Whelp, The Universe giveth and the Universe taketh away 😂
53 days* into my new board game job and I’m already fired and not working there anymore, lol… Okay, well not fired-fired like I did something bad and now I got the boot, but more like my friend who hired me just quit, and thus, due to proxy, I must go too.
The sad part though was that we were literally JUST about to launch our first community campaign I had spent over 20+ hours on!! It was supposed to go live in TWO DAYS and now it’s frozen in time never ever to be enjoyed, argh… They say they might still run with it later, but I doubt it. It was such a fun way to introduce their game’s characters to the world though so I hope they do. Plus, what a waste of money to have spent on my brain without using its magnificent output! 😁
Speaking of which, here’s the total amount I got paid during my short stint along with all the hours worked:
- Total hours worked: 61
- Total amount earned: $3,355
(That’s $55/hr for anyone who was just about to calculate it ;) I typically charge $100/hr, but when it’s a longer-term project or a friend/family is involved I heavily discount it for the first little bit…)
Not a totally bad run though, eh? A little extra money for me, and some good assets for them whether they end up using them or not. The other 40’ish hours worked went to building out databases of influencers and communities, researching the ins and outs of the gaming space (it was so fascinating!!), sitting through a handful of meetings, and then a small number of other random little tasks.
The meetings were actually the best as I got paid to sit and listen in each and every one of them, lol… I even got paid once to play the game for two hours! And learned that there’s a whoooole niche of them based around “cooperative” play too where you actually fight the enemy *along with your friends* instead of *against them* like all the other games I’m used to playing… It was pretty fun, and much less anxiety-induced since you’re all in it together!
I also got super friendly with Asana – a work management platform – where I had to build out this community campaign of ours… That probably took 10 of my 60 hours alone, and ended up coming out to over 60 tasks (!!!). I can see why people use it as it def. keeps everyone nice and accountable, but man – all those hours spent when you could have just been DOING THE THING, haha… I much prefer my version where I simply make notes in email drafts and then pray I don’t forget anything in the process 😂
But yeah, overall it was a fun gig. I learned a lot, played a lot, WORKED a lot, and overall just genuinely enjoyed myself! As I mentioned in my last post coming onto this job, it was a nice feeling to get paid again after months away from that world, and it felt like a *different* type of productivity that I didn’t realize I missed. So now I’ll have to look for more of that goodness to round out my ideal lifestyle! Couple hours of work, couple of hours of volunteering, then allllllll the rest of the day free to do as I – and my kids/wife/other family responsibilities – permit. Not bad…
It mostly just sucks for my friend who hired me and then had to resign shortly there after… Can’t really get into it all here, but I do know it was the right move for both him and the company so now at least he gets to decompress a little before hitting the job market again… The Year of The Flow keeps flowing! Whether you want it to or not! Lol… Our whole lives are basically a “flow” if you think about it :)
Anyways, hope all your projects and gigs are going well! If I can ever help with anything, or you’d like to hire me on for some one-on-one consulting, I def. have the time now 😆 –> jmoney.biz/consulting
Yours in unemployment (once again),
*I thought this was a new record for me getting kicked out of a job at 50-something days, but a quick review of my entire employment history (40+ jobs!) reminds me that I once actually had a job only for a week! And two other times less than a month! So, I guess this is actually my *4th* shortest job of my life – hah ;)
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It’s time’s like this where being FI, or WifeFI or any other form, is a blessing. You have more freedom now! I must say though I’ve learned when I worked on something, or a job didn’t work out, as frustrating as it is to not see the fruits of your labor or something you’ve been working on come to market. Time is money!
But you’re looking at it with a good light. You learned, your had fun, and you had experiences you may not have had before. I’d consider that a success! Can’t wait to hear about what you get into next :)
Thank you, sir! You are 100% right – no regrets! :)
Whoa, 40 jobs!!! That’s wild.
I have had exactly one regular job, but I’ve also had three main self-employment gigs (piano teaching, piano playing, and blogging), with a short dabble in photography for pay.
So you are way ahead of me!
Haha cool! I don’t know many people who actually get paid to *play* piano? You must be good! Was that your dream gig before you stumbled across blogging?? :)
Well, I played mainly at church for ten years and that is a paid gig. I also got paid to play for weddings and funerals and an occasional party too.
I’m classically trained and I’ve been playing since I was six, so…I’m not concert-level but I’m competent. :) There are reels of my playing on Instagram.
That is so cool :)
I’ve had some rewarding side-gigs since FIRE and have seen your situation happen a few times to people over my years in tech. Keep looking at the bright side of the experience. The fact that it isn’t a devastating event is proof that you are winning the game with personal finance and employment liberation.
Appreciate it, sir! Def. more fun when you’re in it for the enjoyment and learning than you are the $$$ :)
Have you thought about the fact that now that you have all this crazy board game experience, you should revamp the game Payday? I used to love that game!
On a totally different note – something to be aware of, I got an email today from TurboTax saying that they were going to have an “Ask an Expert” day on Aug 30 from 9 to 5 about any questions anyone might have about freelance gig taxes. :)
Thanks for the heads up!!
Agreed Payday was fun back in the day! Hadn’t thought about it in maybe 30 years?! I bet it’s still out there and modernized now… like with bitcoins and dodge 🤣🤣