How do you feel?

[Crazyfool01]

1 hour ago, WestCountryGirl said:

I've been feeling the same too - and doing that thing which you're not supposed to do, "comparing myself with others". Just feels like everyone I know is in a job/career they either love or are amazing at, or are bored but at least super successful and loaded with cash. And here's me watching the pennies in a job that is at best frustrating and worst down-right soul-crushing.

I have recently 'qualified' as a counsellor, but I don't feel in any way ready or in a position enough to actually set up my own practice, so for now I'm still volunteering - which I love but is taking a toll on my free-time at present and I feel like I've hardly got space to think. 

So a few weeks ago I thought "you know what, I'm good at cross stitching. I'm creative. I know the craft market is saturated right now, but people might like what I bring to the table", so I bought a book and started drawing up some designs. I plan just to make a few of each, pop 'em on Etsy and see if they sell. We all have to start somewhere  best of luck with the baking!

Let us know how you get on ..., Ive thought of doing similar but never had the faith in my work being able to sell 

[parsonjack]

Ok here goes my words of wisdom for homeworkers......they won't all apply to everyone (and apologies to those where they don't) but I just hope some little bit of it might help someone get through a day.

1. Separation is key.  Make sure, if you can, that your workspace is separate from the rest of your living environment.  'Go To Work' in a spare bedroom, understairs cupboard etc.  One of my team works in his loft space so he can focus away from distractions from the rest of his family.  At the end of the day close the door on it and 'Go Home'.

2. Don't set a morning alarm.  Keep to your normal bed time but don't set an alarm.  I've found I still wake in order to start my work day to the usual schedule, but I wake more naturally and as such I don't feel so groggy.  If you oversleep, what the hell, it's not likely to be by much, no-one knows and if you get challenged say you stayed offline to focus on something, update your to-do list etc.  

3. Set a recurring 30 minute 'Team Boost' session for every afternoon.  The rules are no work chat, drop in as you can, talk about shit, anything but work.

4. Have a team playlist or album of the day/week.  Put them in a spreadsheet and ask people to score each others choices.  You'll be amazed at what some people get you to listen to.

5.  Take breaks...get up and go outside for 10 minutes.  Breathe the air.

6. Drink plenty.  Like tea, not beer, coffee or Brothers, even though you may want to.

6. Eat.  Make time for some breakfast and lunch.

7. Set a policy of no meetings over lunch (see above), meetings start on the hour and run to a max of 50 min to allow breathing space between and make a policy of Friday is 'Thinking Time' and meetings are prohibited unless business critical.  Use Friday to catch up on stuff.

8. Resist temptation to check your work mail on weekends or days out (see Separation above).  If it helps with 'email anxiety after a day out you are allowed to check on the evening prior to your day back, but only to clear junk....and for no more than 30 min max.

9. Get a DSE assessment done if you are using IT all day long.  If you are not comfortable it is your employers responsibility to provide the 'reasonable adjustments' to ensure you are.  This could include a better chair, and/or a separate screen/mouse/keyboard to your laptop.  If you're not comfortable a day in a job you already detest will feel like a month.

10.  Sit back every now and then and re-evaluate things.  Unless you're in a job where this could be the case, no-one will die if you don't update that PowerPoint before tomorrow.  Tell yourself there are countless other people doing just this, right now, so it's not just me.  Remind yourself that however shitty it is you have a job, you are able to buy food, drink and a Glasto ticket.  You're also not on a ventilator, or mourning the loss of someone who recently has been.  It's not all bad.  You're still winning.

Take care peeps ❤

[efcfanwirral]

3 hours ago, Calvin Klein said:

It may seem stupid but the thing that makes me super anxious is not knowing what will happen to live music events. I refuse to accept these socially distanced gigs. Sorry, but no. Also, traveling. The two things I love the most, just taken away completely. It's frustrating not having any idea what will happen. It feels like there's nothing to hold on to to keep you sane. To me, these two things were them. 
 

