Leaving a well-paid corporate job is not an easy thing to do. But, when you are passionate to do something big and good for the society, quitting the job seems one of the easiest steps to take in life!
That’s how and why I quit my job on Dec-31, 2014 to do full time social work with the NGO I founded in 2006 – Team Everest (www.teameverestindia.ngo). Team Everest objective is to promote volunteering and provide education to those who could not afford it.
For the past 6 months, my home is my office and I work from my home every single day.
Six months down the line, though I have started doing things which I want to do in my life forever, I was thinking about the things that I miss after leaving my corporate job.
Here are the things that I miss – Both Big and Small:
You miss your team and friends: Having worked in team size of 20s and 30s, sitting alone inside a room, looking at your monitor from 9am to 6pm with no one to talk around is boring at times. Though I have multiple calls a day, speaking with different people and getting things done virtually, having a physical team in place is something which you miss while leaving the corporate job. You also miss loads of fun, chit chats and those cute pranks.
You miss your manager and mentors: Yes, very true. You will miss your manager, if you had a good relationship with them. In my case, I miss my manager who mostly would be the first person I wish every day. Now, you have no one who can set your goals, guide you when you are struck with a problem and support you at your tough times. When you work alone, your overall productivity is solely dependent upon how personally motivated you are. No sticks and carrots around!
You miss seeing people: Having worked in one of the biggest corporate, I keep seeing people all the time around the company. You go to your desk, pantry, cafeteria, auditorium, you can see crowd everywhere. You can see so many faces, some very enthusiastic, charming, smiling, sad, worried etc.
Now, it’s about me and my laptop. There is no one around. Only if I go out for meetings, I see fresh faces. You miss meeting new friends and networking with people. Hope this will change in 2016 when I start going out and meeting new people.
You miss your Desk: Yeah.. The first day after I quit my job, when I started my work, I was quite confused where to sit and work. Since, you always have a nice cubicle in office, you don’t require a desk in home. The first week after I quit my job, I was sitting on sofa, over the bed, and even on the floor with my laptop. Looking at my poor postures, my wife decided to buy an office table and a rolling chair (Yeah, the one similar to the chair in corporates with confusing multiple screws across it).
My home office is set up now with a cute Buddha statue smiling on my desk :). All I need to reach my office now is to walk from one room to another.
You miss your coffee: I still remember my Day-1 in the company. My friends told that coffee and tea is provided free inside the company. I had 6 coffees on Day-1. Slowly, I started hating the machine made coffee. But still, I ended up having 2 coffees (11AM and 4PM) a day during my 8 years of corporate life.
Now, being in home all alone, you need to prepare your own coffee. So, I have my morning coffee by 8AM itself when my wife is in home and I prepare my 4PM coffee every day.
Yeah! AC: I still remember those days where I run to office earlier just to avoid the scotching Chennai heat. Gone are those days. Now, I sit inside my room below a ceiling fan. With low voltage playing the role of culprit, I have bought a pedestrian fan to have some air in the room. Though we have an A/C in one of the rooms, I rarely use it.
Have your lunch all alone: Going to lunch with friends is always fun. Your mouth is busy talking than eating. You consume more stories than food. You get to share everyone’s food and end up eating 5 to 10 different items than what you bought.
Now, it’s all alone. My wife keeps my lunch ready on the dining table. It’s only me and the lunch now. Sometimes, our TV accompanies me for lunch.
You miss those minimal walking too: After joining the corporate in 2006, my physical activities have reduced a lot. The only exercise I had was walking from one block to other block, walking from your seat to cafeteria or a pantry. If you are in a big ODC, walking from your seat to a nearby water cooler and rest room is considered as a big exercise. Rest of your movements is taken care by internal shuttle, office bus and cabs.
After quitting the job, my minimal walking routine during office time has also come to an end. There is no need to walk till bus stand to catch the bus since my office is inside my home itself.
My water cooler is just 5 feet away and rest room is 3 steps away. I’m trying to incorporate the habit of walking for 30mins every day now to keep myself physically active.
You miss your ID card: For the first one month after quitting my job, whenever I’m travelling out, I keep checking for my ID card to ensure that it is in place, forgetting that I don’t have an ID card any more. While in corporate, the ID card is your licence to enter the office. It’s your sacred Mantra. Having it with you gives you all power inside the company.
I weigh 20 grams less now since I do not wear an ID card nowadays.
These are few little things which you miss to have what you want in your life. I thought, I can write this blog post to let you know what you will miss when your time comes to quit your corporate job :).
Till then, happy working…
To be part of the volunteering journey and to get updates, whatsapp as ‘Update Me’ with your name and city to +91 89399 12365. You will get individual whatsapp msg each week about volunteering opportunities in your city. Happy Volunteering!
Want to know what I did after quitting my full time job?
Read my first 6 months report card here - www.bit.ly/karthee2015h1.
Note: I’m planning to have an office for Team Everest in Chennai from March 2016 which can provide space for 4 to 5 people and a small meeting room for discussion with volunteers. In case you have a place which you are ready to provide for Team Everest office, please let me know. Thank you :).
About Me: I’m Karthee Vidya with a dream to promote volunteering in our country. I have a dream where every person volunteers at least once a month (12/365). I love kids and volunteering. Education and Volunteering is very close to my heart. I’m 30 years old on this planet and 9 years old to volunteering as of 2015. To know more about me, check my Facebook page.