Just lost my job so I have this time. I want to travel a bit later, but until I can leave, I’m doing nothing at all. Years of fulltime work just killed off all social life, any motivation. Now that I’m finally free, I feel so dead inside that I just want to do absolutely nothing for a while.
Been there done that! 10years in company, we got downsized, got thrown away like a trash. Took months to deal with emotions and set myself to do anything. In the end I realized that I was relying on job to be an anchor in my life that everything was revolving around. Losing that anchor forced me to search for a new one, more reliable and something that I can control and that makes me better.
I started with cleaning my house, then deep cleaning shelves and such, then basement, etc. Got interested in working out, and started doing pushups and such. I learned that I was missing that - creating my own schedule, having goals of my own. It was scary at first, ngl. Trying to do small steps, very small sometimes, that improves your situation bit by bit is what I found helps me with being overwhelmed.Wish you all the best, I hope you recover soon and find better job soon :)
I happen to have a 50% exam tomorrow, that would be awesome to have. copium
Good luck today!
I’ve been unemployed for the last few months. I’m single, no kids. I’ve had more of these 24 hrs of uninterrupted free time than I’d care for. Honestly, sounds wild, but I hate it now.
I’ve been unemployed for around six months, that’s actually part of why I asked is to see what other people do with so much free time.
New skills? I spend my free time contributing to FOSS projects to pick up new things, or learning CAD, or soldering, on and on. Always been pretty good at filling my time, just need to learn the relaxing part.
I had this problem back in the great recession and joined habitat for humanity. Met some weirdos, was pretty good.
I’ve been in that situation. At first it’s kinda nice being able to sleep in without worry for a little bit. But after a while it really starts to drive you crazy just not having anything to do with your time. That restlessness quickly turns into depression.
I was out for ~6 months a while back. I put a schedule on my calendar, so every day had some structure. Get up at 8 or 9, breakfast, practice an instrument, game time, lunch, write applications, gym, dinner.
Did the same through the lockdowns and some structure really helps.
Agreed. I was doing pretty well the first 2 months or so, but I crashed into a bit of a delayed depressive episode over it all the last month. I’ll get sick of my own moping and wrangle myself again soon.
Yeah you’ll get it :)
and if you don’t, ask for help. Most people can relate anyway.
Finally finish my first baldurs gate 3 playthrough. And spend the rest of the time achievement hunting by going back through my save states.
They said 24 hours not 80, lol.
I have three quests left in my plathrough. I’m sure I can do that in 24.
kill gortash, free orpheus, destroy netherbrain
Wondering what to do because decision paralysis.
Assuming I was in the mood, have all the energy and mental focus I want I’d think about how to fix my home setup.
Bonus points if I would understand everything perfectly and didnt have a need to learn all intricacies beforehand
most honest answer, amen to that
Probably just set up my github page. I’ve been having some trouble with it.
Sleep
I’d take my partner somewhere nice I think. Haven’t had the time recently
I go camping for an additional night. I already planned to bike and camp to the closest national park one last time before winter, this weekend, but I would gladly add one night to the trip and go right now instead of tomorrow.
Heh, I actually get those sometimes. I’m disabled, so the only real barrier to complete freedom is family, and I can sneak in a few days a year where I’m alone all day, and sometimes over night.
For real, the only thing I’d do that I can’t do when everyone is home is crank the fuck out of the music. My wife gets migraines easy, and my kid seems to be following suit unfortunately. So really turning it up until I can feel the bass in my guts is a rare treat.
But you can only do that for so long before the ears get tired. So the rest of the time would likely be reading without interruptions.
I’m pretty fucking easy to please lol.
I sometimes house sit for my best friend, and that’s essentially what I do there, just not that loud with the music because the pets don’t like it past a certain point.
Sometimes I’ll pop in a movie that isn’t to the liking of the family instead of music, and enjoy the more immersive sound. Which, I could also watch things they don’t enjoy as much with the sound up, but why not have both factors my way?
Mind you, I can do those things with everyone home, but it takes planning and I’ll still have interruptions. But doing them always has the risk of causing my wife hours or days of pain and misery, so it’s something I prefer to just wait for. Kinda makes it more enjoyable tbh.
If I may ask, what kind of music, what would you read, or what movies?
Hmm, the movie choices are easier. My kid isn’t quite ready for Kubrick’s more intense movies like a clockwork orange, so that kind of thing.
Reading wise, when I’m reading to just chill and enjoy escapism, I gravitate to fantasy and urban fantasy. Right now I’m going back through the Laurell K Hamilton stuff. Kinda trashy for the most part, but there’s some nice light reading in there. I’m flipping over to Stephen King when I get tired of the trashy parts of Hamilton’s series, which have fantasy, but close enough in some cases. But I’ll also reread my favorite Vonnegut and Palahniuk books too, when I’m wanting comfy reading rather than new stuff.
Music though? Damn. I’d probably start with metal since that’s the genre I most enjoy loud. Hit up my playlist with my absolute favorites, then take a break and do some deeper cuts. If/when I came back, it would probably be either bluegrass or old school hip-hop. Again, that’s because I like feeling the music as much as hearing it. If I still had time and a break for the ears to relax, over to classical for the same reason; I always start with tocatta and fugue in D minor with that. There’s some superb recordings of it that can shake the fillings out of your teeth with a decent subwoofer.
Gotta take breaks when cranking the volume though. Ear fatigue is a thing, and actual damage is possible too
As someone who gets fairly frequent migraines (thankfully not chronic), thank you for being considerate of other migraine sufferers.
What would I want to do?
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Cut down the 2 larger trees and 10 mini trees (originally hedges) that we marked for removal
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deep clean the house
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climb in the crawlspace and drill the pipe brackets I need to
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finally go weightlifting after months of no time or willpower
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play saxophone
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meditate
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go for a long run
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play with my dog and go adventuring for an hour or 2
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cook a new meal I haven’t tried before
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watch a movie with my girlfriend
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take an edible
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play some games with the boys
What would I likely do?
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sleep
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mow the grass and rake leaves
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play rimworld
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watch Castle with my girlfriend
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eat leftovers
Look at this guy mowing his grass
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Id do nothing for as long as I could, only way for me to fight the burnout. Most weekends I can just about fit enough nothing time to soothe the tism enough get my necessary self and house upkeep chores done. Every time I get a 3 day weekend, I find myself productive as hell on the third day. Otherwise I need to catch up on my nothing.
Plot out my vegetable garden to grow my own food next year, declutter the house and drop donated items to charity.
And sleep.
24 hours is not enough time to recover from the burnout I get from my 3 part time jobs.
Better than nothing though right
