This is my last weekend of funemployment. After a luxurious two month break, I’m excited to start my new job on Monday. It will probably be a while before I’m posting again. Before I go, I’d like to share some miscellaneous funemployment thoughts.

• A two month break hits the duration sweet spot, conditional on at-home COVID funemployment. I feel healthy and recharged with only the beginnings of mental antsiness. A lot of it comes from accepting the COVID paradigm and finding happiness in spite of the lockdown environment. If I were traveling, I think I’d need an additional 1-2 months before getting to my current mental state.
• COVID has put our lives on pause at the precipice of a new decade. Some of us are taking this as a welcome opportunity to reflect and plan. Others are impatiently waiting to storm the gates of normalcy. I’ve gradually defected from the first camp to the second. There’s only so much reflection one can do before it’s time to fill up the experiences bucket again. Additionally, I recognize that there’s a lot of privilege in being happily COVID funemployed without feeling the financial stress. I’m both very lucky and grateful in this regard.
• Time passes simultaneously quickly and slowly during funemployment. I’m glad to have gone in with a plan for staying productive and sane. The blog really helped with accountability as well as retrospective tracking. Referring to the blog helps fill in the gaps and smudges in my memory. I also highly recommend following a daily schedule and blocking time to grind on bigger projects. Whether professionally or personally, you are the steward of your own time. Pruney hands from being positively awash with time isn’t an excuse for poor time management.
• I’m extremely grateful to have my girlfriend as my COVID living partner since the lockdown started. Even for the most obdurate introvert, the loneliness can quickly become overwhelming. The obverse – spending 100% of two months with only your significant other in a cramped NYC apartment poses its own challenges (definitely a booster shot in communication and empathy). I suspect the topic of COVID lockdown as a relationship accelerator will be extremely polarizing.