first, you don’t really gain that much “free time” when you become unemployed. i feel like i am busier now than when i was working at Xtracycle or even when i was commuting 17+ hours per week from San Francisco to Apple. while i don’t have more “free time”, my time is spent doing the things i choose to – whether it be clean out some old bike parts onto craigslist, go on an extended trip up to Portland for a cyclocross race, or spend 3 hours at a coffee shop people watching and catching up on some rss feeds on google reader.

second, being near a computer most of the day and having more time to see more of the social media experience (mostly via twitter and facebook), i realize how much bandwidth, energy (power), and time is wasted by so many people posting worthless information. this isn’t internet of 1995 where just anyone can go off and get a geocities site where they can throw some animated gifs they found in a poorly written HTML page. this is 2009! it’s time for people to see the usefulness of the internet when used with clear and concise communication. “just took a shower”, “on the bus”, et al may seem fun and entertaining for you to post, but in reality, most of it is a waste. the best thing i have done to help my clear and concise communications have been to ask myself “does this add any value/is this useful information?” before sending/posting. please try it for yourself.

third, and last for now, make sure you have things to look forward to in life. plan a trip or learn something new. just do something you enjoy and things will work out.