If you noticed a massive, echoing gap in time between my last post and this one, congratulations—you have excellent situational awareness. If you didn’t notice, let’s just pretend I was on a highly exclusive, top-secret spiritual retreat.
The truth is a lot more corporate: The remote life got a little too real, my company “restructured,” and I got laid off.
Turns out, the ultimate work-from-home hack is not losing the home office entirely.
When it happened, I went through the full, textbook emotional cycle of job loss. First came the denial (coupled with an impressive amount of daytime television), followed by a heavy dose of funk and depression. It turns out that when your identity is tied to being a productive professional, suddenly having a completely blank calendar throws you for a loop. I spent a good chunk of time just trying to get my feet back under me and figure out which way was up.
But a lazy worker never truly quits—they just optimize the recovery time.
It took some serious effort to get back in the saddle, update the resume, and brave the wild world of interviewing again. The market is a jungle out there, but I had one absolute, non-negotiable rule: I was keeping my almost 100% work-from-home capacity. I am far too attached to my plush slippers to give them up now.
The good news? I landed the new 9-5. The routine is back, the paycheck is flowing, and my desk corner is officially operational again.
Now that the dust has settled and my brain has successfully rebooted, I wanted to get right back to working on this blog. We’ve got a lot of catching up to do—including some fresh, hard-earned wisdom on surviving a layoff, navigating the job hunt without losing your mind, and balancing the books when life throws you a curveball.
Thanks for hanging out. Pull up a chair, and let’s get back to business.