Work Countdown!
I said before that my work stress at the start of Fall term, could be thought of as a marathon. A long stretch where I have have to keep going despite being tired and wanting to stop. Monday is the start of that race. I’ll be at the starting line on Monday and Tuesday am the gun goes off and it begins. Today is the morning of the race, and I’m wandering around with butterflies in my tummy! Sometimes I feel nervous and stressed out at the thought of that long of CRAZIES! But then I remember I have the ability to get through anything as long as it has an end. For this term, there will be 23 work days of crazy! After that special one time things will be over, and so will the usual termly insanity. Granted new things will come up in October but the number of major things that are happening is much, much smaller, so that will be much less crazy.
In a strange sort of way I’m looking forward to this crazy period. I know I won’t get to do very much other than work, but I’ve learned so much about myself and what all I am capable of this summer. I want to take this term on in a more positive light. The summer stress almost took me out, and I will NOT that that happen this time. I have learned from the mistakes of the summer and will be doing things differently. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure! So what are the things that will make this time different? Well let me tell you!
- my colleague who usually teaches two courses is only teaching one and has offered to help me and I’ve said thanks and accepted it!
- I’m running again, so while I’ll struggle to get in the runs, I smartly only require 3 a week and it will give me somewhere to burn off my stress.
- my mother will be coming up for the 3 busiest weeks to make sure my kids are loved, well fed, have clean clothes to wear, and continue their normal routine, while I do my thing.
- my husband and I are going to see a counselor together to sort out our issues, and we have all the tips my counselor gave us, that are really helping.
- my friend has offered me her spare office to work in the evenings when I can’t take my work office anymore, and my house is too noisy, so I have a quiet safe haven to hide and work and not be all alone.
- my boss has offered to help out in any way he can, to reduce the load on me, even if it means doing part of my job, which I may just take him up on.
I’ve grown a lot from having met with a counselor over the summer. Usually I would feel this is a sign of weakness on my part to not be able to handle things. To be honest it used to make me feel like a failure. But I’m learning that’s not true. Accepting help, even asking for help, does not make me weak. I have great colleagues who WANT to help me. It’s funny how I am one of the first people to offer to help anyone when they stressed, but am the last the accept it when it’s offered to me. I have changed my mind set so that rather than thinking they are offering me help because they see I am failing and need to bail me out, I think that they see me busy, struggling, and want to help out of the same kindness that I have when I offer to help them.
So I feel excited to see how thing pan out this time around. I may end up working crazy extra hours, but if I can keep the stress in check that’s absolutely a victory for me. So I’ll keep you posted over the next few weeks of how things go, but for now I’m choosing to be optimistic! And honestly, a little positive attitude never hurt anyone!