Slowing Down

I’ve been really bad about posting regularly on the blog lately. Like no post in the month of May bad. And you know what? That’s okay. Things have been really busy (in a good way), and I’ve been trying to be more intentional about giving myself time and space (aka slowing down). When I get stressed and try to power through, it never turns out well.

A lot has happened since I wrote this post a couple of months ago about my depression and burnout. In a good way. I’ve talked to my doctor, and we tweaked my medication twice (and I actually feel normal again! Which is amazing!). Hands down the biggest change though was requesting to go down to a 32-hour work week.

I wasn’t planning on making this request so soon. I figured I would wait to see if I felt better with just the medication change before taking further steps. But then, right after I got back from my week of sick leave, my boss told me that he would likely be leaving in the next couple of months. The first thing I said was congratulations, but the close second was…”hey, I kind of want to go down to 32 hours. And I know if it isn’t approved before you give your notice, it won’t be approved at all.”

So after a (far, far too) long international trip, I came back to a fait accompli. My revised schedule was approved and started mid-April (with some administrative hiccups that had me gritting my teeth, but still approved).

I was a little skeptical that taking just one day off would make that much of a difference. But I also knew, after running the numbers, that dropping down to less than 32 hours would introduce new financial stress into the equation, which would defeat the whole purpose of taking the time off.

But, thankfully, I was so wrong. This new schedule is glorious. I feel like I finally have breathing room, and it’s magical. I’m trying to keep to the same guidelines I set for my week off (for the same original reasons I outlined), but other than that, I have no commitments on that day. I go on a walk with StarDog, I cook, I catch up on laundry. It also means my weekends feel less busy because I don’t have to cram all of my chores and errands into just those two days.

The timing also works out well because May was a really hectic month for me. Some weeks, I move my day off (usually Wednesday) to Friday so I don’t have to use more annual leave. I mainly do this when I’m only going to be in the office 3 days anyway; taking an extra day off in the middle seems excessive.

And this has been fantastic. I don’t know how I would have survived the past few weeks if not for this new schedule. Here’s a breakdown of my last 3 weekends and the next two. All of them are awesome and fun things, but I’m really glad I have some built-in breather days as well because working a full week in between all these would be a recipe for disaster.

• May 16-19: I went to my little sister’s college graduation! And visited my friend Lyra in her new city! With StarDog in tow, which made the weekend even better.
• May 24-26: Camp FI in Southern Virginia. So much fun! But also so many people…
• June 1-2: My Senior Year roommates were in town for our reunion and there were 4 people sleeping in my apartment. It was glorious, but not conducive to a lot of sleep…
• June 8-9: My mom is visiting, and I have to prep for a work trip
• June 15-16: My friend Nova is visiting (WHICH IS SUPER EXCITING), but she arrives literally two hours after I get back from said work trip. Sorry friend, I’m not vacuuming for you.

There’s a lot going on. And in the middle of this, I’m building a new business. Which is going great so far! I’ve had my first paid session and have scheduled several more! But that doesn’t mean it isn’t stressful.

Now, today is my boss’s last day. So while I am so happy about my reduced schedule, I know I’m going to have to be fiercely protective of it to ensure that I don’t end up doing more work. I’m happy to fill in the gaps until we find his replacement (which probably won’t happen until the end of July), but I’m not going to kill myself to do that. My 32-hour week was approved through the end of October, and I mean to take full advantage. And by then, I sincerely hope to have a much clearer picture of my transition so that I can negotiate to make that permanent until I do leave.

I’m planning to get back to a regular posting schedule again, but no guarantees. Here’s a photo of StarDog playing on a doggy jungle gym to ensure your forgiveness. Bonus points if you can guess the city it was taken in!