What To Do When You Don't Know What To Do at Home

In my last post, I listed a few suggestions on what to do (or not do) to be productive during your quarantined downtime. I promised to list some actual activities, but I wanted to list two more suggestions to help organize your day.

Make a To-Do List! I found that when my wife and kids were at work/school, I would make a to-do list of large and small tasks to tackle through the day. This provided a great reference and goal for my day. Now that they’re all home during this virus, I have neglected to make lists and find my days floundering in indecision and laziness. I need some structure and a list provides that for me.

Make Your Goals Attainable. This is a standard life lesson, but it applies to maintaining your motivation. You might be the type t tackle a project head-on, but I’d rather establish smaller goals so that I feel a sense of accomplishment. You MUST be a bit aggressive…”Getting out of bed” should not be your primary goal of the day.

Now let’s move on to some suggested activities:

Document Your Experience!  We are living during an historical and incredible time. Record how the events are affecting your life and how you feel each day. Remember all that you can because one day, your children or grandchildren will ask about the big virus outbreak of 2020. If you still buy newspapers, keep some around. Yes…they still print newspapers.

Clean the House.  Yes, I know you’re disinfecting every part of your house right now (if you can find cleaning products in the store), but you might as well do your spring cleaning.  In previous years, you probably did your spring cleaning during a hectic weekend. Take a little more time now and be more relaxed when doing it.

Tackle a Back Burner Project.  I took the wallpaper off my kitchen walls 3 years ago. I painted five walls in a lighter shade of gray than I wanted, so I completed the rest of the kitchen in the darker shade. A couple of weeks ago, three years later, I finally painted three of the original five walls the darker shade. I was glad to finally have that project off my list. Why didn’t I complete the final two walls? 

Read on…

Make a How-To Tape for Others.  I decided to record an instructional video for fun on “How To Paint an Inside Wall.” I plan to go over details on how to prepare and then how to paint the walls. If it turns out to look halfway decent, I might post it on YouTube for the heck of it. If it becomes somewhat popular, I might create a similar video on another topic.  If nothing else, it’ll be a video my kids might want to refer to later in life.

Organize Those Photos. We all have a pile of photos somewhere that we planned to organize “someday.” It’s now that day! You don’t have to be a scrapbook expert, but at least you can sort them in some kind of order. Keep the better ones for hanging. You don’t even need to frame them, just clothes pin them up like my daughter does along her headboard.

As for digital photos, you probably have photos stored in memory sticks, SD cards, flash drives, cameras, and all sorts of other places. Now is the time to track them all down and try to upload onto the cloud, such as Google Photos. Whether printed or digital, sorting through photos can be an enjoyable and emotional experience, especially if shared with family.

Work on Your Resume. Okay, this one is easy for me because I’m actively looking for a job. But I also learned that it’s important to keep your resume updated even when you’re not seeking employment. Along with this, make sure you have similar updates in your LinkedIn account. Post a comment on LinkedIn and let people know you’re active in your field. This can help you in your current business or a future endeavor.

Get Outside! Being cooped up inside can be stressful and create anxiety or depression. Getting a breath of fresh air during a walk or bike ride is therapeutic as well as good exercise. Sure, there might be some restrictions on where you can go under quarantine conditions, but even a little digging in the flower bed or walking around the house is better than sitting on your couch all day long. Your butt will thank you for the rest.

Contact Friends/Family.  With social media today, it’s easier than ever to reach out to old friends or even to make new friends. Search out high school or college friends on Facebook. If you can find an address, write or type an actual letter while enclosing a photo you may have found while sorting. If you have a little one in your extended family, send a card with a dollar bill. All of these things will make someone smile!

Celebrate the Weekend!  I know in my last post I reminded you that your free time during the week is not the weekend. But the weekend IS the weekend. If you have all of your usual weekend projects out of the way, you can finally crack open that beer and enjoy the weekend without a looming to-do list.

I hope these suggestions help you to make your free time during unemployment or virus-induced isolation a bit more enjoyable and productive. Even if you're not working from home or a busy stay-at-home parent, it’s important to have some purpose to stay motivated during the week so that you don’t feel that your day was wasted as you head to bed. Make a reason to celebrate and enjoy your weekend!

Make the best of your time, and it’ll make you the best you can be!

