Little update here:
I quit on Monday, May 8th. My bosses were understanding but upset. I cried, my immediate boss shed a tear. It sucked but I feel truly happy and have no regret. My last day at the office was supposed to be the 31st. The friend I referred to the firm for hire was laid off on the same day, and that pretty much sealed the deal.
Some of you messaged me about my post with some degree of concern, because I was indicating many textbook symptoms of an acute manic episode. Y'all were right. I admitted myself to a hospital on the Wednesday after I quit my job. I ended up staying a week on the psych ward. This is /r/pf and not /r/storytime so I won't get into the gory details- picture a female version of Jack Nicholson's character in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and you're more or less there. Suffice it to say, I'm glad I'm out now and hope to never go back.
FMLA is covering the rest of my time at work so I am getting paid my consulting firm salary through the 31st (hell yeah). My insurance plan covered most of the hospital bill, and my copay on the medicine I was prescribed is ridiculously low.
I am not interested in suing my firm, although I totally could- I have them pretty much by the balls because my work stress hospitalized me for a week and my boss was plying me with alcohol and prescription pharmaceuticals for the year I worked there. I have zero interest in returning to work or finishing my projects, and honestly don't care if I screw over the people who I used to work with, because they screwed me first without mercy.
To usher in this new chapter in my life, I have decided to give myself the gap year I never took before finding a new fulltime 9-5-salary-with-benefits job. I am focusing on honing my skillset and building my network. To do that, I set up the following over the course of about 2-3 focused days:
- A profile on Rover for freelance dogsitting and dog walking (2 clients confirmed, and 2 more scheduled for meet and greets)
- A gig with a remote ESL tutoring platform that pays $15-20 an hour 1099 (flex work, full remote) - thanks /u/tenored for the referral!
- Reconnected with old clients to start freelance babysitting and tutoring again
- Started doing speakeasy manicures for friends from home for $20 a pop (have several appointments on my books for this coming week)
- Renewed my library card so I can read as much as I want for free.99
- Tuned up my beloved, but neglected, bikes and have spent $0 on transportation (train, Lyft, gas) since
- Quit drinking entirely and have been smoking much less- spending has dropped dramatically due to decrease in intake, just as I expected
- Started cooking all of my meals at home except a once-weekly "date night" restaurant meal and food spending has dropped off dramatically as well. Food budget is now $200/mo, $400/mo for the household
- Tended to my garden which is starting to bear lovely chard, kale, and herbs that I am trading to neighbors for stuff like fresh eggs from their chickens
- Carved out "study time" into my schedule for brushing up on SQL, Python, and JS essentials so that I can apply for a Hack Reactor scholarship this summer
- Looked up the laws in my county regarding selling cottage foods (jams, preserves, baked goods, dried herbs/tea blends) at farmers markets near me
- Talked to an accountant (aka my mom) about filing taxes and writing off expenses as a 1099 contracter vs. employee
- Reached out to my network and was met with many work opportunities that I might want to explore once I have taken some time to recoup and gather my marbles - social capital is almost worth more than actual capital!! Work hard, be nice to people, and don't let them forget who you are. You will reap the rewards someday.
My quality of life has increased dramatically. I have time to read, write, think, and breathe, I feel much better inside and out, and I have a cushion to land on if my freelance gigs don't cover my (much, much lower) expenses. It remains to be seen whether I will be able to save and invest on my new, lower income - time will tell. I am unconcerned with the potential gap in my resume - I would rather be an interesting person with a checkered work history than a boring cubicle tenant with a flawless resume.
I leave you with one message: If your job is threatening your mental health, GET. THE FUCK. OUT. No amount of money is worth your sanity. Nada. None. Zero. Learning this lesson the hard way was, in short, nightmarish.
I'll be writing about my experiences and posting them on my various and sundry social media platforms and soon-to-launch website, so I'm hoping you will look forward to another update on this freelance-emphasis-on-the-free experiment soon. When the going gets weird, the weird go pro. Catch y'all on the flip side.
Submitted May 22, 2017 at 01:20AM by CALL_ME_FUCKFACE http://ift.tt/2q0VAis