I'm with you on most of that - those are the things I do the most, and the fact I can go to the pub as of July means very little to me. I can't do the things I usually spend my leisure time doing

Though in this situation, if I was living in Newcastle I'd probably be at about 5 of those socially distanced gigs. If its that or nothing, I wouldn't choose nothing on principle

Edited August 19, 2020 by efcfanwirral

[Calvin Klein]

29 minutes ago, efcfanwirral said:

I'm with you on most of that - those are the things I do the most, and the fact I can go to the pub as of July means very little to me. I can't do the things I usually spend my leisure time doing

Though in this situation, if I was living in Newcastle I'd probably be at about 5 of those socially distanced gigs. If its that or nothing, I wouldn't choose nothing on principle

Yes, I guess if there's nothing else, we wouldn't have much choice. But at this moment, it's super weird.

[lemons]

A while ago circumstances brought me back to an area I didn't think I ever would return to.  Didn't make an effort to settle as I was always looking away and it's left me lonely. My social life revolves around football and gigs two things that were "acceptable" to attend alone. Places you could be surrounded by people but not  feel alone. Somewhere you could just be. I'm really missing that

[Crazyfool01]

just found my next job .... hat maker to the stars  

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/av/50866497

[funkychick2007]

12 minutes ago, crazyfool1 said:

just found my next job .... hat maker to the stars  

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/av/50866497

Yes!!! Go for it!!! 

[Crazyfool01]

Just now, funkychick2007 said:

Yes!!! Go for it!!! 

wouldn't know where to start  

[funkychick2007]

Sometimes I think you just have to have an idea and go for it!!! One thing lockdown has done has made people think about things in a different way about life, careers, relationships and friendships!!! I’m not saying it’s all positive some of it has involved reflecting on things we may not want to!! But hopefully it’s made people see they all have something special about themselves and value other people’s qualities! 

[Ryan1984]

14 hours ago, parsonjack said:

Ok here goes my words of wisdom for homeworkers......they won't all apply to everyone (and apologies to those where they don't) but I just hope some little bit of it might help someone get through a day.

1. Separation is key.  Make sure, if you can, that your workspace is separate from the rest of your living environment.  'Go To Work' in a spare bedroom, understairs cupboard etc.  One of my team works in his loft space so he can focus away from distractions from the rest of his family.  At the end of the day close the door on it and 'Go Home'.

2. Don't set a morning alarm.  Keep to your normal bed time but don't set an alarm.  I've found I still wake in order to start my work day to the usual schedule, but I wake more naturally and as such I don't feel so groggy.  If you oversleep, what the hell, it's not likely to be by much, no-one knows and if you get challenged say you stayed offline to focus on something, update your to-do list etc.  

3. Set a recurring 30 minute 'Team Boost' session for every afternoon.  The rules are no work chat, drop in as you can, talk about shit, anything but work.

4. Have a team playlist or album of the day/week.  Put them in a spreadsheet and ask people to score each others choices.  You'll be amazed at what some people get you to listen to.

5.  Take breaks...get up and go outside for 10 minutes.  Breathe the air.

6. Drink plenty.  Like tea, not beer, coffee or Brothers, even though you may want to.

6. Eat.  Make time for some breakfast and lunch.

7. Set a policy of no meetings over lunch (see above), meetings start on the hour and run to a max of 50 min to allow breathing space between and make a policy of Friday is 'Thinking Time' and meetings are prohibited unless business critical.  Use Friday to catch up on stuff.

8. Resist temptation to check your work mail on weekends or days out (see Separation above).  If it helps with 'email anxiety after a day out you are allowed to check on the evening prior to your day back, but only to clear junk....and for no more than 30 min max.

9. Get a DSE assessment done if you are using IT all day long.  If you are not comfortable it is your employers responsibility to provide the 'reasonable adjustments' to ensure you are.  This could include a better chair, and/or a separate screen/mouse/keyboard to your laptop.  If you're not comfortable a day in a job you already detest will feel like a month.

10.  Sit back every now and then and re-evaluate things.  Unless you're in a job where this could be the case, no-one will die if you don't update that PowerPoint before tomorrow.  Tell yourself there are countless other people doing just this, right now, so it's not just me.  Remind yourself that however shitty it is you have a job, you are able to buy food, drink and a Glasto ticket.  You're also not on a ventilator, or mourning the loss of someone who recently has been.  It's not all bad.  You're still winning.

