Day 1 - Wrap up

I am normally a good sleeper, but I woke up at 2am ish with a headache.

I tried to focus on my breath. The classic 3-4-5 breath helps manage anxiety. I knew that because I listen to all ZOE podcasts. My mind wonder away. I stared on the ceiling then back to the breathing exercise. Repeated for about an hour.

Next time I saw the clock was 7am, later than my usual hour. Period pain was my excuse for skipping morning run. I made coffee, did some housework that was long overdue during the week. I went online about 8.30am, like what I usually do although managing my time like this doesn’t make sense anymore.

I decided to prioritise a few things today, so I don’t keep staring on LinkedIn

• Let people I care that I am ok, so they don’t worry.
• Clarify some practical next steps, eg terms, expense claims, appointing an independent lawyer to review the agreements.
• Create a space for others to stay connected and seek help.

My dear PM buddy Fede Behrens started a Google Sheet to gather contact information of the affected group. We need consent to share it publicly, so recruiters can find us. To stay connected after slack cut-off later today, I created a Whatsapp support group. I love being useful.

With a lot of love and support, I got introduced to a few opportunities already and booked calls. More people reaching out to offer help in the afternoon. I am so flattered. I also notice managing all these inbound messages is time consuming. They could easily eat into my time for properly strategise my next steps.

As a product manager I am biased toward action, while fully register the importance of setting clear goals. I decided to slow down a bit and focus the immediate priorities : understand the settlement agreement, my rights and (legal) responsibility, and book calls that could help me brainstorm next steps.

I “finished my day” by sending an update about the Google Sheet to the Whatsapp support group, having a EOW call with my partner in crime - Belén Agüeras Angulo , then went prepare dinner before a very very very long weekend.