Control my schedule.........and not let my schedule control me!

Will have worked 30 hours in about 2 days time by tomorrow night. That is not cool!!!

It also puts me way over on my work hours this week.

I will take the comp time next week to make up for it! And I will not feel guilty!!!!!!

Reminded of this today when I accidentally shut my hand in the sliding van door while trying to carry in my groceries.

Talk about pain!!!!!

Thankfully, I did not break any bones. I did put two deep gashes in my index finger which required stitches. I also have some nasty bruising and swelling.

Of course, this little episode brought my carefully planned daily tasks to a screeching halt. Monday is typically my day off….....so I usually try to catch up on laundry, plan my weekly menu, go grocery shopping and do some general housekeeping.

I did get the menu and the shopping done…....but the rest of the day was spent in the ER:(

sigh

For 3 consecutive weeks, I have kept my work hours pretty much at 40 hours.

It has been difficult. I have let some things go. I have dropped some balls. And unfortunately, I have some guilt because I am not doing as much as I was.

BUT, I know I have to make this change. I cannot keep up the pace of working 50-60 hours or more on a regular basis.

Over the last 2 days I have put in 21 hours at work…...........SO today I am not going in at all.
I don’t know why, but I always feel guilty when I don’t go in at all.
I know my weekly hours will still add up to 40+ hours….........but I still feel guilty!

Boss called me in this week to discuss my constantly expanding work load. We both agreed that it would be great if I could pass on some of my responsibilities to someone else. I have too many tasks to complete/roles to fill for one 40 hour week.

We discussed options…...and he then scheduled a meeting with an individual who may possibly be able/willing to take on some of my work load.

WOW…..... that would be awesome to be able to let go of some of this stuff! I hope it works out. If it doesn’t I’m afraid I will be terribly disappointed. The possibility of HELP coming soon most certainly gets my hopes up!!!

This last week I decided to plan out my work week….....logging how many hours I thought I would need to work and on what days.

I planned for about 36 hours…....knowing that extra hours would sneak in here and there.

Then I tried very hard to stick to my planned time. This involved saying a firm but polite NO, to non-emergency appts and such that were requested outside of my planned hours and forcing myself to put the work away when it was time to stop.

All this added up to a true 40 hour week…......instead of the typical 55-60 hour week that has become an unfortunate habit of mine.

I think I have learned a valuable lesson here. I need to put up clear boundaries about when I am ON and when I am OFF. For example, just because I’m working Tuesday, does not mean I am available for every waking hour of that day.

Perhaps if I stick to this plan, the 60 hour weeks will become a rare exception and not the norm.

I got up early and went in to the office to finish up before anyone else showed up:) Took me about 50 minutes (moving VERY FAST!!!) and now I am done in the office for the next 2 days! Hooray!

It has been a boiling quagmire of stress at work this week. I am so glad to escape for just a while:)

This has been a real downer of a work day. And on top of that, I have to go back in tomorrow because I didn’t finish my tasks for the week (too many unscheduled interruptions).

So…...in the effort to control my schedule …...tomorrow I will go in for 1 hour and 1 hour ONLY!!! I will wrap up as quickly as I can and be done for the week!!!!

This is my last week of a 3 week part-time stretch at work. It has been absolute BLISS! I wish it could go on forever. Technically it could, if I quit my job…....... But I’m not sure that would be such a good idea:)

During my part time weeks I tried to work through a new plan to keep my weekly work hours @ 40 (INSTEAD OF 60). The bottom line is some things are just going to have to NOT GET DONE! (about 20 hrs worth of things). I made a list of what I think are the MOST IMPORTANT things that I accomplish at work. I also made a list of what is less important and possibly could be delegated or eliminated. The hard thing is all the work tasks I do are important to somebody (so “somebody” is going to complain when I stop doing some of these things.)
So I am presently steeling myself up to deal with the criticism and hold to my boundaries. The 60 hour work weeks have got to STOP becoming the new normal!

This was a great “schedule” week. I felt very organized and in-control of my work schedule. Even though today was a long day, it was very productive and I didn’t have a bunch of “leftover” tasks left at the end of the day. As a result, I will NOT have to go in Friday and Saturday! Woo-Hoo! I’m really looking forward to tending to my home and my family for the next two days! The truth is I function much better at work when I can see that time away is on the horizon. My job includes HEAVY and REGULAR doses of stress….....and too much time spent in this environment really wears on me. Even one day totally off the clock does wonders. TWO is GOLDEN!!

If only I could strike this balance every week!