Ask the cubicle expat(s): How do you survive work as a short timer?

March 22nd, 2007

Lynne, a devoted reader, has been asking me to try doing an open thread on the blog. You know, someone sends me a question to ask of y’all and everyone chimes in with their two cents, everyone plays nice, and everyone goes away feeling all warm and fuzzy. So as an experiment, we’re going to try it. Here goes nothing…

Lynne writes: I’d like to hear about how people survive that “in between” period when you’ve decided to make the leap from day job to dream job, but you’re stuck in the day job for at least another few months. How do you keep your soul from drying out if you hate the day job?

Fab question. I write about surviving as a short timer throughout the book, especially in Chapter 3 and the Temp Survival Guide. Some things I did at my last onerous, year-long temp gig (which I took for the resume and bank account boost) to help me make it through each week when, believe me, I thought about jumping off a bridge on more than one occasion:

1. Made a chart to denote my financial goal (save up enough money for a down payment on a Seattle-area shack) and checked my progress daily to remind myself why the frack I was commuting two miserable hours a day. This silly little ritual stopped me from quitting no less than eleven dozen times. Eyes on the prize, baby!

In your case, Lynne, you might make a timeline to indicate when you’ll reach each milestone on the road to career change (i.e., save enough money to jump ship, finish that project management class, land your first three freelance clients, whatever). See the anti 9-to-5 action plans in le book for help and inspiration.

2. Cozied up to other non-drones so I had people to commiserate with, but more importantly, so I had down-to-earth “real” folks to share laughs, walks outside, CD recommendations, American Idol critiques, and anything else even remotely life-affirming with. It’s the little things in office life that help you hang on…

3. Always had a writing project going on the side (usually an article or essay due for some book, website, or magazine) so I had something to look forward to after work. This also gave me something that fed my soul to work on during the onerous bus ride to work and/or lunchtime. Writing for even 30 minutes before or during the workday (at lunch) meant the difference between a really shitty mood and a really sunny outlook for me, mainly because it meant that I was doing something for moi (and not just for my megacorp employer) during the hours of the day when I was at my freshest and most creative.

In Lynne’s case, this might mean researching people whose brain she’d like to pick during her lunch hour, reading about her hopeful new career path on the ride in to work (or over her morning coffee), or attending a lecture or class or brainstorming group after work once in a while — all energy-boosting, all quick light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel fixes to get her through the workweek.

Allrightythen. Now it’s your turn. Additional advice for Lynne? Personal tales of triumphing over Short Timer’s Soul Suck that you’d like to share? Comment away.

Entry Filed under: Ask the Cubicle Expat