Take care peeps ❤

Some good points in there. I’m lucky enough to have a box room that we bought a desk for at the weekend and having that as an ‘office’ rather than our living room this week really has separated work from home. Definitely recommend doing that if you can.
I also find an early morning run helps clear the head ready for the working day. A walk or bike ride might do the same?

Drink plenty of water over the day as well.

[Reckoner]

I had a dream last night that I was on the walk into a festival with all my gear. It wasn’t quite the pink car park to Gate D walk but there were enough similarities.

Once I got inside and set my tent up amongst all the others,  the dream revealed that the festival campsite was actually on a beach. Of course a big wave then came crashing in and washed everyone’s tents and belongings away.

Don’t think you need a degree in dream interpretation  to work out the meaning of that one.

 

 

Coming in late to the above chat, the other reason we are all hating our jobs is that there is nothing else to focus on. Most jobs are at least tolerable in the grand scheme of things, and you can accept doing something that you maybe don’t love because it helps you do the things you do, whether it be travel, festivals, food, hanging with friends etc. When that’s all taken away yet the job rolls on then it’s pretty easy to start being distracted by other things or bigger questions as to what the F… is the point

[Wellyboot]

1 minute ago, Gregfc15 said:

I had a dream last night that I was on the walk into a festival with all my gear. It wasn’t quite the pink car park to Gate D walk but there were enough similarities.

Once I got inside and set my tent up amongst all the others,  the dream revealed that the festival campsite was actually on a beach. Of course a big wave then came crashing in and washed everyone’s tents and belongings away.

Don’t think you need a degree in dream interpretation  to work out the meaning of that one.

 

 

Coming in late to the above chat, the other reason we are all hating our jobs is that there is nothing else to focus on. Most jobs are at least tolerable in the grand scheme of things, and you can accept doing something that you maybe don’t love because it helps you do the things you do, whether it be travel, festivals, food, hanging with friends etc. When that’s all taken away yet the job rolls on then it’s pretty easy to start being distracted by other things or bigger questions as to what the F… is the point

I would call that a nightmare not a dream!! 

But you are absolutely spot on with this!! Couldn't have worded it any better. 

I've been working in the office the whole way thru, no working from home for me. And I've never enjoyed my job but it has always been alright really.. i mean it is just job but it was ok. But now, doing it (well tbf I've been shifted to another section 'temporarily' apparently)  its like I'm dealing with all this shit, and its a lot of shit, for 40p above minimum wage, I'm stressed to high heaven and all for what?? Cos at the end of it I can't go to a festival, I can't go to a gig, I can't go to see my friends. And it does make you feel proper deflated and a bit like what is the point. 

I know i shouldn't complain as I do have a job and others may have lost theirs but it is miserable right now 

[Quark]

23 hours ago, Tartan_Glasto said:

I've come to the realisation that I actually really hate my job.

I have  a lot of friends at work and I think going in and seeing them everyday distracted me from how much I didn't like my work. Now working from home it's brought it all to light. I think the isolation is starting to get to me. I do live with my partner but he works for the family business so is out from 5am to 5pm every day so I just float around the flat myself all day long. 

I had two weeks off recently and didn't even really enjoy it. I seemed to get a fair bit of anxiety which seemed to be focused around thoughts of my job. Two weeks off but I was still "in the office" as my home is now my office. 

I've even found myself googling things like "do  have anxiety?" or "Do I have depression?" because I know I just don't feel right. 

The problem is exacerbated by the fact that 1) It's not really a great time to be trying to find a new job and 2) I am really not qualified to do anything. 

I'm becoming less and less productive at work. My manager even highlighted this to me in a 121 and I thought right, I'm gonna get in the zone now. However, I still can't bring myself to be able to focus. Even though I know my volume of work is being watched I just cannot find the motivation.

Sorry, that was all a bit of word vomit just to get thoughts off my chest I guess.

Sympathise there bud.  I've been up and down with my job for ages now, and everything you've said rings some horribly familiar bells.  The listlessness, the unproductivity, lack of focus, even the desire to do more but just not being able to do it.  Been there a lot over the last few years.

