Pencil Me In

It's spring in the northeast which means that although we finally have more daylight, the days are now mostly wet, grey, and muddy, with the occasional warm and sunny tease of summer. Today is no exception. It has been raining for the past couple of days and the gloominess wears heavy on one's motivation and mental state, especially when unemployed. Even the dog has no interest in getting out of bed! It also doesn't help to be waiting for word about another round of interviews for the perfect job. Unemployment, coupled with dreary weather, and being "this close" to getting a new job, makes for the perfect storm of anxiety. It's like waiting for the phone to ring after a really great date; you need to find things to occupy your time so you don't sit and stare at the phone, willing it to ring. Or in this case, willing that all-important email to appear in your inbox.

Besides the usual job hunt, the daily challenge of unemployment has been to keep busy. Cleaning and laundry will only take you so far, and let's be honest, who really wants to spend time cleaning when there is so much to watch On Demand? I realized early on that I needed to limit my television viewing during the day otherwise I get sucked into marathons of "Keeping Up with the Kardashian's" and before I know it, my husband is home, it's time for dinner, and I've accomplished nothing all day. So one thing I've found helpful is to continue scheduling my day in my planner. While I no longer have staff meetings or training sessions, I still have things I want to accomplish each day and I find I'm more likely to do something if it's written down instead of just thinking to myself that I should do it. Plus, I'm a list maker and the sense of accomplishment I get from checking off an item on my to-do list is HUGE.

I won't say there aren't days when I'm more lax, shall we say, with the scheduling. You can't be regimented every minute of every day, for goodness sake. However for the most part, it does help with motivation and a sense of accomplishment, even on days when it's pouring and all I want to do is escape reality with a good book or a marathon of guilty pleasure t.v.

Now, where did I put the remote?