Too often when we leave a job, we rush into another without taking a break.
If you take a breather, you will start the next job with renewed energy, instead of dragging yourself along on day one in recovery mode.
By all means find the next job first so you can be relaxed, but try to negotiate a start date weeks or even months from now. Depending on the industry you are in, and how well you have sold your own personal worth, you may be surprised what they will agree to. You can only ask. Phrase it in terms they can relate to: "I'll be at my best when I start", "there is something I want to sort out before I start so it is not a distraction"...
And if you have impetuously left a job without knowing what to do next, a holiday is the best way of getting your head together so you can sort out your priorities and ideas, hopefully with the help of this site.
What to do in the break:
- Spend time with family
- There may well be important things in your personal life that have been on hold: take time to sort them out.
- Hang around the house and chill
- Take a holiday
Can't afford to have a holiday? You would be amazed what you can achieve. Here are some suggestions
- Never mind flying somewhere. Go camping locally, rent a house in the middle of nowhere, or find a low-cost holiday park. We camp about 40 minutes from here: no petrol costs, we pop home for a shower or forgotten items, and our son thinks he's in the wilderness.
- Do the sums: if you go away for several months, you can pack up all your possessions and store them; stop renting, or rent or sell your house; no power or phone bills, no rates, no taxes. If your home life goes into suspended animation for a few months look at how much money you save!
- If you are in a suitable profession, look for funding for overseas research, sabattical, fact-finding tour, whatever... Get some of that tax back.
