Well, I got laid off. Bummer for sure. But not uncommon in the current economy. Joining a startup entails a certain level of risk and I took that risk willingly. But, now what?
I've been reflecting on what to do and I've decided to treat this time a little like a surprise vacation as well as a reset. The first thing I did was get rid of any unnecessary subscriptions and cut any expenses. This is obvious, but I want to make sure I'm not spending money frivolously. I now have more time throughout the day to work on myself and address my own needs so here's a rough plan I've come up with.
Eating
Start preparing my own food. I recently came across this recipe website and it's pretty fantastic. I love cooking, but neglected it when working a lot. Other than that, there's plenty of resources on YouTube. There is definitely no shortage of amateur chefs creating cooking videos for free, so I might as well take advantage of it.
Exercise
I've been practicing kickboxing for years now and I've always wanted to try more forms of martial arts. I recently tried Aikido, but didn't find it very strenous, so I've decided to try Krav Maga. I've got plenty of yoga places in my neighborhood, so I'm doing as much of that as I can without wasting a ton of money. One of my favorite ways to exercise is using Apple Fitness+. It's one of the few subscriptions I kept because I can workout whenever and the production is really well done.
Reading
I've started reading again and it's been so nice to sit down with a good book and get lost in it. My attention has been worn thin always being ready to respond on Slack and jumping from task to task. I'm suddenly free of that and I want to strengthen my attention muscle once again. I'm planning to read Cal Newport's Deep Work, the Start With Why Series, and The Untethered Soul.
So far, this hasn't been so bad. Mux was gracious enough to give me severance and I have savings to live off of for the time being. I see this time as a brief reset. I haven't had longer than a month off for the entirety of my career in tech and now I've been given that. Albeit, unexpectedly. My brain has been churning and grinding for quite some time and now I get to say "stop" take a breather and plan my next move. If you're in the Bay Area and want to meet up for coffee or tea, don't hesitate to reach out!