I receive an email from a former colleague.

He was made redundant last year after 23 years at the same company.

The email asks if I will endorse his work and provide a reference which I’m happy to do. We worked together on many projects over many years and I’ve felt his absence from work in the last 12 months.

He updates me on his job-hunting.

“It is incredible how much time and effort has to go into each application. I can easily put a few hours in each day applying only to hear nothing back from the agency or company concerned … If I did it all day, I would go crazy so I limit myself to a few hours.”

I know from my own experience of applying for jobs just how time-consuming – and frustrating – it is. It can be a full-time job in itself. Perhaps I should now describe my occupation as “job hunter”.

I ask myself how prepared I am for the R-words: Redundancy and Retirement. The honest answer is I’m not.

I’ve thought about what would happen if I lost my job and carried out some basic financial planning but the bigger problem is preparing mentally for not being at work.

There’s specialist career guidance available and I’m going to take advantage of that.

Tomorrow, another R beckons. I’m going to a talk at the Royal Institution – somewhere that’s fascinated me since I saw the annual Christmas lectures on TV as a kid.

For now though, I’m taking advantage of another R-word: Relaxing.