Week 4 Okay, Now It Feels Like a Break
This is week 4 after being laid off.
So starting with a shout out, thank you Ash for sharing this diary with your community. If you're also into LeetCoding, I highly recommend you join Ash's Discord if you want to do it with the community, link in the transcription. I've felt so much support from everyone ever since this all started, so thank you all sincerely. Sorry if I haven't replied to your message, I'm still digesting everything.
This week, it finally felt more social. I met up with friends, some from my ex-ex company and some from my ex-ex-ex company. And I also had a great session with my Outplacement Career Coach. It was more for reflection on the layoff experience rather than job searching. And also, I've continued with regular sessions on Focusmate. I'm also putting a referral link in the transcription. You will get a free month of unlimited sessions by signing up through that link. It is great for practicing a little bit of English and for accountability. You share goals, work alongside others globally, and check in at the end. It's truly amazing and you can connect with people from all over the world. I've been on it since 2022, so perhaps, just perhaps, if you encounter me on Focusmate or if you hear someone that sounds familiar, don't call me out. I'm very shy.
Like I mentioned last week, I've been tackling some coding questions on GreatFrontEnd. I have a subscription I got on Black Friday. I'm very prone to buying things on Black Friday sales. I think I also have a post talking about that before. The main reason I started this is because of my ex-colleague. She's prepping for her Front End interviews and we kind of share the stuff we do each day. I do time box myself to an hour each day, so this boring prep stuff is only taking up a small portion of my time right now. And technically, I'm not LeetCoding. I'm GreatFrontEnd-ing.
Another thing this week that I was really into was searching for cheap hosting to move my WordPress sites. There are sites that I've made before and neglected right now, and my main blog is actually using Ghost and not WordPress. But I still want to keep these sites online and honestly, I need to save money right now. So by the way, if you're a creator (actively publishing) interested in getting WordPress hosting and you'd like to get it from me, I actually have a bit of spare bandwidth on my current plan for a couple more sites. Reach out to me on Instagram and we can talk. It'll be free as I'm already paying for the cost, though it definitely wouldn't hurt if you feel like sponsoring me at a time like this. You are listening to a layoff diary after all. 😏
Looking ahead, it's going to be May starting tomorrow. Can you believe that? I'll be posting on Instagram soon about the May challenge I've been doing. So this is the third year we're doing this. Every single day in May, I post an Instagram story sharing a super mini diary, like what happened, what I did, maybe four lines max. It's a fun challenge that really gets you more aware of everyday life because you have to consciously note something shareable. I recommend doing it through Instagram stories, which lowers the barrier of what to post and anything embarrassing will disappear after 24 hours. If you'd like to join us to be more aware of your day-to-day, definitely comment on the posts. And yeah, we usually have a small group tagging each other as reminders to post. It has been fun for the past two years and that is why we're doing it again this year.
So this week, it's feeling pretty light overall, mostly sharing updates and plans. I am going to get to my side project in May and the Instagram stories will likely share more in detail on how that progresses. Also, I'll be visiting Japan for a week in May as well. It really feels like this week marks a shift. The first three weeks were about digesting the layoff, processing feelings, letting people know and dealing with the inner voice about the job search. Those heavier topics feel like they are gone because I've addressed them or maybe just pushed them away in a comfortable way. Starting this week, I'm consciously taking things lighter and actually focusing on the break.
So a note to my future self, if I ever get laid off again those first three weeks, that wasn't really resting, that was processing. It's this fourth week where the actual rest seems to be starting. So if this ever happens again, week four is when to start the counter. I don't know if this applies to everyone, but it's a reference point if you're listening and curious. Though I genuinely hope you don't have to go through a layoff in the future.
This is me week four, after the layoff, signing off.
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Ash's Discord Community: https://go.oldpapa.dev/ash_leetcode_discord
Ash's Threads: https://www.threads.com/@ashkuanman
Focusmate Referral: https://go.oldpapa.dev/focusmate (get a free month of Focusmate Plus for unlimited sessions)
WordPress hosting: Reach out to me on Instagram if you're an (actively publishing) creator!