I guess the difference I have, and it's really fortunate in context, is that I don't "hate" my job.  I find it very unfulfilling in a lot of ways, and the nature of what I do actually grinds against the way I am as a person; very much square peg round hole. But I'm lucky enough to work for a fundamentally decent company in a lot of ways, I have a decent boss and at the core I like the people I work with.

Biggest change for me (and not suggesting this will work for you btw) was about a month ago.  I realised that I'd spent ages grumbling about my job and vaguely looking for other stuff, but I hadn't actually put my back into finding something else.  There'd been a few false starts, and bursts of job hunting activity, but nothing consistent to actually fix my situation. And in itself that was actually really draining.  So I made the decision to accept what I do, stay there and make the best of it, and really focus on enjoying non-work stuff.  I personally think they myth (and it is a myth) that everyone has the "perfect job" out there can actually be pretty damaging. I've certainly freed up a massive chunk of my brain space.

A couple of things I did find when I was trying to change things might help though!

• You're definitely not "not qualified".  Everyone is qualified for stuff, but the two biggest problems are 1) we don't know what 95% of the jobs out there actually are, and b) you probably don't realise what skills you actually have because we think in terms of qualifications rather than skills.
• There are some really useful resources out there to help your thought processes on stuff like this:
  • https://careerrelaunch.net/ is a podcast looking at case studies of people who have decided to make career changes, the challenges they face and how they did it. They're not all going to be relevant to your situation, but it's good to just start hearing stories and approaches to help flesh out your own thoughts.
  • https://www.careershifters.org/ is a UK organisation that does what it says on the tin and helps people shift careers!  I attended one of their seminar sessions in London a few years ago, and while I didn't get anything direct from it (again, largely down to my own intertia!) it does provide some frameworks for how to approach and some connections you can start making to look elsewhere. Their website also has loads of case studies of people changing careers that make good reading.
  • There's a book called Pivot by Jenny Blake http://www.pivotmethod.com/. Basic premise is that instead of looking at a big career jump, which can understandably be daunting when you have no idea how to do, you look at small incremental "pivots" around your current role.  It really makes you look at how you can make a small step based on the skills and experience you have, either within your current organisation or elsewhere, to get you moving in the right direction. It breaks it down into manageable chunks so that you get some forward movement instead of just spinning in circles.  Mrs Q made a lot of use of her stuff when she was changing roles.
• Use LinkedIn.  It's horribly corporate and all the rest of it, but you'll be amazed when you start looking at connections you have with people how much information you might be able to find on what's available, and also how other people have done stuff.  Again, made a massive difference to Mrs Q's job hunting.
• Trawl job adverts, but not necessarily looking for a specific role or based on what you think you can do.  Just give yourself a feel for what's out there, as you'll start coming across roles you didn't even know existed! LinkedIn is a great place for this, as it does tend to be a lot less generic that the well known job market websites.
• Instead of thinking about what "skills" you have, think about what you've accomplished, achieved, done or whatever you want to call it, and then start thinking about what those things demonstrate.  You'll gradually start spotting patterns of what you're good at and what skills you have.
• Also think about what makes you tick.  Again, there'll be some themes running through your life, personal and professional, that gradually make themselves apparent.  Are you logic based? Fixing things? Numbers? Creative? People? Start at a high level, and flesh it out as you go.  Again, you'll start seeing that these things link towards certain skills or roles.
• If your work has any training or L&D available, start digging into it.  Just trawl through, and see what interests you.  Don't think about where it could lead to begin with, just start looking at the stuff that gets your attention.
• Write stuff down.  Get a notebook or something (who doesn't like new stationery FFS?!) and scribble.  Spider diagrams, notes, thoughts, whatever.  Get stuff out of your head on down on paper.  When you start getting something coherent, get a bit of A3 card and a load of coloured sharpies, and get something you can pin up in the flat somewhere or at least take out and look at.  In career Parlance it's called a "vision board" (yeah, I know).  It all gives you stuff you can come back to and check against, and it's amazing what a difference getting stuff out of your head and down somewhere can make.
• Last one, do it regularly.  Set yourself some time, whether it's daily or a few times a week or whatever.  Treat it as a project.  Again, manageable chunks.  It's a massive undertaking by any stretch of the imagination, so chip away at it.

