I had three months off between jobs a couple of years ago. I did absolutely nothing, just sleep in, stay up late, read a few books, watch movies and play games.<p>After three months I almost felt like a human being again. That feeling was gone 2 days into the new job.
If you ask me before I take the two months off, I would plan to write a novel, write, shoot and direct a movie, take the CFA, back test some trading algorithms, and write three apps (one game, one very useful app in a new industry I know nothing about, and some social app) while learning new languages (mandarin and some variant of lisp).<p>If you ask me after the two months, I most likely caught up on Westworld.
This question depends very much on WHETHER OR NOT THE NEXT JOB IS ALREADY LINED UP.<p>If I don't have to worry about my unemployment, then for two months I would spend more time with my family and on personal interests that refresh my mind and spirit.<p>Otherwise, I would spend the two months networking and interviewing toward the next job. A job hunt IS a full-time job. Quite frankly, a more time-consuming and stressful job than being a computer programmer is.
I just did that this summer. I saw a bunch of friends, went out a lot made more friends, traveled around my state to see old friends...<p>But the thing that was most satisfying was committing to volunteer work every single week. People complain so much about social injustice and how we should tax this and that... Very few will open their pockets or put the time in to <i>actually</i> make a difference.
Personally I’d turn off my electronics, grab some books and go hiking in the wilderness. At least for a couple weeks. You may never get a chance to be this “unplugged” again.
Absolutely travel. Traveling solo is a hugely rewarding experience. Stay in hostels to meet other people and make friends. If money is tight, choose a cheap area. If you like outdoor adventuring, combine it with rock climbing or summiting some mountains. (I can provide recommendations if you want)
This actually happened to me before I started my current job. I was leaving a senior-level role as a .NET developer, and was moving over to be a standard-level developer in Ruby and Python. I left mid-way through November, thanks to a ton of holiday I had booked for Christmas, and decided to join in January instead of at a time when everything winds down in a lot of companies.<p>My Python knowledge was non-existent, so I spent most of my time sleeping in, and working my way through a set of Python books. I worked through Learn Python The Hard Way, and Data Structures and Algorithms in Python, and although I've not done much Python this year it gave me the best of both worlds. I was able to relax through the two months off, but keep my mind in code and get over the initial impostor syndrome I'd get from joining an established team with zero experience of their tools in anger.<p>Frankly, I still feel like my Ruby and Python skills are beginner-level, at best, but those two months helped me hit the ground running at my new job, and nearly a year later I've come to appreciate different languages as similar in many ways. I feel that I can start a new non-trivial project and (if given enough time) I can write working code in either to achieve a task - something I didn't feel before, which I put down to the two months holiday I took.
Ask yourself what is the biggest thing you always stop yourself from doing because you "don't have enough time" and go for it. For me it would be working on more open source projects and ideas.
I personally write blog posts I find interesting[1], catch up around the house (new jobs typically take up more time than old), and take long walks or runs (maybe play some video games or read).<p>Personally, I have trouble not being productive (or at least feeling productive). Often this leads me to pick up a news skill (eg cooking Indian cuisine, leaning Haskell, installing a news Linux district, etc).<p>Last time I had two months off I wrote a website to help you invest by tacking insiders at companies who speak publically: <a href="https://projectpiglet.com/" rel="nofollow">https://projectpiglet.com/</a><p>Incidentally, I'll likely be taking a month or so off shortly to just clean the garage and build a couple pieces of furniture. Along with taking care of my son (preturnity leave, but plan to leave him in day care a couple days a week).<p>[1] <a href="https://austingwalters.com" rel="nofollow">https://austingwalters.com</a>
Spend some time with your family and friends. You could "combine" this with the many travel recommendations you are getting, by (1) visiting loved ones who live far from you or (2) traveling somewhere with them.<p>Enjoy your time off!
Go see all my friends who are all over the world, and eat long dinners and drink nice wine and exercise everyday and catch up on my reading list and take aimless walks and prepare for my new job, but at a relaxed pace.
