There is a can of paint in my car with lines of dried dripped paint all down the sides. There are rollers and brushes that were yesterday wet with paint, wrapped in bags and tape and fear of messiness and today are probably dried and ruined also in my trunk. There is a friend’s ladder, another friend’s paint rollers and any number of things that I should have attended to yesterday, but did not. And it was wonderful.

Yesterday, I biked along the river, sat in a new, thriving church, painted a wall, installed lights, sang at the top of my lungs with no fear of judgment, went to a movie I hadn’t researched the times for 3 days before, ate gelato and pizza and hung out with some great friends and did not check my email for hours at a time. One of them said to me yesterday, “you do too much.” I was torn between immediately agreeing with him and defending my over-saturated schedule.

To give a little background here: I tend to say yes to things that I think deserve my attention and once I am committed, I am committed 300%. Fortunately or unfortunately, I think a lot of things deserve my attention. Therefore, when I look at my 7 color-coded calendars to see what is coming for the day, I am excited. I get to play kickball, or Frisbee, train for my next triathlon or volunteer at church, indirectly care for women in Rwanda by being their voices here through trying to learn how to run a non-profit advisory board as its youngest member, install a photography show, work for a cause I believe in, and try to be a good friend to quite a few different groups of people all over DC and the world.

Recently I asked another friend in semi-seriousness, “How do you know when you are doing too much?” He responded, “When it gets in the way of your life.” The things in the paragraph above are my life, very purposely and passionately so, but I think he meant that it is too much when your activities begin to define you and control you. Therefore, how do I gain that sense of freedom I had yesterday which paralleled the freedom I felt in jumping on a plane to Peru a week after buying a ticket or during my job search (more on this later as to why I was the happiest I have been in a long time while unemployed…)? Do I plan less? Care about fewer people? Leave more open space in my schedule? Draw more boundaries? Or less? Or do I just keep moving forward surrounding myself with people who nudge me when I have become too confined by my schedule to throw it all away for a day and just have an afternoon of spontaneity?

In fact, I think I will just have to move in with said people. My friends who made my blissful Sunday possible, are my soon to be roommates come September, and I look forward to ditching my schedule more often and telling you the resulting tales.

Photo via Flickr by college.summit

As someone who has been unemployed for a few months, let me say, AMEN. Granted, unemployment has it’s perks, but so do paychecks. And contributing to the world for a paycheck. Pretty cool. I will be getting paid to form relationships with volunteers and alumni who want to help out these students. Did you hear that? Getting PAID to form RELATIONSHIPS for better education for those who need it most. If you know me and my hectic social schedule (not due to popularity, just hecticness!) and my past volunteer experience, this should be a pretty great job for me.

So, THANK YOU to all of those who have gotten me here through hundreds of emails, networking meetings, encouragement, connections and ideas. You got me here. Thank you.

To anyone out there who is still job searching: hang in there. Yes, the economy sucks. But guess what? You are a well skilled individual and there are still people looking to hire people like you. So, do not lose heart! Also, I will still keep posting thoughts on job searching here.

…but first I will be going to Peru to hike to Machu Picchu with these guys. Long story, but I am PUMPED. More upon my return!

Photo via Flickr by Bob Jagendorf

So, if you have read the news or spoken to anyone in the last year, you are aware that there are layoffs happening. Everywhere. (P.S. If you don’t want to read depressing news all the time, read Alltop’s Good News!) Most likely, you or someone you know has been laid off. Instead of ignoring the possibility of getting let go, prepare for it. You can’t control the economy or your organization’s budget, but you can control how you react to it. Here are some lessons learned from the other side of the fence:

1. Don’t take it personally: If you are laid off, you have not been fired. There was a restructuring, a budget cut, a massive recession, etc. It is not you, so getting angry and bitter will not help you now–see points 2 & 4. below. (Granted, there are things you can do to make your job recession proof, but we’ll cover that later.)

2. Don’t yell and try not to cry: It is hard to control emotional reactions (I will admit, as a woman, I think this might be harder for us), but as best you can, this is not the time to air all of your grievances with your now former employer.

3. Say “Thank You”: Regardless of how long you have been in your role, there are likely people there who you connected with, who mentored you, and who will now be able to help you in your job search. Say thank you, for all of the responsibilities you had and all of the skills you were able to learn and use in your position.

4. Hand out your personal email and phone number: Again, these are the people who can help you, and will want to help you most in your job search. Make sure you keep the lines of communication open and cordial. I would venture to say that most employers do not relish laying people off. It is uncomfortable for them, too. So, they will have extra incentive to help you in your next step. The best option is to hand out your personal business cards (which you should make now and have on hand, anyway. you’ll need it for your next job search, employed or no.).

5. Make a list of contacts: Please note, I am not condoning stealing business from the organization you just laid off. I am, however, condoning making your network as wide and broad as possible. What better place to start than with the people both internal and external with which you have most recently worked.

5. Leave well, then leave your work behind: Many people are awful at work-life balance. Here is your chance to get it right. Before you leave, make a to do list (or just hand the one over you haven’t finished) of all of the things that you meant to get done, but haven’t yet. Hand it to someone who you trust to get these things done. Then leave. And stop worrying about your former responsibilities. You have a new job now: Looking for a Job.

6. Call your friends and family: Job searches aren’t easy, and you need their support. On the flip side, if you are the one talking to your laid off friend, see Penelope Trunk’s excellent post on How to talk to a friend who’s been laid off.

Anything I missed? Add your thoughts in the comments about things to keep in mind when being laid off.

Topics will include:

How to be Laid Off Gracefully
Who Am I and What Kind of Job do I Want?
Career Coaches and what they can do for me
The How: Spreadsheets and Research and Spreadsheets and some more Research
Networking: On and Offline via LinkedIn, Twitter, Associations and Connections
Keeping Up: your Attitude, Productivity, Work/Life Balance
The importance of friends and family in a job search
Resumes: Rules of Thumb and Alternatives
Why Gen Y Rocks the Working World & how this can pose problems with Boomers in management
Career Tests: Which ones are worth it and why
Follow Up and Thank You Notes
Why the Job search Doesn’t Suck
Blog and Volunteer Your Way into a Job

Stay Tuned!

And let me know if there are other things that you want to know about.

Photo by Tom™5 via flickr.