Article located at: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-improve-your-mental-health-career-change-/?trackingId=kIg7TBWQQ4%2BcD%2BRYtAwtgA%3D%3D .
It seems as if a surprising number of full-time occupations have become recent candidates for overhaul in the way the work is performed. We can likely agree that 2020 was a year of which we hope to never live through again, however, we may owe it a great big thank you after all for initiating a greater possibility for Americans to work from home.
Work from home? Say what?
In many cases, occupations affected by the move to working from home haven’t been limited to data entry or something similar, requiring limited collaboration with others, as one might suspect. However, we can’t expect an orthopedic surgeon to work from home, although perhaps I just insightfully predicted a coming shift. Hello, 2075?
When this pandemic began, it sparked a dire need for us to “adapt and overcome”, deeming most all of us honorary veterans, if not already. Women who had previously managed to develop routines, such as their child’s nighttime routine, actually getting their kids to bed by a certain time. After dragging ourselves out of bed at that awful hour, moms have to then instantly transition into motivational speakers on world-tour, convincing the littles to do the same. Or, to convince them to eat something healthier than sour candy for breakfast, get their school items together, or to actually remember to pack the homework they spent half the evening completing by themselves because we have no idea how, or why for that matter, we suddenly need a road map to arrive at the answer for
2 + 2, therefore are of no help. The struggle is real, people.
Too often, mothers had to accomplish this in a time that makes one wonder if morning routines will eventually become an Olympic sport. Another insight of mine? In any case, the 2020 pandemic, and the result it had on our American way of life required us to respond in a way that allowed women who were parents, to manage both career and child rearing from home. Simultaneously. No, I’m not kidding. You’re not dreaming; you’re already awake, I promise.
I watched my daughter and her partner both be thrown into the deep end with two littles under the age of four. You might think, “Hey, there are two adults. How hard can it be?”. Well, to put it mildly, it was sheer madness initially. It involved spending lots, I mean too much, money on toys and other things to keep the little angels reasonably busy, while limiting the need for constant one-on-one attention as safely as possible.
This is because somewhere in the day, mom is expected to put out the same, if not more, work as she did previous to the onset of the pandemic. Have you ever wondered what managing two grand jury court rooms by coordinating with any number of the 175 federal agents in your region and handfuls of (as in many) federal judges and U.S. Attorneys is like, while creating a database with no previous knowledge on how to do it? No? It’s challenging enough.
Well, now do that from home. With two kiddos under four years old. While feeding them, changing them, loving on them, settling arguments over the Legos, getting yogurt off of the couch cushions…and with a Doodle puppy that is in a constant state of both confusion and excitement, begging for your lunch and having to go to the bathroom. All day. Five days a week….and while your partner works alternating ten-hour shifts.
Oh, and do this while still continuing to mow the lawn or shovel the driveway, keeping up with the laundry, and cleaning the house. The list goes on and on.
No, I’m not joking. That would be a rotten joke, anyway. I like to laugh, but that’s just not funny.
The most glaring concern is the all-important issue of, far too little talked about, our mental health.
So, “Which scenario is best for me?”, you might be asking yourself.
This is a great question. For many the answer, however, might surprise you. What many women have found is that working from home while raising their children allows them a surprising amount of control they hadn’t had the luxury of prior to 2020. Specifically, being able to save a ton of money on daycare and/or before-and-after school care, toddlers not being sick as often from germs they likely picked up at daycare, or those tedious and necessary trips to the doctor’s to find out, yes, its confirmed. It’s snot. Ordering groceries online and picking them up without even having to go inside the store or interact with another human–better yet–unstrapping two littles from car seats, or beginning and ending work at times that better suit your family needs and even splitting up your work hours, were things that women of my era never even dreamt about. If you think my daughter can’t answer three emails, two calls, input data and settle another bickering showdown between those two littles while in line at Starbucks, you underestimate a U.S. Army veteran!
The secret to this sudden and unfathomable demand of balancing work and childcare from home is that women have once again developed routines that work for them. Although reaching this balance truly took months to get down, it eventually showed great promise for women whom I know. Stay with me.
Without the same concern about childcare, but yet lacking an occupation suitable for work-from-home, I have found a certain amount of freedom and hope in my own future work as well, as a result of this pandemic. You would be hard pressed to find a single person who couldn’t attest to the fact that a career shake-up would greatly benefit my mental health.
Personally, I was fortunate enough to stumble upon the idea of freelance writing. Writing has always been something that came naturally to me, probably because jabbering has always come equally as naturally. What used to come to mind when I heard “freelance writing”, I now understand to be outdated and inaccurate. In decades past, some people saw freelancers as people who couldn’t adhere to structured or stable occupations.
However, the onset of the pandemic has only fueled its occurrence. Whether its consulting, freelancing, or some other form, working from home is on the rise. I personally now see it as a means to obtain self-fulfillment, personal growth and earned income by doing something I’ve always enjoyed doing. Additionally, for me, its also become a great way to tie my education into what’s recently become known as ‘solopreneurship’. All it took was a little thinking outside of the box, drafting a plan in little spurts on how to transition this into a reliable career, at first part-time, and believing that I am worth a great deal more than I am currently being compensated for in my nine-to-five, which I know to be fact. Actually, 4am-12:30pm would be more accurate. No thanks to COVID.
Now, before you go playing “Take This Job and Shove It” in your cubicle at full blast, you have to have method to your madness. Make no mistake; this is not a challenge to put in your two-weeks notice right now, or worse yet to quit on the spot without planning your exit strategy.
In order to ensure that you have a safety net in place, its crucial that you consider things such as health insurance, pensions, debt obligations and savings, perhaps Social Security or Disability, feasibility regarding set-up and materials, permitting and taxes, etc.. Where will all of these things now come from, and how will you transition them? In order to make this jump in careers benefit your mental health, I do not advise you to create additional stress for yourself by not planning. The same exit or transition may not be as suitable or as productive for the next person because we all have our own unique situations or may be at very different points in life.
Is it possible to retire early from your current job? Could retiring early be obtained through a medical retirement, as I know is possible in the federal sector? Could you begin your new career gradually by working on the side either selling products or volunteering to gain the needed experience? Could you spend your off-time now consulting with people experienced in the field you aspire to move into? Jot all of the possibilities down and then go through the feasibility of each opportunity.
You are your best advocate, and nobody has as much desire for your ability to make a successful career change work as much as you do, but you need to be smart about it. Do your research, talk to people, dip your toes in, and gain the experience you need. Gradually, you will feel the confidence you need to make the leap when you’re ready! Can you feel your mental health improving already by giving real thought to how you can turn your dream into reality?
Self-care has been a serious challenge to so many women throughout this pandemic. It was months before our beloved nail salons opened once again at capacity. Managing to get back into an efficient routine left us so exhausted that going that extra mile for ourselves became a struggle all in itself, therefore we were faced with satisfying our need for self-care in other ways, but we managed.
In the end, what I have learned by watching my daughter and by giving more serious thought to freelancing as my own career change, is that by giving serious thought to, and by putting the work into finding a way to transition into work that is more satisfying to me as a woman, I know that its once again possible to get back to the place that my mind and my soul were at years ago, and its most certainly possible for you, as well.
Strong Women's Wellness 