I Don't Have a Job, but I Am Working More Than Before

Right now, I don't have a job.

Strangely, I feel like I am working more than when I had one.

There is no company waiting for me in the morning. No regular backlog, meetings, or manager asking what I am working on.

Still, my days fill up very quickly.

Looking for a job is already work

Job searching sounds simple when reduced to "sending applications."

In practice, it involves finding positions, reading descriptions, deciding which ones make sense, talking to recruiters, preparing for interviews, and keeping track of everything.

The difficult part is that this work has no natural finish line.

There might always be another interesting position to find or something I could improve before the next interview.

Without noticing, a few hours of job searching can become most of the day.

Then there are the side projects

At the same time, I have personal projects I want to keep building.

They give me something concrete to work on, keep me active as a developer, and, more importantly, I enjoy building them.

Of course, software projects are very good at creating more software projects.

Fix one bug and discover two others. Build a feature and immediately think of three improvements.

Then things get a little out of hand.

So somehow, unemployment has not produced much free time.

Creating my own boundaries

A regular job provides some external structure. Even if work sometimes escapes those boundaries, there is usually a clearer distinction between working and not working.

Now I have to create that distinction myself.

That is harder than I expected.

Having more available time creates pressure to use it. I could search for more opportunities, learn something new, improve a project, fix another bug, or prepare for an interview.

There is no shortage of useful things to do.

But "useful" does not mean "needs to be done today."

That distinction has become important.

Mental health is part of this too

I am trying not to treat taking care of my mind as something that can wait until I find another job.

This period needs limits too.

I cannot solve my career, finish my projects, learn everything I want to learn, and plan the next few years at the same time.

A productive day does not need to consume the whole day. A personal project does not need to become another full-time job just because I have more hours available. And taking some time away from the job search does not mean I am ignoring it.

I am still figuring out the right balance.

For now, I don't think the goal is to stay busy until another job appears.