The Anti 9-to-5 Guide

Practical Career Advice for Women Who Think Outside the Cube

by Michelle Goodman

I am so done with my day job. I feel pretty safe saying that here for a few reasons. 1) I'm pretty sure no one at work reads this blog. 2) I doubt they would fire me during holiday season. 3) I'm going to quit anyway, so who cares if I get fired? I have decided that I will work through the holiday season and then start off the new year on the unemployment line! I mean self-employment line!

Without getting into the details of my day job, I do want to say that it's really not that bad. I've certainly had worse. It's just the commute that I hate, and there are so many other things I want to do with my time that twiddling my thumbs while waiting for the phone to ring at work just is not cutting it for me right now.

So I read this book hoping it would give me some tips on what to do after I turn in my notice. Turns out, not a whole lot. Goodman quit her day job without even really knowing what she wanted to do (done) or getting any kind of client base (done) or even saving a little money (not quite done, but I have come up with a  budget and ways to minimize expenses), so I'm already a few steps ahead of where she was.

That said, I still highly recommend this book. If nothing else, it's very amusing, as well as informational. Goodman has a great sense of humor and a conversational style that kept me reading. She also has a ton of information on how to go about quitting your job regardless of what you want to do. Thinking of starting a non-profit? This book has some excellent resources to help you get started. What if you still want a day job, you just don't want an office job? Or you want to work from home? This book still has you covered.

Goodman knew that her path to self-employment was not the only one, so she interviewed entrepreneurial women working in all sorts of fields and included their words of wisdom in this book. The result is a wealth of information that Goodman sprinkles throughout the book, rather than leaving it compacted in one interview section. Each chapter contains quotes and advice from women doing whatever you want to do, and I think Goodman did a pretty good job of covering all her bases. From self-employment, to volunteering, to working travel into your budget and schedule, to just spending more time doing what you love. She has advice on how to go about easing yourself out of the 9-to-5 lifestyle and into the kind of life you want.

I would definitely recommend this book to anyone looking to change up their work schedule. It left me more knowledgeable about what I'm about to do, more confident, and entertained me the whole way through.