My last job was at Amazon, as a QA Engineer. “It was fine until it wasn’t” is one summary. “It was a good distraction from the stress of my dad’s failing health so I could keep balance, but fell apart after other losses and health crap that made me not care about work much” is another.
The “stopped caring” was a big part for me. I tend to do my best software work when I can hyperfocus on what I’m doing and ignore everything else. Over time I got more responsibilities and was expected to keep more balls in the air…which doesn’t feed hyperfocus well.
Anyway, last day was in June. A bit less than a week later, episode 103 of Productivity Alchemy came out. The interview was with Star Picucci, talking about her end of full-time employment. (This bit is about 23:30 minutes into the podcast)
I was a PeopleSoft developer until February, when due to the vagaries of government contracts I was no longer a PeopleSoft developer, and I was I was aggravated about it. I had hoped to retire in about 2 years, and so I called my financial advisor, I talked to my husband, I crunched a bunch of numbers, and said: Do I have to deal with this bullshit or can I just NOT work?
Star clarified she’s sort of on “trial retirement” while they see if the numbers really work. What stood out to me, though, was how her reaction was like my reaction when I had been handed an Amazon Pivot paperwork. Oh, if I leave you give me over 3 months’ severance and skip the PIP? Gee, let me think. I occasionally have a nagging voice pointing out that I could’ve gone on medical leave and see how that changed things but … too much glee over the idea of leaving. I was ready to run away.
So yeah, we’ll see how the money goes. I’ve been maxing out the 401(k) and saving a good amount each year. I’ve been using COBRA to follow up on some health things I’d been putting off. I will probably be blogging more here, and I’m sending out some article pitches. But that’s the big thing that I’m coming to terms with.
via Living ~400lbs https://ift.tt/2KORTUs
