So, what are you doing these days?

A picturesque life is that where there are no blips. A new job, boyfriend and even finding the perfect home all happen as and when you will it. There are no breaks.

Mine on the contrary, is full of blips. Currently, on a professional break, I am also single at 30. I have no excuses to explain the sorry state that I find myself often in while answering the question – so, what are you doing these days? I will write about being single and the issues related to it in another post. For now, I shall focus on taking a professional break.

The question is not as simple as it sounds. It is not Twitter, that asks you to define - what are you doing. The question requires a more meaningful answer than just saying - I am feeling sleepy. I am looking forward to the 3pm tea break, I am waiting for the day to get over or catching up with friends or working overtime to meet a deadline. Period.

Whilst the truth is that each one of us is driven by our goals and desires like searching for the perfect job, perfect relationship or finding the perfect home. The real question is - in this age of multi tasking, where speed and shorter time to market drive businesses, can individuals taking time off professionally, really survive? Is it necessary to seek a more meaningful existence by having a meaningful nothingness phase?

The truth is this is not my first professional break. I had taken one five years earlier. I needed to rethink my career choice. I had then made a switch from sales to journalism. Call it a quirk of fate, five years down the line, I once again landed in a sales/ business development job.

So, coming back to the original question- what are you doing these days, I have no real/ in-depth answer. I quit my job thinking I would become a freelancer/ writer. Two weeks into writing and searching for assignments and projects, I came to face with one of my real weaknesses – my inability to negotiate and talk money. The reason, I hated the sales jobs.

Third week into being jobless, I planned a backpacking holiday to Europe – might as well make the most of being unemployed. But the fear of being away from the network and 24/7 connectivity (getting a real job) took precedence over the need to have a holiday amongst other reasons.

Hence, while I am struggling with a more meaningful answer on how to spend my free time, and being gainfully productive, anyone who has ideas on what could be the next big idea – to make a million may be a billion dollars? May be, its entrepreneurship beckoning this time!!