You Must Have So Much Time on Your Hands....

When you're unemployed, it's not unusual for people to assume you have a lot of free time. In fact, nothing could be further from the truth.

I wish it was the truth -- there are countless projects that I'd love to complete, and - obviously - this is the most non-work time I'll (hopefully) ever have. It's no surprise to anyone who knows me that I value organization highly. I have a 'task list' of 120-some-odd tasks that I'd love to complete (which range from finally organizing my bookmarks (on several different machines); to redesigning my gaming group's score database; and finally, redesigning my personal website).

At first, these tasks led to one pile....(currently housed in my basement). However, as my ability to complete these tasks is more delayed, the pile has started to migrate - now up to my living room (much to my wife's chagrin)...

Compounding matters - and looming over my head like an albatross - is my boardgaming room; which was in disarray before my lay-off; then, got further disturbed when the home was hit by lightning, necessitating the entire security system be replaced, and now, it's just a lost cause (but, in typical Chris fashion, all/most of the above tasks need to be completed before the games can be organized.

And - so far - through my time in unemployment; I've done nearly nothing towards completing these tasks, which is a source of frustration. Even more irritating, I haven't even finished everything I want to do in terms of job-searching; there are still many tasks I'm hoping to accomplish, to both increase my networking and my odds of landing a great new position.

I've continued my professional development, by reading a number of books on social media (specific to individuals...so, my knowledge of Twitter and LinkedIn has grown exponentially). And, I've been fortunate to have secured several interviews in the past few weeks, which has taken up a good amount of time (in a good way, of course). And - although my wife may say otherwise - I *have* helped out more, as I now handle the food shopping duties (however, I'm told that I'm not a 'good' shopper, as I only buy what's on the list...I think that's the very definition of a good shopper.)

Yet, I'm still concerned that, when this has passed, and I'm in a new role, I'll look back on this time and regret not having accomplished even more. Is that foolish? Of course. I definitely recognize that people recommend NOT focusing entirely on the job search, but it's a definite conundrum -- when I'm not looking for a job (or doing something in that vein), I feel guilty; but, to not be accomplishing as many 'personal' things while I'm out of work, definitely feels like a missed opportunity.

In the end, though, I can most assuredly say that I *don't* have so much time on my hands. In fact, I have even less, now :)