Create A Timetable – You Have Too Much Time To Spend During Unemployment
Written by : Gilbert Goh
After idling around for six months and feeling really depressed with all the free time available, I decided to create a time table to fill up my time. The simple timetable looks like this:
0800 – Wake up
0900 – Breakfast. Read a motivational book.
1000 – Send out emails to prospective employers by surfing the jobsites and newspaper
1200 – Lunch break out
1300 – Spent time with mum and daughter or network with other friends. Do some house work.
1500 – Watch TV or siesta
1700 – Prepare for daily jogging at the stadium
1900 – Freshen up and prepare for dinner with family
2100 – Read a motivational book or watch TV
2300 – Sleep and rest
The timetable provided me a daily meaningful structure which I tried my best to adhere to. If not, I would spend many hours behind the PC and there is the feeling that time is wasted. Being a person who is not very disciplined, there are occasions that I wandered away from my timetable but after a week or two I would try to follow the activities again knowing that they are the best for me. A timetable also allowed me to look forward to the activities that I enjoyed. For example, I enjoyed jogging and reading immensely and would look forward to the activities daily. If you enjoy fishing or gardening, factor in some time daily to do the activity that interests you or else the boredom will irk you.
The first few hours after waking up is the most difficult for me as I have to face another brand new day of unemployment. There are days that I stayed in bed after wallowing in self pity especially after been axed from my one-month old telemarketing job. It took a lot of mental strength for one to wake up and face another day of no work and emptiness. Unless one has a lot of meaningful things to do at home to occupy his time, a timetable certainly helps one to cope with the large amount of free time on hand. If not, it can make one grow crazy.
It is good sometimes to vary the activities daily as without work life can be mundane and boring. Sometimes, I would take a train to the other end of the line and have my lunch there. This not only break the routine but also gave me a chance to get out of my home. Any normal person who coop up at home for many weeks will feel frustrated and useless.
I also look forward to weekends as they are the best times of the whole week. I get to go out with my family and there is also the break from the boring routine of the week days. Though there are certain restrictions to what we can do due to financial constraints, spending time with my loved ones gave me a lot of theraupetic value that money can’t buy.
On Saturday evening, I also gathered with my friends and watched my favourite English Premier League football matches at the downstairs coffee shops. Besides enjoying the live soccer matches, I also got to chat with my friends and you began to feel that life is not that bad after all.
So get a timetable of fruitful activities going as it not only keep you occupied but also help to maintain your sanity!
Great works are performed, not by speed or strength, but by perseverance. Samuel Johnson
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I may sound rude…..UNEMPLOYMENT simply means no income & no money. If you have money, you would NOT be unemployed cos you will find things that you love to do & enjoy doing.