Tag Archives: scheduling

Having Things Organized And Clean (or Not Slacking Off Because Of My Upcoming Move)

Posted on March 1, 2022 | Comments Off on Having Things Organized And Clean (or Not Slacking Off Because Of My Upcoming Move)

Happy March! I’m hoping this will be an exciting month for me. I will either be moving this month or be very close to moving by the end of the month. Things with the pandemic seem to be getting better. And while this might not be able to happen, I might have a trip later this month (it’s very likely to not happen, but I’m still hopeful). And of course, I’m also starting a new monthly challenge.

For February, my challenge was all about working on to-do and task lists. I knew I needed to be more organized with my time, especially as I took on new projects at work. And I was hoping I could work on planning what I would be doing after work so I could be better about my free time. Well, I did do pretty well about making lists for work. I still have a running list of tasks and projects I’m working on and for some of them I have the due dates listed as well. But for my free time, I didn’t plan too much. I think this had more to do with not having much to do after work this past month and not as much about not wanting to do it. If I had an errand or a bunch of errands I needed to do after work, I did write things out and plan the order I wanted to do them in. Even without doing all the lists I was hoping I would do, I did feel more in control with my time than I did before so that was a positive result.

And this month, my challenge is something that I feel like I have to add in because I have noticed myself slipping. I am pretty clean and usually have a clean house. I’m not perfect and sometimes things build up, but I’ve been good in the past with having a regular cleaning routine and making sure I don’t slack off too much. But for the past two months, I have used the excuse of my upcoming move as a reason to not clean. Like not dusting because I’ll just be putting things into a box soon. Or not stressing that my floors haven’t been mopped because I am dragging something out of my house soon so I can clean after that. But what I think is the messiest thing lately is having piles of things I’m still sorting through and saying it’s ok to leave it and deal with it later.

But having a messy house is affecting me and despite me thinking it’s ok to put things off, it’s not good for me. So I want to get back to my regular cleaning routine as much as possible and to continue things as if I wasn’t going to be moving soon. There are some things that I can’t exactly do because of prepping for a move (some boxes are around and I can’t put things away since they are going to the new place soon), but those are the exceptions and not the rule. I know I could do a lot more with my cleaning and making my space feel more comfortable for me. I will still have some discomfort with how my place is coming apart and being put into boxes, but I shouldn’t be adding more stress to it when I can help it.

In the past, I have done speed cleaning every day and I kept that up for a while. But I stopped doing it when I got into a better routine and had regular days to do different tasks. But I think I need to get back into my daily speed clean just to make sure I’m not ignoring something that I am telling myself I can put off until later. And when I move, I will probably need to have a new routine so getting back into the groove with speed cleans will probably help me when figuring that out when I move.

I know I won’t be perfect with this challenge since as the month goes on I will have more obstacles to cleaning the way I want to. But I don’t want to use that as an excuse to not do the things I know I can get done now.

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Default ThumbnailBeing Organized and Stylish (or Working On Getting Into A Post-Pandemic Life) Default ThumbnailAnother Monthly Challenge (or What To Do When You Are Crazy Busy) Default ThumbnailPlanning Ahead and Getting Excited (or Working On Getting Back To The Old Me) Default ThumbnailAlways Cleaning (or At Least The Pandemic Helped Create This Habit) Default ThumbnailI’ve Been Slacking (or I Need An Easy Challenge This Month) Default ThumbnailAnother Attempt At Mindfulness (or I Think I Need To Work On This Until I Figure It Out)

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Unexpected Challenges To My Monthly Challenge (or I’ll Be Planning More This Month)

Posted on February 1, 2022 | Comments Off on Unexpected Challenges To My Monthly Challenge (or I’ll Be Planning More This Month)

Happy February! I feel like January took a very long time and it was an overwhelming month. But I’m glad to be on to a fresh month with what feels like a fresh start! And that also means time for a new monthly challenge.

In January, I challenged myself to limit how often I ordered delivery food. I knew I was getting back into bad habits and wanted to break them before things got more out of control for me. I really hoped I would only order food maybe once a week if that. I would have loved to have had a month with no delivery food and I had tried to plan my grocery shopping around this idea.

