To ask what would you do with too much free time?!

[MoiraRoseIsMyQueen]

I’ve been made redundant, and so won’t have a job as of the end of the month, and am on gardening leave currently. Obviously having all the usual panics about money and the seemingly insurmountable task of finding a new job in this market 😫But, my main worry at the moment is having nothing to do! I know this might sound like a nice problem to have, but it’s sending my anxiety through the roof. I have two kids and a lovely husband, so only school hours are free - but the thought of potentially months of this is panicking me, there’s only so much cleaning and baking I can do!

So, what would you do - with potentially a couple of months of free time, and very limited funds?!

Travel
Exercise
Volunteer
Writing
Walking
Hanging out with my cats
Sorting out my garden

I worked at a friend's riding school while off from redundancy. Horses are a kind of time warp. You turn up at lunchtime, swearing up and down you'll only be a couple of hours. Then you make up the feeds, change their rugs, scrub out and fill the waters, tack up the ponies for lessons, detangle a few tails, glance up and it's dark. I'd be looking at volunteering somewhere.

Join the gym and get fit and strong! Great for the mind and body. I go first thing in the morning and it really sets me up for the day.

Meditate, run, lift weights, read, batch cook, sort the house out, find some new walks, volunteer with animals

Watching as in same boat. Doing some focus/research groups for the university, some are even paid. Was looking at mystery shopper work, and even medical trials. I want to work but find myself rather wrung out by my last job and can't face office politics for a while.

Am also volunteering, English Heritage and community gardening.

When I was in a similar situation I did all the school/ nursery runs myself and then treated job hunting like a full time job. I must have walked the dog and been a bit better than usual at keeping on top of dishwasher, washing clothes but cannot remember that. I think my anxiety about job hunting wouldn’t let me really enjoy whole days off much.

Free OU course
Get fit
Declutter / vinted
Sort out wills and power of attorney
Volunteer at the library, local museum, parkrun or junior parkrun.

you can do free home workouts on youtube. exercise is really good for anxiety.

Gardening. Grow your own veg and flowers.
Long walks with lunch at a nice cafe
Couch to 5K
Reading
Catch up on some tv that work prevented you
from following
Visit free museums/ art galleries

I'd do what I did in lockdown, have a project and approach it like it was a work task. So set goals and actions, have a schedule and have a routine. My project was health and fitness. But if that doesn't appeal, home improvement, learning a new skill, the worlds your oyster. Just decide on a goal you could reasonably accomplish in 2 months and that's your job. It turns what could feel like aimless drifting into time well spent.

I’d read, exercise and nap!

I would start with structure to you job hunt. It is going to take up a significant portion of school hours. Decide how much of your time it deserves and set a schedule. That way you can put it away and not feel guilty when you aren’t thinking about it.

Write a book.

1st year of Covid I was still working but found evenings dragged on as I was used to driving home from work, hitting the gym for 2 hours, getting home, showering, making my dinner, eating dinner, tidying the kitchen, drying my hair and finally sitting down for around 9pm!

WFH and everything being closed meant I was sitting down by 5pm and it drove me nuts.

I deep cleaned and decluttered the house, totally revamped and redecorated DS's old bedroom into a spare room, made a huge pile of crocheted blankets for the cat home, indulged in fancy cooking, dug out my cross stitch stuff from the attic and made my first cross stitch thing in this millenium 😆, oh and finally took up sewing and knitting!

Would you feel better if you had a structured plan for your job hunt? So not just looking at advertisements, but scheduling things like updating LinkedIn, booking coffee meetings with contacts or a friend who might talk things through with you, signing up for courses to upskill?

Volunteering is an all rounder - if you find a role that you really enjoy. Great on your CV plus you'll meet people and learn new skills.
Structure your day so you have dedicated times to exercise, to job hunt, to clean/declutter/do admin/whatever and some fun time for a hobby or activity.

I would be the same OP- in fact I was many years ago. I moved in with DH 200 miles away and no job, in a new area and I remember getting a bit obsessed with job hunting! The uncertainty and being out of my routine was stressful and caused me some anxiety.

Anyway, I work three days now and have 2 school days “off”. I’m doing an adult course this term that takes up most of one day. On my other day, I sort out laundry first thing and then it might be a house project- decluttering/painting, or a deep clean. Maybe a trip to town to take donations to the charity shop and a bit of shopping.

Gardening is great for my anxiety (I’m stressed about getting a property sale through at the moment and have been fixating about that), but when I’m in the garden sweeping leaves in the fresh air, it makes me feel so much better. It’s exercise and productive! I maybe finish my “jobs” by 1.30-2ish and then have a break before the kids come home. I can’t bring myself to spend ages on hobbies when I know my spare time is limited.

Doing something that occupies your brain may also help you switch off from your worries.

i learnt Spanish on Duolingo. Also planted lots of seeds, tidied the garden (weather not conducive right now!) and took up recorder.

Just create structure in your days. Proper job searching and application is almost a full time job in itself.
Stay or get very fit. You'll present in interviews as much more confident and energised, so make working out a top priority for at least an hour or two a day.
Spend a few hours a day on job hunting. Tailor each application so you meet their requirements. If you can't apply yet due yo gardening leave, research potential companies- what are their forthcoming projects, their aims and plans. Be ready for when you can apply.

Then set yourself a couple of projects. Things there is never time to do when working: clear out garage/ attic; redecorate the bedrooms or living room; total declutter and deep clean; create a vegetable patch in your garden; sew some curtains etc. And enjoy time with DC, hanging out at the park after school, going for bike rides when it's fine or doing craft projects, watching films on rainy afternoons. You won't regret that time.

If you can come out of the gardening leave much fitter with your house in order and some really strong job applications, having had fun with your DC, you'll have done well.

I'm retired and have all day to fill in every day, and this is pretty much what I do (apart from looking for jobs obviously). I find the days pass much more quickly than they ever did when I was working, and I no longer clock watch.

I would focus on creating a routine, something like-

school run
check job sites
cleaning
episode of a series
lunch
prep dinner
walk/coffee somewhere
school run

I presume your children are primary age, so how about volunteering to read with them

My garden looked great when I was made redundant, because I had more time for it. I was also a lot fitter, as I had time to more exercise. I did some arty stuff, again something I don't usually have much time for. I spent a lot of time going down to the sea and also visited a lot of the free local museums in the area.

I didn't volunteer, because I knew I needed to find another job, and I didn't want to commit to something that woukd mean I would then have to let them down when I went to interviews or got a job.

I also ended up doing a 3 month training course, in a new field, which I haven't yused, as I got a job in my old field.

I loved being out of work, but it wasn't financially sustainable for much longer.

Volunteering
Gardening
Declutter the house and sell stuff on vinted etc

Go for some nice walks

Online courses to boost my CV

Read a pile of books

Meet up with friends for walks /coffee

I’d focus on this too. You’ll be able to relax much better once you’ve secured a job.