A lot of folks would say travel, but last time I had a gap (3 weeks between jobs), I did the exact opposite. I made an ideal routine - I ran every morning, I started cooking, I read most evenings.<p>Between 11am and 4pm, I'd find some "work" to take care of - mostly home-related and some favors for family members. I kept saying I'd do something audacious - join an open source project, write an app, yadda-yadda - but this would just bring me down.<p>I can't be motivated to excel until I'm absolutely comfortable where I am. Sometimes it takes a few days of freedom to remember that.
If I were single, I’d go stay at a particular Zen-inspired meditation retreat center farm that I’ve lived at before between jobs. It’s a nice lifestyle of meditation, cooking/eating/cleaning, drinking tea, farming, etc.
I just recently had 5 months off between jobs. I was already being recruited for other jobs so I never worried about finding a new one. I relaxed and also studied different things that I always wanted to but didn't have the time.I basically wanted to enjoy a summer with no stress for the first time in a long time. I would have taken 6 months off but my car had issues again so I decided to answer some of those recruiters. I had a new job in 2 weeks making almost double what I did before. But I say that with adding the caveat that I was underpaid at my last job.
Open source development.<p>I often have long periods of time off - that's the nature of contracting. You only need to work all the time if you want toys. So right now I'm learning, training, and giving back.
Two months is a long time. It's great to sleep in and stay up late and all that, but it can get old fast. Now is the perfect time to take care of some items on your bucket list. Don't have a bucket list? Great time to make one! On a tight budget? Take the time to catch-up with friends and family. Be a tourist in your area. Take some day trips to nearby areas. Seize the free time so that when you start back to work, you don't look back on it as a wasted opportunity!
Travel, learn a language, read, code on a personal project, help others -- it could be anything.<p>One thing I've typically done is a breadth-first search of interests at that point in time, so I know how to direct my activities to get fulfillment out of life for the next few years. I've mainly been able to do that through reading a lot (nonfiction mostly). It's hard to do when you're full-time working.
My only semi joking answer has been to hire a personal trainer and follow John Cena's workout regiment in an attempt to get truly sculpted - while I hit the gym frequently now, making it my job would let me get some awesome results.<p>Alternatively, I would take a hardcore tech break. Rent out a cabin in a remote area and just relax, write and hike all day. Maybe pick archery back up.
I had 3 months between jobs 3 years ago. I watched all of Doctor Who (never watched it before) and just generally relaxed, ate healthy, and exercised. I also spent 2 weeks traveling. This was very useful because I was quite burned out from the previous job.<p>I have a year off between jobs right now (finance non compete) and I'm using the time to bootstrap a company
With enough notice and time to prepare I'd drive the PanAmerica Highway from Prudhoe Bay, Alaska to Ushuaia South America camping along the way. Only thing stopping me right now is time away from work. Might take more than 2 months though.
I had these few months and rather casually I'm putting the finishing touches on a side project. It was also beneficiary during the job hunting.<p>I wish I had traveled more, but laziness and monitor addiction is real :)
I just had 7 months off and I went travelling(mostly US and EU). Another time I did a huge chunk of South East Asia with 3 months. 2 months would also give you ample time to explore a lot of new places!
I would travel to a new country I have not been before and explore the culture and food.<p>I would find a nice fiction novel to read, and I would try to build a habit of working out each day.
If you don't already, workout every day! get in the habit while you have no excuse not to go. Once you get in the habit, you won't stop after you start working.
Ride my motorcycle across the U.S. like this guy did.<p><a href="https://youtu.be/3OoEDJjE7RI" rel="nofollow">https://youtu.be/3OoEDJjE7RI</a>
Beware of "cool" things - it's a waste of time and money, likely dangerous for health. Skydiving and travelling to Cambodia or Mongolia is an unimpressive cliche.<p>Catch up on health (posture, sight, diet). Catch up with family. Sort out any outstanding paperwork (tax declarations, pension related). Sleep long. Read.
I took a week off between my last job and current job. It really feels like you've dropped out of society. I don't recommend doing that for more than a week.