And for a good portion of the month, I was doing ok with this challenge. I was ordering in once a week but I had planned for that. And I was really working on focusing on what I got at the grocery store so I felt like I had more than enough options at home. But this planning came to a halt after my recent doctor appointment. I had planned on going to the grocery store after that appointment, and because I was leaving the appointment on crutches that didn’t happen. I ordered in delivery food that night and I felt like I had earned it. But then the next day I forgot to order groceries to be delivered so I ordered in again. I finally got back on track over the weekend, but I hate that I ended the month having the worst time with my challenge. But I guess that is life, especially when you have unexpected things come up.

For this month, I want to try to plan for the unexpected a bit more. I want to work on task lists and to-do lists. I have done a similar challenge before, but the main idea is to have a running list of things I need to make sure I get done. If I need to reach out to someone or I need to remember to get something at the store, I want to have a list going so I don’t forget about it until it’s too late in the day. For example, right now I have to call some utility companies about setting things up in my condo. I have to work around certain business hours so I don’t want to forget to do that. I also know later this week I have to order something so it arrives on time. Again, I want this list next to me during the day so I see it and can do things when I have a break in my day.

I think besides making sure I don’t forget to do things, this list will help me feel like I have more free time in my day. Instead of remembering I need to do something in my free time so it is split up and not as relaxing, I will get the things done from my list before I get into a free time mindset. I know this won’t be perfect and there will still be things I forget, but this will hopefully help.

And I’m going pretty low-tech with my challenge. I know I could do a list on my phone or computer, but I just put scrap paper next to my computer (since most things involve being online at some point) so I can add things as I remember them and cross them off as I get them done.

Hopefully, doing this will help me be as productive as possible in February. It has the potential to be a crazy month with a lot of things happening, so I want to make sure I stay on top of as much as I can.

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Default ThumbnailTime For Some Planning (or Trying A Challenge Again This Month) Default ThumbnailAlmost Through A Year Of Monthly Challenges (or Picking A Good Challenge For November) Default ThumbnailTaking A Month To Reset (or This Doesn’t Really Feel Like A Monthly Challenge) Default ThumbnailMeal Planning and Learning French (or Monthly Challenge Time) Default ThumbnailNot Perfect This Month (or Challenged With The Monthly Challenge) Default ThumbnailStill Trying To Get Back To Normal (or Isolation Monthly Challenges Really Are Not Easy)

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Not Much To Write About This Week (or Busy But Not Doing Much)

Posted on January 21, 2022 | Comments Off on Not Much To Write About This Week (or Busy But Not Doing Much)

This past week has been a pretty busy one for me. I’ve been doing a lot of work stuff and I also have been busy trying to get my condo ready to hopefully start the renovation soon. Even though it was technically a shorter work week with having Monday off, I feel like I have been playing a lot of catch up with time. And because that’s how my week has been going, I hit a bit of writer’s block for this post.

My days this week have been filled most of the day. Either I’m working out early in the morning or I’m doing errands and tasks before I start work. For example, yesterday before work I had to be at the condo because I was selling the old appliances. And selling these appliances took up significantly more time than expected. I had buyers say they were coming and failed to show up. Or one person said they wanted them, showed up, but had no way to move them and seemed surprised that when I said they would have to move things themselves that I was telling the truth. I didn’t expect that it would take up this much time, but between posting ads online, messaging with potential buyers, and trying to meet those buyers; I used up a good chunk of my free time this week.

And this week at work has been exceptionally busy and crazy. This is when things tend to be crazy, so I was a bit prepared for that but it always takes a lot out of me. So if I had a bit of free time after work, I usually was decompressing a bit before moving on to the next thing I had to do that evening. And I felt like this week I had an endless list of things I had to get done but also wasn’t getting anything done. I stayed up later than I wanted to and didn’t get much sleep, but at the same time there was nothing happening. It was a weird week this past week to understand where the time went and what I actually did.

So I’m hoping this weekend I will be able to reset a bit and catch up on things. I know I won’t be fully caught up by Monday, but I need to get things checked off my to-do list and have less that I have to do during the week. And maybe if I can get things ready for the week over the weekend, I will have more interesting things to write about in my posts next week.

But for now, this is going to be a short post. I don’t have a lot other than busy work to write about this week, but at the same time I feel like I have nothing to say.

