I'm On The Clock... Literally

Every newsroom I've ever worked in has a few things in common. More televisions than a Circuit City going-out-of-business sale.  Day-old take out food somewhere near the assignment desk that nobody wants to touch to throw out.  A few whiners.  And clocks.  Lots of them.  Big digital clocks, usually with bold red or green numbers. And no matter where you sit, you can usually see at least two of them... if not more. In TV, every second counts.  Deadlines are (or at least are supposed to be) immovable objects.  Either your work is done on time, or it's not. And if you choose option B, there's a pretty good chance you're going to hear about it.

Yesterday... somewhere in the middle of day 82 of my job search... I started thinking... I spent 10 years surrounded by clocks at work. Unlike most jobs where you look at the clock and say, "Damn, it's only 2:00? This day is never gonna end," in television it's the opposite... "Crap, it's 2:00 already?"  Well I can be damn good and damn productive when I am on deadline.  I've done some of my best work when I'm writing something that has to go on TV one minute later.  (A few anchors and directors might have something to say about that, but we'll leave that conversation for another time).

But with no deadline... no clock to work with... I just kind of float though the day.  I'll be productive for a couple hours, looking for jobs and talking to people who might be able to help me.  Then I'll watch Coming to America for the 549th time.  Then I'll be productive for a couple more hours, until I end up back on Facebook.  Then I look at the clock on my computer and say... crap... it's 6:30?  Time to watch TMZ.  Where did the day go?  

So... I have found my cure for my unemployment strain of ADD.

20 bucks at Radio Shack and two AA batteries later... and I am on the clock.  It's sitting on the counter in my kitchen, in direct line-of-sight from where I sit at my computer all day in my dining room. It's not quite as big or bold as the clocks in newsrooms, but it gets the job done.  And it's staring at me right in the face. If this doesn't keep me focused... nothing will.

Now excuse me... I'm on the clock.

Unemployment is a Team Sport

I'm unemployed.  

There.  I said it.  A few years ago, or even a few months ago that wasn't something you really wanted to admit in public, let alone on a place called the world wide web.  You might have said you were "between jobs" or "in search of a new opportunity."  But these days it's almost a bizarre badge of honor. 

Don't get me wrong.  It's not fun.  Not at all.  And that (fill in your company here) severance package will only last you so long.  But we are in this together.  Every day the list of my unemployed friends grows.  And no matter what kind of job we had, what kind of business we were in, we all have very similar stories.

We have all spent hours on end scouring the web for any job we are remotely qualified for, only to give up in extreme frustration and resort to Facebook IM chats with our brothers and sisters in unemployment.

We have all rushed to answer the phone, hoping it's that big call about that great job for more money than we were making.  And it turns out to be the cable company.

We have all yelled at our computers because something didn't work right on the Department of Labor's web site.  And then 5 minutes later, we are yelling at an automated voice on the phone.

We have all gone out waaaaaaaaay too late on a Monday night. Because really, there's no need to get up early on Tuesday anyway.

And we have all yelled at mom and dad to stop asking if we found a job yet.  Seriously.  Don't they think they'll be the first people you'll tell?  It hurts when they ask, but you can't tell them not to.  So instead, you don't call as much.

I keep telling my unemployed friends to keep their feet moving and something will happen.  I keep telling myself the same thing.  I'm sure you know someone who is unemployed.  Offer them any encouragement you can.  They may insist they don't want to hear it. But trust me, it helps.

I'm doing everything I can to NOT get frustrated.  I'm trying to savor every last minute of this paid vacation that I know will eventually come to an end. And eventually... this will all work itself out...