It's doable pal.  It's a shitter, it takes time, and you'll feel like you're banging your head against a wall. But it's manageable.

And now I've really got to do some work before I have that 121 with my boss!

Edited August 20, 2020 by Quark

[Sundance]

3 hours ago, Quark said:

Sympathise there bud.  I've been up and down with my job for ages now, and everything you've said rings some horribly familiar bells.  The listlessness, the unproductivity, lack of focus, even the desire to do more but just not being able to do it.  Been there a lot over the last few years.

I guess the difference I have, and it's really fortunate in context, is that I don't "hate" my job.  I find it very unfulfilling in a lot of ways, and the nature of what I do actually grinds against the way I am as a person; very much square peg round hole. But I'm lucky enough to work for a fundamentally decent company in a lot of ways, I have a decent boss and at the core I like the people I work with.

Biggest change for me (and not suggesting this will work for you btw) was about a month ago.  I realised that I'd spent ages grumbling about my job and vaguely looking for other stuff, but I hadn't actually put my back into finding something else.  There'd been a few false starts, and bursts of job hunting activity, but nothing consistent to actually fix my situation. And in itself that was actually really draining.  So I made the decision to accept what I do, stay there and make the best of it, and really focus on enjoying non-work stuff.  I personally think they myth (and it is a myth) that everyone has the "perfect job" out there can actually be pretty damaging. I've certainly freed up a massive chunk of my brain space.

A couple of things I did find when I was trying to change things might help though!

• You're definitely not "not qualified".  Everyone is qualified for stuff, but the two biggest problems are 1) we don't know what 95% of the jobs out there actually are, and b) you probably don't realise what skills you actually have because we think in terms of qualifications rather than skills.
• There are some really useful resources out there to help your thought processes on stuff like this:
  • https://careerrelaunch.net/ is a podcast looking at case studies of people who have decided to make career changes, the challenges they face and how they did it. They're not all going to be relevant to your situation, but it's good to just start hearing stories and approaches to help flesh out your own thoughts.
  • https://www.careershifters.org/ is a UK organisation that does what it says on the tin and helps people shift careers!  I attended one of their seminar sessions in London a few years ago, and while I didn't get anything direct from it (again, largely down to my own intertia!) it does provide some frameworks for how to approach and some connections you can start making to look elsewhere. Their website also has loads of case studies of people changing careers that make good reading.
  • There's a book called Pivot by Jenny Blake http://www.pivotmethod.com/. Basic premise is that instead of looking at a big career jump, which can understandably be daunting when you have no idea how to do, you look at small incremental "pivots" around your current role.  It really makes you look at how you can make a small step based on the skills and experience you have, either within your current organisation or elsewhere, to get you moving in the right direction. It breaks it down into manageable chunks so that you get some forward movement instead of just spinning in circles.  Mrs Q made a lot of use of her stuff when she was changing roles.
• Use LinkedIn.  It's horribly corporate and all the rest of it, but you'll be amazed when you start looking at connections you have with people how much information you might be able to find on what's available, and also how other people have done stuff.  Again, made a massive difference to Mrs Q's job hunting.
• Trawl job adverts, but not necessarily looking for a specific role or based on what you think you can do.  Just give yourself a feel for what's out there, as you'll start coming across roles you didn't even know existed! LinkedIn is a great place for this, as it does tend to be a lot less generic that the well known job market websites.
• Instead of thinking about what "skills" you have, think about what you've accomplished, achieved, done or whatever you want to call it, and then start thinking about what those things demonstrate.  You'll gradually start spotting patterns of what you're good at and what skills you have.
• Also think about what makes you tick.  Again, there'll be some themes running through your life, personal and professional, that gradually make themselves apparent.  Are you logic based? Fixing things? Numbers? Creative? People? Start at a high level, and flesh it out as you go.  Again, you'll start seeing that these things link towards certain skills or roles.
• If your work has any training or L&D available, start digging into it.  Just trawl through, and see what interests you.  Don't think about where it could lead to begin with, just start looking at the stuff that gets your attention.
• Write stuff down.  Get a notebook or something (who doesn't like new stationery FFS?!) and scribble.  Spider diagrams, notes, thoughts, whatever.  Get stuff out of your head on down on paper.  When you start getting something coherent, get a bit of A3 card and a load of coloured sharpies, and get something you can pin up in the flat somewhere or at least take out and look at.  In career Parlance it's called a "vision board" (yeah, I know).  It all gives you stuff you can come back to and check against, and it's amazing what a difference getting stuff out of your head and down somewhere can make.
• Last one, do it regularly.  Set yourself some time, whether it's daily or a few times a week or whatever.  Treat it as a project.  Again, manageable chunks.  It's a massive undertaking by any stretch of the imagination, so chip away at it.

