You Are FreeDon’t worry I am not talking about this blog. I have decided to quit my day job.

I have been working for the same company for almost 10 years. To me that feels like forever.

In fact the routine has become so ingrained in me that it feels like there is nothing else to life except the 9 to 5 at the office and maybe, if I’m lucky, a couple of hours in the evening to keep on top of any personal stuff. That personal stuff has mounted up over time and I feel like I just do not get anything done at home at all.

Now this may seem like a strange solution to some but my response to this was to break out of the routine, by leaving my 9 to 5 behind, and try something different. The only problem is that I have yet to define this something different.

All I know for definite is that I am going to start my own company, which happens to be an item on my bucket list anyway.

Why Quit?

My job had become quite mundane. There is still some enthusiasm amongst the staff but not as much as there once was. Whenever we get into discussions about how we could improve upon certain areas the conversation always ended with something along the lines of:

‘But we know we will never have the time to tackle something like that’

After a while all that wasted creativity was wearing me down and then—after a slew of misguided comments that actually offended me—I snapped. I decided that my only option was to leave.

At this stage I had absolutely no idea what I was going to do next.

This was a massive decision though. All sorts of questions were running through my head:

  • Is leaving even a real option?
  • What am I going to do for money?
  • Will I be able to find another job, if necessary?
  • If I do find another job will it involve a big commute?
  • Have I got it in me to work for myself?
  • If I do go my own way what will I do?

Once it reached the stage where I upset Shirley, out of sheer frustration with everything, I just didn’t see another option. My relationship with my wife is so much more important to me than money so the decision was made.

How to Quit?

It surprised me at how hard it is to just hand in your notice.

I imagined you just wrote something like:

‘I resign’

On a piece of paper and then after a few weeks you get a pat on the shoulder to wish you on your merry way.

I just wanted to rant about the reasons I had for leaving and how annoyed I was with certain aspects. Luckily I realised that this was not the way to tackle it so I rewrote my letter of resignation more than once. After all I had been with this company nearly 10 years and I didn’t want to leave on bad terms.

I left my previous job after only 2 years and, as I had already decided that I was going on a trip around the world, it seemed a lot more straightforward.

This time around I wanted to keep my options open, and having been with the company for such a long time they didn’t want me to leave either. So it basically turned into a kind of negotiation.

Even though I was only officially required to give 1 months notice I decided to stay until the end of July to help wrap up anything outstanding. This also gives me a bit of breathing space to firm up some ideas as to where I will go from there.

The whole process was quite an emotional one as well. I hardly slept for days while this was going on. Not knowing exactly what was going to happen next was exhilarating and exhausting at the same time.

What’s Next?

So this is the big one. What am I going to do next?

Well to be frank I’m not entirely sure yet. I have a few ideas but the ones that are likely to show any substantial return are likely to take a bit of time to complete.

First up I need some kind of regular income to keep us ticking over. My wife is being very supportive over this and her salary will cover the majority of the bills but it will mean tightening our belts for a while.

I am going to try and get rid of a load of stuff on eBay over a period of time, try and put some photos on to a stock photography site and see if I get any money come in from that and hopefully find some other ways of bringing some small amounts of money in, possibly some simple web designs for small companies in the local area.

At the same time I plan on developing something of my own to sell, whether that be on-line, web-based applications or simple off-line applications for Windows. I might possibly try both we shall have to wait and see.

I will fill you in when I know more myself. In fact this is exactly what this blog was always meant for. The whole point of this blog is to get me to write my thoughts down which in turn requires me to apply more focus to those thoughts. What better way could there be to help me analyse me options as I go along.

Anyway for now I just plan on tying up all my loose ends—getting on top of that personal stuff I mentioned earlier—so that I will be ready and raring to go when August comes.

Image: Creative Commons License laffy4k

4 comments

Shirley

As usual very good your wife is a very lucky lady

    Pete O'Shea

    Thanks gorgeous. But you know that I am the lucky one to have your support…

Gary

Hi Pete,
Best of luck for the future with whatever you decide to do regarding work. I remember when I left my job in the UK after 9 years I didn’t want to leave on bad terms in case they wanted me to work for them via Internet here in Spain. That didn’t work out but managed to find work to keep things ticking over while Sue was teaching. (Also, my old company has since gone bust!)
Sue and I also realised that our relationship was more important than money and we are probably on just over half of what we were earning in the UK but are much happier for it. The old saying “Money can’t buy you happiness” is very true although money does keep the wife happier in most cases!
Take care
Crompty

PS: When you first said you had a life changing decision to write about, I thought you might be emigrating to Oz or NZ 🙂
PPS: Hopefully, after July you might be able to make it over to Spain for a break as you’ll have a bit more free time on your hands. Would be good to see you both again!

    Pete O'Shea

    Hi Gary,

    Cheers for the support mate. Oz and NZ are on the cards for holidays if things go well but not plans to move at the moment. Would love to come over to Spain soon and catch up. As Shirley will still be at work after July will have to try and work something out with her holiday but I’m sure we will be able to make a long weekend at least. I’ll let you know.

    Cheers
    Pete

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