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Default ThumbnailBusy Work (or It’s All Coming Together) Default ThumbnailBusy Busy Busy (or Triple Job Day) Default ThumbnailJust Being Lazy In The Rain (or Not Much To Write About) Default ThumbnailJust A Normal Weekend For Me (or Lazy Days Are Surprisingly Busy) Default ThumbnailEnjoying A Bit Of A Half Week (or This Week Is Always Odd) Default ThumbnailMaking Busy Days Busier (or I Guess I Like To Maximize Only Certain Days)

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Enjoying A Bit Of A Half Week (or This Week Is Always Odd)

Posted on December 29, 2021 | Comments Off on Enjoying A Bit Of A Half Week (or This Week Is Always Odd)

I think most people agree that the week between Christmas and New Year’s is always weird. It’s almost like a week that doesn’t necessarily happen since many people have odd schedules and routines may not be what they normally are like. And I think this year it’s even more weird than normal. The week is actually a full week and not split up with a weekend in the middle. And we are dealing with all the weirdness with the pandemic and those fears around that. So this week seems far from normal.

Even I don’t have a fully normal schedule this week. I’m working my regular hours at my box office job for most of this week, but those are pretty limited hours so they rarely would be affected by holidays. And at my other customer service job, I’m working half days. And they are half days in the middle of the day (so I’m working 11-3 instead of 9-5). I did keep my workouts early so I have a bit of a time gap between my workouts and starting work, which is nice to have since I usually rush a bit in the mornings. And I have my afternoons free which is nice to get some errands done. Especially for some errands that have to be done during business hours and I struggle to find time to do them in a normal week.

I’m glad I have a bit of a schedule to go by this week so I don’t just waste my time each day. I know how easy it is for me to get into a very lazy routine. I noticed that this past weekend when I had 3 days off. I try to not sleep in too much because it can be tough to be back onto a sleep schedule. But getting up early when I don’t have anything I have to do for several hours does leave me a lot of time to do a lot of nothing. But I am trying to enjoy the freedom I have in my schedule this week since I know things will be crazy again before I know it and I’ll be missing having this extra free time.

And having this odd week is letting me reflect a bit on how this past year went. I’ll be doing recaps the next few days on how my 2021 went and then also posting my plans and goals for 2022. I know this past year wasn’t what anyone expected, but that is both a good and bad thing. And having time to think about what I was able to do even when it seemed impossible is a nice boost when I’ve been a bit low lately.

Hopefully having this weird week gives me the time to rest and recharge a bit before kicking off the new year and hopefully accomplishing some awesome things. And it lets me remember that I earned a bit of rest right now because I did get quite a bit done this past year even if it doesn’t feel like that at times.

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Default ThumbnailScheduling Life (or Trying To Remember What Day Of The Week It Is) Default ThumbnailA Very Low-Key Holiday Weekend (or Enjoying A Real 3 Day Weekend) Default ThumbnailThe Longest Week (or Having A Regular Work Week Again) Default ThumbnailJust A Bad Workout Week (or I Need To End The Year Better Than This) Default ThumbnailGetting Myself Back On Schedule (or At Least This Is A Slow Transition) Default ThumbnailAn Up and Down Workout Week (or a Weird Week and a Weird Milestone)

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Short Weeks Can Feel Really Long (or I’m Glad It’s Almost The Weekend)

Posted on September 10, 2021 | Comments Off on Short Weeks Can Feel Really Long (or I’m Glad It’s Almost The Weekend)

For a while, whenever there was a holiday on a Monday I would joke how it didn’t feel like a holiday week for me. My box office job is Tuesday-Saturday, so having a Monday off is normal for me and nothing special. I used to not be a huge fan of Monday holidays because the things I would normally do on Mondays would be much more crowded with everyone else having the day off too. But I also knew that was just how things worked for me. And in some way, having Mondays always off allowed me to have a pretty regular schedule even when there is a holiday. And I do like routine in my life when I can have it.

I do still work that job Tuesday-Saturday, but I have my other customer service job Monday-Friday so Mondays off do now give me an extra day off. And I did take advantage of that time off this past week when my parents were visiting me. Because we were busy all weekend, it didn’t feel like the usual time off, but I did enjoy having more time to be with family.

