9 CHALLENGES I FACED AFTER I QUIT MY JOB AS AN ARCHITECT

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In my earlier posts, I have discussed the compelling factors because of which I quit my job and also how was a feeling the day I quit my job.

What challenges did I face after I quit my job as an Architect? Is it a bad idea to quit my job? Should I quit my job without another job? I had so many questions in my mind.

Quitting a job to pursue my dreams was never easy for me in the beginning. Life was full of struggles and disappointments. I faced a lot of failure and many heartbreaks when I quit my job with no plan.

The most important thing for me at that time was to keep moving forward no matter what I faced. Things were totally different than it was earlier and what I had perceived. Read the complete post to find out more… 🙂

CHALLENGES I FACED AS A PRACTICING ARCHITECT AFTER QUITTING MY REGULAR JOB AS AN ARCHITECT.

1. YOU THINK YOU ARE PREPARED BUT ACTUALLY, YOU ARE NOT

My mind was totally prepared for all the challenges that I will be facing after quitting my job. 

I thought I was ready but actually I was not ready for the consequences.

You will never know unless you get into the situation. Things were looking fine in the beginning but I was not getting any work to do. I was very hopeful and was following every step that every motivational speaker said. 

Getting up at 4 a.m… reading good books.. have a good morning ritual of doing yoga and meditation etc…

And after that, I used to do cold calling and ask people for work. Also, I have subscribed to many architectural and interior designer channels to keep myself updated with design trends. 

In the beginning, it looked fine and I was highly motivated but after months of struggling when I couldn’t get any work, I became terrible. It was really devastating and I just can’t tell you how was I feeling. It was pathetic and I was feeling like a failure.

2.NOT GETTING A REGULAR PAYCHECK AFTER I QUIT MY JOB

When you doing your regular job you get a regular pay month to month. 

And you adjust your life according to that. But when you see your bank balance getting low day by day and you are not getting any income then and it gets really disappointing. 

Though I was mentally prepared for all these things still I couldn’t digest the fact that I was doing this terrible. 

For complete six months, I couldn’t make even a single penny. And it was really….really…. heart-breaking.

For a person who was earning for more than three years and was getting a regular paycheck month to month, it was really damaging for my confidence.

3.HAVING MANY SLEEPLESS NIGHTS

I was worried about not getting any work. I was worried about not knowing a lot and I was worried about not having anyone around me to whom I can look up to.

They were many nights I couldn’t sleep. In fact, I remember consecutive four days and nights when I couldn’t sleep for even an hour. 

I was really in pain. Though I tried a lot to sleep but still I couldn’t. I tried many techniques from YouTube that would help me to sleep but they were all in vain. 

And then I took the first sleeping pills in my life at that time. I went to the medical store with no prescription and in the beginning, they denied but after looking at me they gave me one pill. 

And thankfully it worked for me

Everybody needs motivation and everybody needs some kind of inspiration. It leads to self-improvement, self-growth, and self-discovery. A day will with a positive mindset leads to a good day and a weak one with all good days will lead to a good weak and so the month and so the year. Subscribe to get the regular update to stay motivated.

4. I DIDN’T KNOW MUCH ABOUT DESIGN

When I was working in an office I learned how to make good drawings. I learnt how to make good details but never learnt how this details are going to be incorporated on site.

They were so many things I found out that I didn’t know that earlier I thought that I knew. 

There is a difference between drawings that are drawn on paper and drawings when comes to reality. I never had a lot of exposure to site work. 

So when I took up the work solely and when the contractors and clients asked so many questions on site I realise there are so many things that I had to learn.

I knew how to make drawings and now I had to know how to execute them. I lacked practical experience which affected my confidence in the beginning.

5. THIS WORLD IS FULL OF GOOD AND BAD PEOPLE

In my new journey of quitting my job and starting my practicing career, I met a lot of people. 

Some people were good and some people were mean and were ready to take your advantage if given a chance. 

Few of them, they didn’t know how to speak to people and they were mean.

Like I told you, I used to do cold calling for work. And during that period sometimes people disconnected the phone saying some bad words.

Initially, I used to be affected a lot because of their bad behavior but later on, I learnt how to ignore them.

6.HAVING NO PROPER WORKPLACE/OFFICE

I was staying in a small studio apartment alone. And I didn’t have any proper workplace where I can sit and have a meeting with my clients. 

It became another challenge for me to get the work. Sometime people refused to give me the work because I didn’t have any proper workplace and they were not sure whether I’ll be able to do their job properly or not.

I did my most of the meeting at spaces like the food joints, cafe coffee day, sometimes at the site or client’s office which led to another problem that I faced as a female practicing architect which I will discuss in my another post.

7. NOT HAVING ANY REAL WORK TO SHOW

It was one of my biggest challenges that I faced in my earlier days. Not having any real building to show to people and to convince them to give the work became a tedious job for me at that time.

In fact, in my earlier days, I did much of my work for free just to have some buildings around that I can show to people as my real work.

8. NOT KNOWING ABOUT THE DESIGN TREND

When I was working as an employee I was not involved in designing.

So after starting my practicing career I had to learn a lot in terms of designing and in terms of understanding materials.

I had to learn a lot and in fact, I am still in the process of learning every day about what is new in the market. How we can improve our designing skills etc. And this is an ongoing process. I am a learner and I know I will be learning even after 5-years from today. That’s the life an architect.

9.HESITATION OF MEETING NEW PEOPLE

When you enter the practicing world as an architect you will be meeting a lot of people. It is the first step and most important step to get the work. Since I was totally new in the practical world, I was not aware of the architectural finishing materials, cost assessment, architectural layout, and many more practical things. This affected my confidence in the beginning.

Before every meeting I used to get worried, what if the client ask me something that I didn’t know. What if they find me incapable for the job. What if they ask me show my real work… etc. etc..

Initially it was another big challenge for me as a practicing architect.

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10.CONCLUSION

There are still many more challenges that come in my way every day. But I am loving my journey. If somebody had asked me 2 years back to write something about my journey I wouldn’t have been in that condition to do so.

It took me more than two years to accept and to embrace the things that I was facing and that I am capable of. Things were never easy I must say. There were so many doubts I had about myself.

But I just told myself, Naseema no matter what happens you are not going to quit. I just had to make sure that in spite of having self-doubts I was not going to leave what I was doing and get back to the regular job.

I give myself a chance to sustain and to survive. And I am really thankful that I did that. 

Every change brings turbulence no matter how prepared you are. You just have to give yourself time and you deserve that time. 

Every change brings turbulence.

Naseema Khatoon

You fall many times before you learn to walk. You have to understand this nature which is if you are going to start something new you are going to fall many times. 

But never let that fall becomes the reason for your failure. You will rise if you learn to fight. And trust me you are a fighter. Give yourself some time. 

I have shared some of the tips that I followed to keep myself motivated all the time. You read it here.

In my upcoming posts, I will be discussing what steps did I take to overcome my bad phase after quitting my job.

Till then stay healthy…

Stay safe…

Also stay connected… 🙂