Argh. Work is very, very busy right now. We’re in the final stages of rolling out new legislation and it’s exhausting. My manager took today as a vacation day, and I was up until 3am last night stressing – not working, mind you, just stressing – about finishing my essays. I have some extreme angst about choking, which is not being helped by the fact that I’m choking.
Justin and I are also getting prepared for our current roommate in Weston to move out, and a new roommate (friend of JVL’s from high school) to move in. Except we’ve decided to give her different rooms, and reclaim the second floor all for ourselves. Which means, of course, the horrors of packing and reorganizing and preparing for a huge garage sale either next weekend or the weekend after.
(
And, as a last straw, I really need to get cracking on renting out my condo. Clearly, since I’m having extreme focus difficulties with doing schoolwork there during the crunch, it’s time to let my dream of a dedicated school space go and make money from it. Plus, I wake up every morning, start getting dressed, and then no matter which bedroom I’m in, or what sock I put on first, the other half of the pair is inevitably in the laundry pile at the other residence.
So, as a relaxation technique, I tried to make something pretty. Here’s an artsy postcard I made for the Snail last night. I was trying for ‘clean, contemporary and not purple’, but somehow it has a distinct flavour of
Hope everyone else is having a less stressful time than me.
I am working for the quarter under a possibly bipolar German woman who handles disagreements about research methods by silently glaring out the window, followed by a disappearing act that lasts for hours on end (and neatly prevents me from doing experiments which I need her guidance for). My diplomacy, for which I am famed (no sarcasm), evaporated last week when she pulled the window glaring thing and I responded by asking her “[if she was] going to have a tantrum now?”. I only have one month left in this lab……but it is not going well…..
-caelllum
nice postcard, though.
-caellum
What you need is a plan. This has all the earmarks of `stressing about the essays, stressing about everything’ – you need to let some of this go.
You’ll have to deal with work while you’re at work – the good thing about it being insanely stressful is that it will keep you from stressing about the essays while you’re stressing about work.
The two things on your list that (I think) you can let go for now? The moving of the stuff to the 2nd floor, and the renting of the condo. The money from the condo is a nice-to-have, but you’re not relying on it to meet the bills right now, so it can wait. JVL can handle a lot of the moving stuff – so that shouldn’t be tops on the list either. Also, can you postpone the garage sale till after the essays are done? It would mean having crap around the house longer – but honestly, that’s a 4/10 problem – it’s livable.
You sound like you’re getting really overwhelmed by all the things that you need to do – and that’s a surefire way to make sure nothing gets done. Focus on the things that have have have to be done – your essays, & the legislation, and take it in the smallest chunks you can.
And just so you don’t feel alone – this is all very good advice which I should be giving to myself. We’ve just decided to let the temp who’s been `helping’ us while we find a new EA for my boss go, effective this afternoon – so I’ll be doing two jobs during the busiest possible time of the year for me. All this while David is moving in & while I study for the GMAT (when?). It’s apparently going to be one of those times – there’s nothing for it but to choose something & chip away at it.
Whew – inspirational talk done. 🙂
C
Lovely, even. And I’m not just saying that because you compared it to my work 😉
Hey, you should switch bosses with. You could ask her boss the questions that nobody wants to, and she could sent yours to therapy.
It’d work out in the wash.
what’s this about “JVL can handle a lot of the moving stuff ”
sure I’m buff, but I hardly know where moira wants her stuff to go… clothes on the floor, I got that, but with everything else I’m lost!
No problem, hon – clothes on the floor, books/CDs/DVDs/comics – in boxes/stacks on the floor, miscellaneous (zoinks) in a corner of the office (on the floor).
Come on man, it’s a win/win – she keeps her sanity & thanks you for it, you get (even more) buff – what’s not to like about this plan? 🙂
C