So it should seem like this week would feel short since I had an extra day off. But this week was also a week filled with dealing with pain and nausea. So each day seemed to drag on and take a long time. Having a 4 day work week ended up feeling like a 7 day work week. I hate feeling awful like I’ve been feeling this week and I hate that it makes time drag on so much longer.

But I’ve been trying to do things this week to try to make time go by a little faster. I’ve been focusing on doing what I can to feel better and staying on top of taking medications that help and doing other things that can make my symptoms not as extreme. I’ve been making sure I schedule time to relax each day and if relaxing means just laying in bed then I will do that. I haven’t been planning much outside of work and my workouts because I never know how I will feel each day. And I’ve been trying to keep my weekend pretty open for the same reason. I know I will have more time to take care of myself over the weekend and I’m looking forward to that. And maybe within the next few days, my pain and nausea will decrease. Sometimes when it’s really bad at the beginning it gets better before I expect it to be over.

I know that I should be grateful for the work that I have and having any time off from work, but sometimes I feel like any change in my schedule throws off my week. I think the combination of the weird week and how I feel just made this week seem really bad for me. But my plan is to work on resetting as much as I can over the weekend and hopefully I will go into next week feeling better and ready to get back to a regular and full work week.

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Default ThumbnailSorry For A Short Post (or Hopefully I Feel Better Soon) Default ThumbnailThe First Of 2 Short Workout Weeks (or It’s Funny That This Feels Weird To Me) Default ThumbnailJust Dragging On (or Another Apology For Another Short Post) Default ThumbnailPushing A Bit Too Much (or Glad I Took The Weekend Off) Default ThumbnailJust A Normal Weekend For Me (or Lazy Days Are Surprisingly Busy) Default ThumbnailIt’s Another Short Post Type Of Week (or Sorry About This)

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Getting Used To A Full Time Schedule (or I Didn’t Think It Would Feel That Different)

Posted on August 12, 2021 | Comments Off on Getting Used To A Full Time Schedule (or I Didn’t Think It Would Feel That Different)

This week is the first week that I’m working full-time at my customer service job. While I’ve had full-time hours in the recent past when you add up all the hours I did for all my jobs, I never was working 8 hours a day at any particular job. Even before the pandemic when I was working full hours for my box office job, I only worked 7 hours a day and I was always done by 3 pm each day. Now, I’m working  8 hours each weekday for a single job and I’m working until 5 or 6 each evening. Obviously, working more hours is putting me in a better financial spot. But when the extra hours were offered to me originally, I was a bit hesitant. So right now is a bit of a trial period to see how I feel working so many hours.

I was able to negotiate some things with my hours so I’m only working until 6 pm one day a week (for some reason, being done at 5 seems so much better than being done at 6). And my co-workers and I are testing out how to split up responsibilities so I’m not feeling overwhelmed by doing one task for too long. Working in customer service can be a lot, but I’ve been lucky that for the most part the customers are kind and have questions that were easy to get answers for. But there are the occasional situations where it’s very stressful and I am grateful my job is mindful of how that can affect any of us.

And I do know one of their concerns was if I would feel burnt out because I was doubling how many hours a week I was working. I figured it wouldn’t be too bad since I was working until 3 since I was working my box office job. So working until 5 was only adding 2 more hours onto my day. And I have worked 40 hours a week before, so I thought it would be easy enough for me to adjust to it. Technically now, I’m working closer to 60 hours a week when you consider my other jobs, but there is overlap with my hours (all my jobs are aware of this and have approved of me doing so). I’m only a few days into working my new schedule, and I’m already noticing how things feel different for me. And I’m trying to make adjustments so I don’t feel like I need to reduce my hours in the future.

Most of the things are related to time management or comfort while working. Time management has always been a struggle for me. Fortunately, right now there isn’t a lot going on in my life outside of work and my workouts. But I do want to plan time to relax and decompress from my day. I eventually will have more happening in my life, and I need to know how to add that in when I have the chance. But if I’m always exhausted after work, then I won’t be doing much in my evenings except being lazy at home. So I need to find a way to manage my time so I’m not feeling so tired. And that might have to include things like taking more stretching breaks and other things like that so I don’t physically feel exhausted after work.