An Unemployed Person’s Guide on How to Make Your Day At Home More Productive (or at least less lazy)

At the end of 2019, my place of employment closed down and I have since been in the ranks of the unemployed. 

I typically spend several hours a day seeking work online, working on cover letters and attending classes to hone my job-hunting skills. Despite all those tasks, there is still a lot of time when I’m doing…well, nothing.

It’s easy to get into a tail-spin of thinking a day off (even if forced by unemployment) is a day to be lazy and unproductive. Now that many are forced to stay home due to the coronavirus, I have a few tips on how to approach each day to make it a bit more productive.

Reclaim Your Sleep!  Most Americans suffer from sleep deprivation. Personally, I averaged around 5 hours of sleep when I was employed. This was because I used to stay up late to take care of family and personal tasks, and then I would get up very early to prepare breakfast for everyone before heading off to work.  

While I still volunteer to fix the family their breakfast, I no longer have to fit in my “me time” late at night.  I can do so during the day therefore I can go to bed earlier.  My average sleep is now 7 hours a night and I feel so much more rested and energized!  

Now that the family is required to all be at home during the coronavirus, I plan to shoot for 8 hours a night…but no more! There are things to do and sleeping all day is not the best plan.  

Establish a Wake-up routine.  This is not the weekend…or a vacation! Get out of bed after a good night’s rest and take your shower or start a morning routine immediately! Make your bed! Lazing about in bed all morning is counter-productive to other things you want to accomplish, whether they be “responsibilities” or “fun.” 

I found that having an unmade bed was far too inviting to crawl back in, so I would make my bed as soon as possible. Also, my mom always taught me that you can’t sleep well on a made bed, and who’s to argue with that?

Get Dressed!  It is very difficult to get the day started when you’re wearing your pajamas or lounging clothes. This tells your body, “Hey! Relax! Take it easy!” If you get in the habit of taking it easy, you’ll have a real tough time getting motivated! Get dressed right after you take your shower and put on your shoes! This tells your body that you’re ready to go get things done, even if you’re staying at home.

Leave the beer in the fridge.  As I said before, this is not the weekend. There are things you can and should do, and do so with a clear head. Goodness knows I enjoy a wine or a beer over the weekend, but having a beer for lunch as I complete job applications or paint the kitchen wall is not the smartest of ideas. Save the brew for a celebratory weekend.

Turn off the television.  In the morning, I typically turn on the local news, especially in these strange times. Later on, I’ll have the national news as background noise for no more than an hour while I prepare for the day. After that, I turn the TV off! Why?  For the most part, daytime television kinda sucks and it isn’t worth your time.  

I’m sure there are those that love talk shows such as The View or Wendy Williams (cringe) and there are those that love judge shows. Those just aren’t my cup of tea. However, if I run across some nature show on BBC, I’m hooked! As soon as I see hear David Attenborough’s soothing voice talking about the stridulations of the streaked tenrec of Madagascar, I lose all scope of time for at least two hours. It’s best to turn the television off and hide the remote.

Hide the snacks!  It’s important to establish an eating schedule similar to the one you’d follow at work.  For me, I used to eat a snack, usually an apple, every morning at 10:00. I would have a light lunch, and then another snack, perhaps a cookie or some other fruit at 3:00. On the way home from work, I would have one more snack in the car or grab something when I got home to hold me over until dinner.  

Now that I’m not working, I have the opportunity to snack on chips and cookies all day long. But I don’t. I try to follow the same routine that I did when employed. The only main difference is that my lunches are a little more extravagant. Instead of a tuna salad sandwich, I might fix a buffalo chicken wrap with a side salad.  Keeping a healthy…or at least a controlled diet helps you to be more energized and alert.

Keep your social media time to a minimum.  I use social media to assist with my job search.  I also use it as an outlet for other tasks, which I’ll discuss in another post. But I keep my social media time as brief as possible. I’m a sucker for click-bait and if I start reading “32 Unbelievable Stories about Gilligan’s Island,” I’ve lost a good 20 minutes of my day. 

Those are the basics on how to face your time home more productively. In my next post, I’ll discuss some of my suggestions on how to spend those spare moments in productive and possibly fun ways!

Second Prompt – First Job (or…”We think you’re perfect for this job”)

This is my second article in the “Prompt” Series.  The prompt for this piece is merely two words…First Job.

