Day 0

This morning, in what has been one of the most terrifying moments of my adult life, I left my first job.

This marks the first time in my life when I legitimately don't know what is happening next. I've never been afloat without a plan before, and quite frankly, the prospect is alarming. I didn't take a vacation while employed, and I'm not really sure what to do now that one has been forced upon me!

 After leaving the office for the last time, armed with the knowledge that the world was my oyster, I headed up to East Harlem to drink with my also-recently-unemployed friend L. In the evening, I had a phone interview, so overall not a bad first day of freedom. Additionally, much to the excitement of my roommate D., I also unearthed the remote control for our television!

 I feel woefully underprepared for this situation - most of my friends would probably agree that I am not very good at having free time. This blog is meant to serve as a daily record of my activities (and hopefully as a forcing function to ensure that I don't spend a long period of time without getting out of bed), but I'll also note things that I've learned along the way in the hope that I can assist others in the same situation.

 Today's lesson is a recommended to-do list before your final day of employment:

 Pre-Final-Day To-Do List

1. Write down all of the e-mail addresses of your coworkers so you can keep in touch. You should include your personal e-mail address in your final message to the team, but it's always good to have backups in case others lose your contact information. 
2. Save / print all of your paystubs, 401k info, stock information, and insurance information in case your logins no longer work. 
3. Purge your apartment of all sensitive material (like the copies of design docs that you printed out to review). It will be awkward to run across them in the upcoming months. 
4. Copy any of your personal information from your work devices to your personal devices so that you can return them. For me, this was a pretty easy step - I learned good work / personal device separation skills from my time at Lincoln Laboratory. 

 I also recommend either writing each of your coworkers a personal note telling them why you enjoyed working with them or telling them in person. I had some lovely conversations with my coworkers on my last day of work (and I received a lot of hugs). Any time is a great time to tell someone else why they're wonderful, but on the eve of your departure is a particularly work-appropriate one if you have to choose!