I've Been Unemployed for 9 Months: What It's Like So Far

The dust must finally be settling, for recently I’ve been collecting thoughts on the things I’ve learnt and how life has changed along the way.

What I do all day

When you have full-time work, there is structure. I struggled with lack of structure for the first 6 months. I tended to either waste the entire day doing 1 errand OR try to pack 10 things in and burn up all my energy.

Gradually I found my rhythm. For me it feels most natural to break the day up into chunks of about ~3 hours. This is the most time I can spend on an activity, anyway.

A typical day is like this:

9am-12pm: Wake up, do pet stuff, have breakfast, do crossword, etc.

12pm-3pm: Yoga or Deliveroo, then lunch. Sometimes go out with parents.

3pm-6pm: Writing (work or leisure), reading, cooking, swimming...

6pm-9pm: Sometimes Deliveroo, sometimes errands or going to food rescue events, then dinner. After dinner I usually do pet stuff and read in bed.

Reflections on work

I know I sound like your typical workaholic, but the idea of not working isn’t particularly attractive to me.

Life without some kind of labour just… lacks flavour. Only when you apply effort is it possible to truly enjoy the results. Even non-work occupations like volunteering or learning new things still follow that principle.

For some people work and fun seem to occupy completely different spheres. They look forward to the day they quit so they can finally pursue their passions. This is unthinkable to me. I’d be so scared I’d die before I can reach Stage 2. I would rather take a much lower-paying job that I like, so that I can enjoy the present.

In a sense that’s what I’m doing now: I make $2K or less a month, but I love it. I guess the fact that I even have this option is a sign of “financial independence” or whatever.

Money & social status

Oh yeah let’s talk about money. I’m not a frugal sort of person. I genuinely love to spend money and I enjoy consuming things money can buy. But then I don’t have a mortgage or children or insurance or expensive tastes or a desire to climb the asset ladder. So my modest income works for me.

Strangely, I worried more about money when I was earning more. I was constantly watching my spending and aggressively investing my savings. Now it’s like, whatever, I’ll just make this work.

It is strange to think about where I stand in society. Based on common metrics (income, expenses, lifestyle) I seem to be on a lower rung of society. But, like the ascetic, I feel I have transcended the hierarchy.

Am I happy?

Let’s be clear: if you weren’t happy while working, quitting isn’t going to change that magically. Because there’s a high chance that the unhappiness comes from within.

But freeing up your time and bandwidth can work wonders, too. At the very least, it gives you space to ponder and explore the root cause of your unhappiness.

I am definitely doing better now than back in 2020-2021 when my life felt like an ill-fitting garment I had to struggle to get into every day.

I find myself often in a state of “play” these days even though I’m not doing anything special. Mundane activities like cooking or exercise can feel downright joyful. I think it’s because I’m more relaxed about outcomes and thus more attentive to the present.

Would I go back to work?

When I quit my job last year, I gave myself a year to try out freelancing/semi-retirement/downshifting.

I fully expected to give up and go back to normal work, with its security and schedules. But we’re 3/4 to the one-year mark and I don’t see that happening anytime soon. This doesn’t feel like a break. It feels like what my life should’ve been a long time ago.

I love being self-employed. It’s really hard to go back to working for someone else. I also enjoy working in both a skilled trade (writing) and unskilled labour (food delivery). In some ways, my second job is the more fulfilling one. It’s tangible and physical and I meet interesting people all the time.

It sounds corny, but I love the freedom I have to enjoy life every day. Getting paid less is such a worthwhile trade-off.

Okay and here’s the other stuff:

Oral health update (that no one asked for)

My first post-pandemic dentist visit was on Monday and boy it was a treat for us both. Apparently, I have advanced gum disease and need to start cleaning my teeth like an adult.

Her first imperative: brush 2x a day and for at least 2 minutes each time. I am unable to achieve this without technological assistance so I needed an electric toothbrush. Second: floss daily. But I hate flossing. My solution is therefore to use a combo of Y-shaped floss pick and an interdental brush.

I am not a fan of throwing money at problems, but in this case I think it’s $30something well spent since I would otherwise procrastinate until my teeth fall out.

The Deliveroo dispatch

That ~completely coincidental~ pre-NDP rain has been quite the Deliveroo cash cow. Under normal circumstances I usually complete 3 or 4 jobs each Roo session, earning about $20 to $25. On rainy days surge fees go up, so I ended up earning close to $40 each session.

I have actually come to enjoy riding in the rain, even though it’s supposed to be Very Bad for one’s bicycle. I do love my bike, but seeing as it’s a $50 PRC-made commoner cruiser, it doesn’t seem right to baby it too much.

I did take a break from Roo to replace my broken brake lever clamp. This bike wasn’t designed to have its lever clamp fixed — everything was all molded into one solid piece of plastic. I cut the plastic away to release the brake cable. With the help of YouTube, I figured out how to thread the cable onto a new lever and now it’s good as new!!

What I’ve been rescuing & cooking

I’ve cut down my food rescue commitments significantly, so now I’m more free to participate in different things, like processing napa cabbage at Kampung Bishan’s sharing point late at night.

In any case, the flow of rescued food is neverending. Below are some recently expired items I collected from a rescuer. I’m particularly excited to make poha (basically Indian couscous?) for the first time. I don’t have peanuts but I DO have a nutty rescued myulchi bokkeum so maybe I will do a Korean-Indian fusion dish!

I also rescued many chayote(s?) recently and have been exploring ways to cook it. A plain chayote and chicken soup is beautiful in its simplicity (tastes like winter melon) whereas, caramelised in an air fryer, it’s quite addictive and zucchini-like.

What we’ve been watching & reading

Kicking off a mini festival of movies we missed — or simply miss! — in the early noughties… GARDEN STATE (2004).

And of course, we’re also watching THE SANDMAN (2022). We’re only halfway through the season, but so far I LOVE IT.

A random parting crumblet

Guzman Y Gomez do $6 Minis every 6th of the month. If you’re familiar with GYG portion sizes, a Mini is pretty much a full meal. The chicken enchilada was delicious! My veggie burrito bowl, not so much, but it seemed “healthy”. I did get terrible gas from the beans.