Week 1 of worklessness

I have always loved books, reading and words (some of my favourite words being burble, gurgle and Egypt) and some people have been kind enough to tell me that I have a way with written communication. Following a redundancy situation myself and several of my esteemed colleagues have found ourselves redundant. At our joint works leaving do the other day it was suggested that I use my time to write a novel, this seemed a hugely daunting task so I said that I would instead write a blog about coping with redundancy. Now I admit that wine had been taken that evening but the idea has grown as the hangover has receded, so here goes.

The first thing I need to get my head around is that I am not being made redundant but my job role is no longer viable or needed. If I as a person was redundant then that suggests that my reason for being had ended but all that has ended is the job that I was carrying out. By my previous job being made redundant I now have the opportunity to try out new jobs. There are many different exciting and interesting careers out there where I can use my skills. Jobs areas that I am thinking about at the moment include running my own business, doing something creative, dog grooming or maybe even being Prime Minster (think that I may have left it a bit late to organise this before the next election). If I had stayed in my previous job I would not have had the opportunity to try out any of these things so I am glad of the opportunity to give some of them a go, and if I could count on your vote I'd be grateful!

A lot of the sadness that I felt about leaving my job was leaving my colleagues but I'm sure that we can have even more fun socialising together than we did working together. Some people I am sure I will keep in touch with and others will drift apart from, but that is what happens in life. If I tried to keep in contact with everyone I had met in my 48 years I would have no time to work, meet new people or learn the violin (which admittedly I haven't dome yet but may decide to take up any day now).

Another main concern about redundancy is of course money. When I looked at my bank balance this morning I felt rich as my redundancy payment has gone in. I started imagining what I could do with that money. A world cruise, new car, 16 puppies or 20 pairs of Jimmy Choos' all sound tempting. But I need to hang onto the cash as I don't know when I will be getting my next pay packet. I find money really boring but I do have to careful and sensible with it until I secure another source of income.

I don't think that it can be a coincidence that our redundancy has started on April Fools Day but feel that the joke is on the company for letting us go.  Its nearly lunchtime on my first  day of being unemployed and so far I have to say I quite like it. I have now crossed three things off my to do list (I don't think whilst in work that I ever achieved 3 things by lunchtime). Although getting dressed isn't one of my achievements yet and yes this does mean that I took the dog out for a walk in my pyjamas, how liberating!

On these blogs I hope to post a factual yet humorous look at how redundancy has affected me from a professional, social and financial point of view. I'd love for you to share your thoughts and this exciting time in my life with me. Now I'd better get showered and dressed as item number 4 on the list is to buy some Easter eggs and I'm not sure that my pyjamas would look appropriate out shopping on a future Prime Minister.