This is (Probably) The Best Time to Take a Break As a Data Scientist
And seek new opportunities.
We’re going through tough times. The current geopolitical issues around the world create uncertainty among the population and a possible recession in the economy.
We don’t know what’s going to happen in the following weeks, but as this thing grows, many of us might be affected.
This is why this week I stopped my typical workflow. I stopped creating some courses, writing guides, making videos, and learning new data science stuff.
Why? This is probably the best time to remember all those economics and finance lessons you had at university, do some research, and consider investing.
Do The Research and Invest
Market dips are a buying opportunity. This is like buying stocks on sale when the market crashes. But this isn’t exclusive to stocks, and you don’t even have to time the market. Let me tell you a story.
I’ve been ignoring crypto for a long time. The first time I heard of it was in 2018 when a friend of mine told me he wanted to sell part of the bitcoin he had.
I was curious about it, so I did some research. I liked the idea; unfortunately, as an undergraduate student, I barely had the money for my everyday expenses, so (to satisfy my curiosity) I only bought $3 worth of bitcoin.
At that time 1 bitcoin was worth around $8000, but by the end of 2018 it dropped to $3000, so I stopped doing more research about crypto and ignored it completely.
This year, I checked my crypto wallet. Guess what? Those $3 are worth $15 now. That means if I had put $3000 in 2018, I would’ve got around $15000. But I don’t torture myself thinking of it — I didn’t have enough money in my pocket those days.
Why am I telling you this story? Simple, the current economy is being hit by an unexpected war. There’s some uncertainty of what would happen next, so probably this is the best time to take a little break as a data scientist, stop what you usually do, and seek new opportunities.
If you have the money, do some research and invest in what you think is worthy. It doesn’t have to be crypto. It can be stocks, precious metals, real estate, etc. I dedicated many hours this week doing this, so I encourage you to do the same—at least on the weekend.
But if you have little money right now (like me in 2018), you can still invest. Here’s how.
Invest in Yourself
If you’ve been doing the same tasks at work, this is the best time to learn something new. Go ahead and gain new knowledge or skills that could help you get a better job. Don’t wait until you lose your current job to do this!
Months before the pandemic started, I quit my job. In those days, I wanted to learn more about Python and start my own business. Thanks to the lockdown, it was easy for me to dedicate all day to studying Python. I knew I had a lot of work to do, so I would watch Python tutorials even when having breakfast! (that was too much, I guess).
Eight months later, all those hours invested were worth it. I started blogging on Medium about Python and making money from it. Five months later I started a YouTube channel and my videos were monetized within five months. At that moment, my first Udemy course was also released.
All the money I got from those platforms (and clients I got thanks to them) was way more than what I made in my previous jobs.
I don’t say all this to brag, but to show you that investing in yourself is worth it, too.
Conclusion
Now it’s the perfect time to stop doing what you usually do, do some research, and consider investing. Keep your mind open to see all the opportunities.
You don’t need to have a lot of money to invest. You can invest in yourself.
The best thing is that you don’t even have to quit your current job to start investing. Just establish some priorities, make some plans and take action.