I am struggling with what to exactly write.  After all, my first job after college was as an assembly engineer for Mitsubishi Semiconductor out of Durham, NC.  I was sent to Japan for two years to learn my craft; so obviously, this first job is a bevy full of stories.  However, if I were to recall my FIRST job, that would be as a lifeguard at Lakewood Swim Club while in high school and college.  At least this is the first job from which I received a paycheck…minus taxes of course.  But then again, my literalist side starts to argue that my very first job was mowing lawns in the neighborhood, especially for the one house across the street as the occupants moved and “hired” me to upkeep their lawn until their house sold.  This job could certainly create a story or two as the house was atop a riverbank and I spent as much time knocking down monstrous wolf spider webs in the back yard as I did actually mowing.  This was a stressful job for someone with arachnophobia.

All scenarios are worthy of a “first job” prompt, but my gut tells me to switch things up a bit.  As I’ve mentioned before, I’m currently unemployed.  The ride I’ve ridden the last two months while seeking employment has been rather interesting.  It’s not like I haven’t searched for a job before, but after 20 years since my previous job search, things have changed quite a bit!

When I sought out my very first job as a lawn mower (before “landscaper” was a known term), I pretty much knocked on doors.  The only competition was from other kids in the neighborhood.  Honestly, I got the one job because I used to play with the family’s oldest son who was two years younger than me.  There weren’t many in his grade in the neighborhood so I believe the family “rewarded” me with the job.

My first paying job as a lifeguard was almost a default position.  I was on the swim club’s swim team since an early age…a regular pool rat.  Nearly every summer day was spent at or in the pool unless I was mowing a lawn.  It was nearly a rite of passage for those older “15 to 18” age group swimmers on the team to work as a lifeguard once earning their Water Safety Instructor certificate.  Once you earned that WSI badge, you were pretty much guaranteed a job of whistle twirling, trash collecting, restroom scrubbing, and sun tanning.

My first “adult” job was assisted greatly by my college career counseling service.  Companies from all over the east coast would visit the university seeking out college seniors to hire after graduation.  I interviewed with a couple companies without really having to reach out by myself.  All I had to do was look at the companies listed for the next week, sign up for an interview time, and show up.  This is how I introduced myself to Mitsubishi…not all that difficult.

About 9 years into my career I was laid off and had to seek employment on my own.  It was tough.  This was before the internet, so I spent countless hours in the library reviewing classified ads and microfilms of regional newspaper ads.  I remained unemployed (except through a temp agency) for about 16 months.  Eventually I found the job that would cement my career path for the next 20+ years.

A few months ago, a series of events and decisions took place that led me to my current unemployed status.  Once again, I faced the daunting task of finding a job, only this time I had a wife and kids to worry about supporting.  Oddly, I wasn’t worried. After all, I had years of experience and respect in my position as well as plenty of business contacts.  Plus we now had the internet which opened the world up to my fingertips.  Finding a job would be easy…right?

Almost immediately upon uploading my resume onto various job boards, I received notices of potential employment in my email inbox.  “Wow,” I thought, “this will be easier than I thought!”  Then I opened the emails.

“We’ve reviewed your resume online and feel that you would fill our needs perfectly as a sales consultant for Liberty Mutual Insurance….”

“My manager has authorized me to contact you to with an employment opportunity as a franchise owner...”

“Your resume has been reviewed by our Human Resources Department and we are contacting you for employment as a gift wrapper effective immediately….”

“Uber wants you….”

I was totally surprised.  And disappointed.  Jobs related to my actual experience and skills were not as easy to come by as I had hoped, but I never expected to be inundated with the “junk” job offers I received several times a day.  The offers extended into phone calls as well.  The phone would ring and my name would be mentioned followed by an inquiry as to whether I was still seeking employment.  My heart would race with excitement until I realized it was once again an opportunity for under employment.  Apparently I was perfect for so many jobs for which I had absolutely no skill set or interest, and yet not quite right for those positions that more closely matched my experience. 

The good new s is that I have been hired for a position and I start the job in a few days.  It’s a job with a familiar company from my past but in a different position, so there’s some nerves and excitement for something new.  I might not be the perfect fit at first, but I’m pretty sure I’ll be a heck of a lot happier that I would be with one of those other “perfect” jobs.