Learning from a Temporary Assignment

It's time for another bout of introspection. I did try to structure part of this as an actual audience oriented post and after struggling through three drafts remembered that the point of this particular blog was to indulge myself.  So I am.

I've been working a temporary job at an hourly rate less than half of my previous salary for a variety of reasons and I've learned a few things.

This is why internet marketing and working for yourself is so attractive to so many.

I have minimal control over what I do when. Most of the work is very routine data processing interspersed by moments of conversation and initiative. If this was my full-time job, then the possibility of replacing this income is much closer than the idea of replacing my previous income.

I come home tired and I don't want to do much of anything. At least when I didn't want to be a chemist anymore I came home motivated to work on my other projects. Now it's a push to get the immediate motivation to find a full-time job, even though I now need one more than I did then.

The commute doesn't help. I feel like I'm trapped between getting my daughter ready in the morning and leaving in time to pick her up in the evening. That would be much the same if I was working at the job I interviewed for right around the corner, but it's still a new feeling for me.

I wouldn't have chosen to have my empathic ability improved this way, but I appreciate the lesson.

I don't want to pursue freelancing as my primary career.

I was pretty sure of this one already and had never been planning to take advantage of this time to build that business. But now I'm very sure.

This probably seems like an odd reaction based on what I wrote earlier, especially since I love writing. I'm just so much more excited by the jobs that I'm interviewing for. I really want to be working full time with a team to increase business results on a larger scale - especially if it's for a chemical or manufacturing company. Not having to attract personal clients is also a plus. The idea of attracting them for a larger business feels different somehow.

This is probably not the most politic thing to say since I might still need to pursue that business if my time of unemployment stretches longer. It's a source of income that I have more control over than relying on the decisions of a few hiring managers and I am confidant that I can succeed at it. 

For now I've stopped doing Elance work because it doesn't give me enough time for job hunting. I'll likely take it up again when the assignment is over. I'm kind of reluctant to try attracting better paying clients through other means when I know it's not something I intend to continue doing after I get a full time job unless I get a recurring blogging job (which is my favorite part of freelancing).

I do want to revive and build on Inventing Elephants.

I've been thinking hard about what I do want to do with my time. What will I do with my time at home when I do get a new job? What will I keep and what will I drop.

I do very much want to keep writing and publishing something for ME, both for my satisfaction and for an underlying possibility of of potential income. I've brainstormed and, despite an itch to start over, the process of pulling ideas out of multiple perspectives is still what I want to write about.

I still can't approach it or systems thinking from the position of an expert. But I do have a varied perspective and believe I can help translate the abstract principles into something that will help a range of people (although I know I need to pick one as a focus) deal with complexity.

I also want to get back to doing art and craft. I know that I won't have time to really do that until I'm settled in a new position, but it's been way too long. I've been obsessed with trying to lay a foundation for a new type of job and neglecting my handiwork. In the long run, I need this creative outlet in addition to these words.

I really do enjoy listening to the audios.

I've always preferred transcripts in the classes I purchased. The only listening time I had was also my writing time and the latter won. But I still have the audios.

And the absolute best part of this temp job is that I can listen to these classes while I work because the regular tasks involve a different part of my brain. I've been through AWAI's Master Class and all of Question the Rules including the interviews plus a little extra. This has been pretty darn cool.