I need a job two weeks ago and my organs are evil
19 Oct 2016, 11:35 am
Saturday will be my last day working at my current job, which I've left because of lack of intellectual stimulation and because I just can't reliably be there with my endometriosis. My endometriosis has gotten to the point where even WITH birth control, I will spot and/or have pain when I shouldn't, and sometimes the pain gets awful. I may also be beginning to get migraines, or I may have just been stressed out--yesterday and the day before, I had a migraine the entire time and I ended up not being able to work yesterday. I realize now that I'll end up having to miss scheduled work at any in person job I have--and if the migraines continue, I may end up missing some online work as well, since it makes it difficult to look at screens.
If I don't find a job as soon as possible, I won't be able to pay my rent. I have a little bit of support from my parents, who are also helping me with my medical bills, but without a job I can't continue to live in an apartment, which is basically the only thing keeping me sane right now. I intend to work on freelance writing in the future, but that's not something I can do right now to get a reliable income that'll allow me to support myself. I can't find any reasonable advice online for jobs that meet my specifications.
Specifications--
>Part time, flexible hours--if I can set my own hours, that would be amazing; if not, I at least need it to be friendly to the fact that sometimes I may have to miss work (I know that's pretty rare)
>Work from home if possible--if not, it cannot require driving, prolonged sitting, or prolonged moving
>Reliable income
>When I start the job, I have the job--no freelance work, which requires spending a few months or years building up clients (unless you know some way I could get a reliable income faster)
>Unless I will be able to listen to podcasts or something else, it cannot be completely mindless work, or I'll go crazy like I have been at my current job
Do you have any ideas for where to look? I'll be working with Vocational Rehabilitation but that process takes a while to get started. I'm really anxious and hating myself right now and I need some direction. I can't let my life fall apart just because my body wants to be useless.
I'd rather not go on Disability because from what I understand it's not a living wage and they try to take it away from you if you work at all, which for me is a dealbreaker because I'm going to keep trying to at least do freelance work--also, it would take more than a month probably to get me started, and I need a job within the month at the latest.
19 Oct 2016, 10:36 pm
If in the usa on disability, you are allowed to work but there is a limit on how much you can make. They will take half of your gross but you will still wind up with more than just disability.
Voc Rehab does take a bit to get going, you are right about that.
Less than 5% of writers make their living from just writing. If you want to freelance, you should start building your portfolio with published work now. If your desire is to write factual stuff, then get some essays and how to articles published. If you want to freelance in fictional stuff -- like a ghostwriter or romance novels, then get some stuff published in literary magazines now.
On the endo, maybe a second opinion is warranted???
Yes, stress can bring on migraines. There are several meds that will stop migraines and at least one that is a preventative. Ask your doc.
A job is not designed for our entertainment. There are times when the tasks are mind-numbing. I am sorry to hear that you quit your job before having another one lined up. I was never thrilled with the idea of working myself. For you it sounds like working means the ability to stay in your own living situ and not working means moving back in with your parents. Sometimes we really do have to do stuff at work that is boring in order to be able to pay for stuff like rent and food.
Best to you! In this economy, we all have financial realities that dictate personal responsibility. Sigh.
21 Oct 2016, 8:13 pm
When I say it can't be mindless work or I'll go crazy, I mean that it can't be completely mindless, with no mental stimulation throughout any of it, and that I'll ACTUALLY go crazy--not just get bored! If I spend too long with nothing to occupy my mind, my brain starts to fall into mental loops that are difficult for me to escape from without distraction, and I'll start having trauma flashbacks and invasive thoughts and have trouble not becoming paranoid about everyone I interact with intending to harm me. I'm still working with my therapist on that one. I can stand a shorter period of mindless work--an hour or two, maybe--but I can't last six to ten hours a day like that.
As for the endometriosis, it is going to take about a year before I can get the surgery required to fix it. I've got an appointment in four months with a doctor who specializes in endometriosis--this stuff takes a long time.
And I guess I didn't fully explain my situation in my desperation. I'm still not sure it was the best decision, but I gave my two weeks' notice because after two months of trying to work with HR to give appropriate documentation for an illness I'd had as a result of the pain medication I'd been taking for endometriosis (it tore up my stomach and I couldn't even keep down fluids--not to mention the birth control pill, which is supposed to help prevent the pain), the HR person came back and asked me for more documentation for one week during which I'd been waiting to hear back from her and had been told NOT to come to work, or I'd be fired, and she functionally gave me two days to have it in, which was impractical because I worked both days and would've had to miss work in order to talk to the doctors (she later extended the deadline to one week, but it was still fairly impractical because these were two separate urgent care doctors from two months ago). I talked to my family and we decided that the best decision would be for me to put my energy into finding another job rather than worry about messing with the documentation, since the HR situation was getting a bit too demanding anyway.
I realize now that I only need a job by the end of November. My anxiety level has been incredibly high. And like I said, I do intend to work on freelance writing doing pretty much what you said, but I'm going to postpone that so that I can focus on finding more steady income first. I've been told (by my mom and my therapists) that I need to not push myself as hard as possible in all directions like I had been, and that I need to pick a few things to focus on at a time and be realistic about what I can do when I'm dealing with this pain.
I guess the main thing I was looking for was some guidance as to what (entry level) fields might be best for me to pursue while I'm still dealing with my endometriosis pain, which will be for at least a year, possibly a year and a half. There doesn't seem to be any worthwhile information about what jobs work best for people with chronic pain conditions on the internet--at best, it's focused more on careers, which is not what I want, because I already have career goals I'm going to pursue regardless of what job gives me my income for now, and a completely new career would take a bit more training than I'm able to invest within a month.
