to write an iPad app. I don’t know what your level of tech expertise is, but I’m sure there’s something you can learn. It will fill the time, give you something interesting to do, and make you more marketable. Otherwise, your list seems pretty good to me. You will want to be as productive as possible. There’s no need to give your partner a reason for an early annulment.
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Oh no! You’re potentially part of the Club!
My daily unemployment routine looks like this:
Tea
Internet
Exercise
Internet
More Internet
Read a book
Take my dog to the park
Internet
The internet is probably my least favorite of the activities, because after reading interesting blogs, I’m down a Wikipedia rabbit hole or looking at funny cat pictures. Set up a routine quickly, and don’t let the Internet interfere with your househusbandry.
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The internet isn’t bad if you’re producing. Start a blog about being unemployed. Give daily updates about your day. It would be timely and the ad revenue would make your unemployment moot.
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True. I do like the idea of monetizing if possible. Beware the cat pictures!
I also like the book idea. My great unemployment blog has exactly as many words as yours. We should start an unemployment writing club.
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Thanks for the suggestions guys, really appreciate it. I like the idea of being so busy/productive/rich from new tech skills/blogs/writing clubs that I won’t have time for work!
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[…] of the sort (certainly not the Great part), but is a means of me channelling some of my recent experiences, assimilating some others, and generally having fun with our 9-to-5 lives. Write what you know and […]
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