And along the lines of stretching breaks, I need to find ways to be more comfortable while working. My desk setup hasn’t changed much since I set it up when I built this desk. I have added little things like a better desk chair and a footrest (which sadly broke so I need to replace it), but I want to see what else I can do so my body isn’t hurting after working for so many hours. I do have a cushion on my chair that is supposed to help, but I think I need to either get a better cushion or a better chair. But I also might want to add something on my desk so my arms and wrists don’t hurt after working. Also right now, because it can hurt for sitting for a long time, I take breaks and bring my computer into my room, lay on my bed, and work. I know that’s not the best way to work and I’m sure I’m straining or stressing some part of my body. But sitting at my desk for so long isn’t great for me either. So I have to figure out what I can do so I don’t have other issues while working.

I know this work setup is new to me and I need to still figure out what to do. But I also feel pretty supported by my job in having flexibility if things change or I need to figure out a better situation for me. But hopefully I will get it all figured out and this will just be a blip in my work history before being settled into a new routine.

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Default ThumbnailFinally Back To A Full Work Schedule (or I Really Do Like Having A Stable Schedule) Default ThumbnailGetting More Used To My Schedule (or My First Full Week At The New Job) Default ThumbnailSeeing How To Make My New Schedule Work (or I Have A Better Idea Of My Free Time Now) Default ThumbnailMaking Up A Schedule (or What To Do With My New Free Time) Default ThumbnailFully Using My Work Time (or Having A Job Where I Feel Productive) Default ThumbnailFull Day At The New Job (or Seeing My Old Workplace Abandoned)

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Keeping My Calm (or So Much At Once)

Posted on July 30, 2021 | Comments Off on Keeping My Calm (or So Much At Once)

Even though I just have posted about new job stuff and how I will be working more hours, this post has nothing to do with that even if it seems so. I actually haven’t made any changes just yet, so it’s probably better that I’m having this happen before it does.

I have a problem with being overscheduled, busy, and stressed and then swinging hard in the other direction and being bored. And right now, I’m in a time of being busy. And it’s just the way that everything happened to fall and not something I could have prepared for. I’m trying to stay calm and remember that I don’t have to do everything myself and it’s ok to ask for help. But it’s hard to do that when I want to feel capable and not held back.

Work stuff has been crazy lately, but that might actually be easier when I’m working more hours. I try to clear all the work before my shift ends, and soon I will have twice the time to accomplish that. I don’t want to rush because that’s where mistakes can be made, but I always feel bad if there are things I didn’t get a chance to take care of when my shift ends and someone else’s begins. And I’m aware that I take on a lot more of the work because I handle all the overnight stuff, but I still don’t want the person doing the second half of the day to have anything left when we switch even though they have said it’s ok if that happens.

At my other customer service job, things have been crazy just because that’s how this time of the year goes. We also are almost fully open with about half the staff. So that’s tough for us all and I only am working minimal hours there. So I know I’m lucky but at the same time I still want to get everything done since I am not the person in the morning and don’t want the others to have to do work I couldn’t get to.

And I’m in the middle of election season for my union. This is stressful to go through but so rewarding. And in the past I had a bit more free time to work on things. There’s also the added change with not doing anything in person and having much more done online, which makes my job a bit more than in the past. But I’m working on my time management as much as I can so I have the time to do all my responsibilities or realize early enough that I need help so someone else can jump in.

And I’m sure the fact that it’s been very hot here recently and I’m pretty isolated in my house isn’t helping. I’m not going out and being social outside of my workouts and the rare hangout with a friend. I know I need to take mental health breaks, even if they are just something inside my house. I need to make sure I don’t hit burnout because I know that it will affect me harder than normal when I don’t have ways to mentally escape.

I know that this is temporary and I will likely be feeling bored again. But until that happens, I just have to take care of myself and make sure that these extreme moments don’t become too hard for me to get through.

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Default ThumbnailTrying To Go With The Flow (or Staying Calm And Remembering To Breathe) Default ThumbnailBack To Normal (or Catching Up On Life) Default ThumbnailMissing Out On Some Fun (or Flexible Time Management) Default ThumbnailProductive One Way And Slacking In Another (or Working On Finding Time) Default ThumbnailFiguring Out My Pain (or Staying Calm While Stressing Out) Default ThumbnailStaying Calm In The Crazy (or Is This Month Over Yet?)

