A lot of the commenters are missing it: it's not that you have _nothing to do_: it's that you're being told to find a job ASAP, in the next 8-12 weeks. It's very easy to say "the first thing I'd do is take a 2 week vacation", but, the expectation is you're finding a position ASAP -- and there are none. So you need to start practicing your Leetcode for our absurd interview process as an industry. The last thing you're thinking is "I should pump out some graphics shaders and get permission to open source them!"

Or, don’t try to get a job at a FAANG company. I work for a Fortune 100 company and we never do anything like leetcode stuff in our interviews.

Thank you, sounds silly, but I had lost perspective and thought BigCo always would do this.

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I my experience, you aren't actually doing nothing and having nothing asked of you.

You are more likely tasked with things that require spinning your wheels. Boring, pointless, and directionless work that doesn't challenge you. It just melts your brain.