It's doable pal.  It's a shitter, it takes time, and you'll feel like you're banging your head against a wall. But it's manageable.

And now I've really got to do some work before I have that 121 with my boss!

I know you were replying to @Tartan_Glasto here but just wanted to say thanks for this  I've been feeling really stuck for a while now and haven't found much about that seems helpful, but these tips are fab!

[Quark]

1 hour ago, Sundance said:

I know you were replying to @Tartan_Glasto here but just wanted to say thanks for this  I've been feeling really stuck for a while now and haven't found much about that seems helpful, but these tips are fab!

If I could follow my own advice I'd rule the feckin' world 😂

[Sundance]

2 hours ago, Quark said:

If I could follow my own advice I'd rule the feckin' world 😂

Story of my life! Got loads of bright ideas when friends come to me with issues of their own, but I'll be damned if I know what to do with my own life 😅

[funkychick2007]

3 minutes ago, Sundance said:

Story of my life! Got loads of bright ideas when friends come to me with issues of their own, but I'll be damned if I know what to do with my own life 😅

 

2 hours ago, Quark said:

If I could follow my own advice I'd rule the feckin' world 😂

I ran out of upvotes!!! Could not have said it better about myself!!! 🤣🤣🤣

[Crazyfool01]

Add me to that list 

[funkychick2007]

Worry is I get paid to do it as my job!!! Not sure how I can do it professionally and don’t have a clue in my personal life!!! 😱😱😱

[Tartan_Glasto]

On 8/20/2020 at 9:14 AM, Quark said:

Sympathise there bud.  I've been up and down with my job for ages now, and everything you've said rings some horribly familiar bells.  The listlessness, the unproductivity, lack of focus, even the desire to do more but just not being able to do it.  Been there a lot over the last few years.

I guess the difference I have, and it's really fortunate in context, is that I don't "hate" my job.  I find it very unfulfilling in a lot of ways, and the nature of what I do actually grinds against the way I am as a person; very much square peg round hole. But I'm lucky enough to work for a fundamentally decent company in a lot of ways, I have a decent boss and at the core I like the people I work with.

Biggest change for me (and not suggesting this will work for you btw) was about a month ago.  I realised that I'd spent ages grumbling about my job and vaguely looking for other stuff, but I hadn't actually put my back into finding something else.  There'd been a few false starts, and bursts of job hunting activity, but nothing consistent to actually fix my situation. And in itself that was actually really draining.  So I made the decision to accept what I do, stay there and make the best of it, and really focus on enjoying non-work stuff.  I personally think they myth (and it is a myth) that everyone has the "perfect job" out there can actually be pretty damaging. I've certainly freed up a massive chunk of my brain space.

A couple of things I did find when I was trying to change things might help though!

