Same here. I’m just happy that I can stay and work from home when I need to. Luckily, I don’t get penalized for that because I accumulated quite some trust at work in the previous years. Had a nasty burn out a few weeks ago and this has triggered a mindset change in my head. I don’t think I’m going back to the classical „go to work 9-5 (8-7 in my case), come home, repeat“ ever again.
Discussion
I hear you. I tried the standard job reorientation pathways and realized it would never be an option for me ever again. Was pushed towards self employment but I’d say my psychological profile can’t do that alone, I need a teammate with complementary profile. So, I am trying to build myself a diverse work portfolio, as many income avenues possible, nobody owning me.
I tried to diversify my portfolio too, but I quickly realized that it makes things even worse for me. I tried a deep dive into AI with only a limited success. Also employers are somehow not happy if they see you were working on one thing for 10 years and gained some reputation and then suddenly switched directions. But they also want that you to switch directions 🤷🏻♂️🤦♂️
Good point with the teammate. Actually I would love to join a small startup where you‘d work in pairs on small pieces of a big project. But I don’t find any in the EU.
Diversifying portfolio does not necessarily mean diversifying skill set. It only means offering the skill set to more people. I can work for you, but remote, 10hrs a week, then another 5 hours at someone else’s location, and so on…
Think also about the one shot services you can offer. I can come, do this for you, and then you never have to worry about me. No payroll, taxes… businesses like that a whole lot.
Good point 🤙 This is why I had this idea of joining a science/IT business startup to work part-time or remotely.