This seems like a very ego-centric thing to do, my own blog. A friend of mine calls herself an "over-sharer". I'm not one to share a lot of my thoughts or even goings on. But here goes; this is to capture my journey and is for me. If anyone else wants to join in they are welcome (very welcome if comments are constructive).
"Redundant", "excess to requirements". As someone who judged her work performance on "did I add value today", these were difficult terms to process. It really was a case of working myself through the stages of grief. Some were faster than others, and periodically I pop back to revisit an earlier emotion. Like last week when I saw a job being advertised at my former agency with a significant part of my "education function" bundled up with a communications role. Bitterness resurfaced, but only briefly.
When I knew I was redundant but still had weeks or even months to go - how do I ensure I am still meaningfully engaged and yet also process and honour my emotions? As the sole Learning and Development practitioner, I tried to focus on what did I want as my legacy? What behaviour did I want to model for other staff during these unsettling times? I admit I did take the odd mental health day so I could maintain this approach.
I panicked when first facing not being employed after 25 years in the public service and applied for the first job I saw that I thought sounded good. Everyone said I was crazy. Take a break they said. A holiday, potter in your garden, play with your cat, anything but launch straight into job seeking. I got culled. It was probably a good thing. I've given myself permission to not start looking for work until after Easter and am taking this time as a rare and special opportunity to reflect, relax and focus on personal and professional development.
Being an educator, of course I did a mind map to "make every day count". My greatest fear was lying on the couch watching day time television and my bottom getting bigger. I dont need to worry.
I meant to laminate my mind map and keep it in my face. I forgot. So here's my one month review:
- Job seeking - yes reviewing alerts from SEEK, APS, and NCOSS but just to get a feel for what is out there. Deferring others for now.
- Relationships - Doing great with socialising. Entertaining, visiting, baking, drinking - all happening. Good healthy contacts both in the flesh and online.
- Health - well gym 3-4 times per week, cycling regularly (until Sunday when the handle bars 'broke'), started running app (0-5K). Walking where ever and whenever I can. Oops forgot about meal plan, too much entertaining and socialising.
- Professional development - going great with social media and e-learning design course plus other webinars through the wonderful Gail and Rory.
- Home life - no time to declutter. I've got a blog to write now.... Just maintain order, that's enough.
Oh shame mind map hasn't worked. It looked beautiful in draft and when I first posted. This blog, like life, is a learning curve.
ReplyDeleteOk, not very professional but I took a photo of my mind map and uploaded as an image. You get the idea of where I was going with it, if not the detail.
DeleteHello Justine,
ReplyDeleteI'm also a member of the Social Media Group and had a look at your blog during our live session today. I also like blue/green colour schemes and I particularly like the font you have selected.
I had a similar experience last year: my L&D role was made redundant. I made sure, however, that I only used the terminology "the role is redundant", not "I'm redundant". It's an important differentiation. My skillset was still valuable and so is yours. And like me (and countless other L&D people) you're working hard to build on it. You're no less valuable as a person than you were before your role became a target. In fact, based on what you've shown in your mind map I'd say that you're probably more valuable now. If I was you I'd probably change the title of the blog to something a little more positive. Maybe something that links redundancies with new opportunities.
I note that you're keen to learn about other software. You might be interested in Adobe Edge Animate - essentially a replacement for Flash that produces interactions and animations via HTML5, CSS & JavaScript files that are mobile friendly. It's a free download from Adobe (you'll need Windows 7/8 or Mac OS X v10.6 however) and Adobe also provides video tutorials for it. It has potential for elearning.
Best wishes.
Glen Hayhurst
Hello Glen, thank you so much for your thoughtful feedback and suggestions. I really appreciated your comments. I will certainly think about changing the title of my blog as I very much want it to be a positive space; focusing on the opportunities that have come with this event. I guess I still have a little emotional baggage being expressed in the title. I am going to embrace your terminology though; love it!
DeleteI will explore Adobe Edge Animate this week. Thanks for the tip.
I picked the font as it 'felt' chatty to me which is the tone I wanted for this blog. I did wonder how readers might find it though so thanks again for the feedback.