• You're definitely not "not qualified".  Everyone is qualified for stuff, but the two biggest problems are 1) we don't know what 95% of the jobs out there actually are, and b) you probably don't realise what skills you actually have because we think in terms of qualifications rather than skills.
• There are some really useful resources out there to help your thought processes on stuff like this:
  • https://careerrelaunch.net/ is a podcast looking at case studies of people who have decided to make career changes, the challenges they face and how they did it. They're not all going to be relevant to your situation, but it's good to just start hearing stories and approaches to help flesh out your own thoughts.
  • https://www.careershifters.org/ is a UK organisation that does what it says on the tin and helps people shift careers!  I attended one of their seminar sessions in London a few years ago, and while I didn't get anything direct from it (again, largely down to my own intertia!) it does provide some frameworks for how to approach and some connections you can start making to look elsewhere. Their website also has loads of case studies of people changing careers that make good reading.
  • There's a book called Pivot by Jenny Blake http://www.pivotmethod.com/. Basic premise is that instead of looking at a big career jump, which can understandably be daunting when you have no idea how to do, you look at small incremental "pivots" around your current role.  It really makes you look at how you can make a small step based on the skills and experience you have, either within your current organisation or elsewhere, to get you moving in the right direction. It breaks it down into manageable chunks so that you get some forward movement instead of just spinning in circles.  Mrs Q made a lot of use of her stuff when she was changing roles.
• Use LinkedIn.  It's horribly corporate and all the rest of it, but you'll be amazed when you start looking at connections you have with people how much information you might be able to find on what's available, and also how other people have done stuff.  Again, made a massive difference to Mrs Q's job hunting.
• Trawl job adverts, but not necessarily looking for a specific role or based on what you think you can do.  Just give yourself a feel for what's out there, as you'll start coming across roles you didn't even know existed! LinkedIn is a great place for this, as it does tend to be a lot less generic that the well known job market websites.
• Instead of thinking about what "skills" you have, think about what you've accomplished, achieved, done or whatever you want to call it, and then start thinking about what those things demonstrate.  You'll gradually start spotting patterns of what you're good at and what skills you have.
• Also think about what makes you tick.  Again, there'll be some themes running through your life, personal and professional, that gradually make themselves apparent.  Are you logic based? Fixing things? Numbers? Creative? People? Start at a high level, and flesh it out as you go.  Again, you'll start seeing that these things link towards certain skills or roles.
• If your work has any training or L&D available, start digging into it.  Just trawl through, and see what interests you.  Don't think about where it could lead to begin with, just start looking at the stuff that gets your attention.
• Write stuff down.  Get a notebook or something (who doesn't like new stationery FFS?!) and scribble.  Spider diagrams, notes, thoughts, whatever.  Get stuff out of your head on down on paper.  When you start getting something coherent, get a bit of A3 card and a load of coloured sharpies, and get something you can pin up in the flat somewhere or at least take out and look at.  In career Parlance it's called a "vision board" (yeah, I know).  It all gives you stuff you can come back to and check against, and it's amazing what a difference getting stuff out of your head and down somewhere can make.
• Last one, do it regularly.  Set yourself some time, whether it's daily or a few times a week or whatever.  Treat it as a project.  Again, manageable chunks.  It's a massive undertaking by any stretch of the imagination, so chip away at it.

It's doable pal.  It's a shitter, it takes time, and you'll feel like you're banging your head against a wall. But it's manageable.

And now I've really got to do some work before I have that 121 with my boss!

Quark, thank you for taking so much time to respond like this

It looks like you've given some valuable advice not just to me but to a lot of us! I need to get out my head the thought of "it's too late" and as you've suggested just start working away at it slowly rather than get overwhelmed thinking if I don't find a new job after a week of trying then I never will!

You are, my friend, a gent. 

[Quark]

11 minutes ago, Tartan_Glasto said:

Quark, thank you for taking so much time to respond like this

It looks like you've given some valuable advice not just to me but to a lot of us! I need to get out my head the thought of "it's too late" and as you've suggested just start working away at it slowly rather than get overwhelmed thinking if I don't find a new job after a week of trying then I never will!

You are, my friend, a gent. 

No worries pal.  It's not a great place to be, so happy to chuck some (hopefully) useful tips out

[squirrelarmy]

 

I’m definitely a 3 today. 

[Wellyboot]

19 minutes ago, squirrelarmy said:

 

I’m definitely a 3 today. 

today i'm a 5.. when I finish work i'll be a 1 cos im off for a week and alllll next week i'll be an 8  

[WestCountryGirl]

No. 7 looks the closest to me. That poor squirrel can't take any more work-related disasters today.

Edited August 27, 2020 by WestCountryGirl

[Crazyfool01]

I’m a 5 after last nights escapade ...