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Posted in Acting, Tough Stuff, Work

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Making And Cancelling Plans (or I Know We Are All Trying To Stay Safe)

Posted on July 23, 2021 | Comments Off on Making And Cancelling Plans (or I Know We Are All Trying To Stay Safe)

It’s been a very slow transition back for me, but I’ve slowly been trying to make plans. Some things are not very soon, so I’ve been feeling ok about having plans that aren’t for another month or two. I know that there has been discussion about the fall being worse, but maybe the increase of cases now will get more people vaccinated so the fall won’t have another surge. But nobody can predict what will happen. I honestly thought we wouldn’t have a surge like we are having now. But it only took a few weeks and things are now what they were like when things were much more restrictive all over California. So even when I’ve been making plans lately, they are being made with the assumption that they might have to be canceled.

And that’s exactly what’s happening right now. I had plans for tonight, but those have been postponed since we want to not have to worry as much about if anyone feels unsafe. It’s unfortunate, but I have been starting to think more and more about what risks I would be willing to take. I know that breakthrough cases are rare and when they happen they tend to be mild, but it’s not a guarantee. That can change and breakthrough cases could get worse. And I’ve worked hard for over a year to not get sick and stay healthy. As much as I’m ready for regular life again, it’s not regular times yet and we can’t forget that things aren’t great right now.

And with plans I have coming up being canceled, it’s making me wonder about my birthday this year. It’s coming up and I originally wanted to have some sort of gathering since I miss my friends. I wasn’t going to plan anything too crazy, but maybe a hangout somewhere so people could come and go. And I know I could do something in a park or another public place, but I’m starting to lose a little motivation to plan something this year. It feels weird to be celebrating when it doesn’t feel like a very celebratory time. The 4th of July was different because things were still looking good. Now, I don’t feel the same hope and joy that I felt only a few weeks ago. I’ll still do a few of my usual traditions, but they might be slightly different as they were last year. But right now, I’m really hesitant to plan for much more than that.

I’m not planning for total isolation again and I’m going to have some social time since (at least for now) I’m still able to go to my workout classes. But I’m also not really making the same plans I was trying to make earlier this month. I still have done very few things with friends, but I was at least trying to figure out what we could go do. Now, I feel more like I want to wait and see and make sure I’m not taking risks that seem like just too much right now.

And I know there is no way to predict if things are going to be getting better or worse now, but it’s hard not to fear it will be getting worse. I just have to be hopeful that something will change, people will get vaccinated, and we can really get back to normal and having normal plans again. I know it will happen eventually, but I hope that eventually doesn’t take that much longer. And while we are waiting, I will just have to keep evaluating things and hope that I find enough things that feel safe and allow me to see the people that I’ve missed for way too long.

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Just Enjoying My Boring Routine (or Still Working On Adding More Back To My Life)

Posted on July 13, 2021 | Comments Off on Just Enjoying My Boring Routine (or Still Working On Adding More Back To My Life)

For a good chunk of this year, I have said that I need to work on adding more things back into my life. I missed so much while being isolated in my house. I was bored for days and weeks and I was ready to be out of my house and busy with anything else. And I do still feel like I need to keep adding more back into my life, but I don’t feel the same pull to force myself to do that as I did before.

There are still some concerns about the pandemic for me. For a while, the numbers were getting better every day and things seemed so much safer. But the past week or two has been different and numbers have been increasing every day. Now, things are close to where they were months ago with the number of cases every day. The deaths and hospitalizations aren’t as bad, and most of the research says that a huge majority of cases now are from unvaccinated people. So I should still be safe. But I’m still being careful when I can with wearing a mask when I am out and not taking too many unnecessary risks. I’m not as fearful as I was earlier this year with going out, but I do notice some anxiety and I have had a few panic attacks at the grocery store recently. I understand that masks are optional now if you are vaccinated, but it still makes me nervous to see people in a store without them (fortunately, almost everyone seems to still be wearing a mask).

But I also think that the reason I don’t feel the need to add more to my life right now is that I’m finally busy again with work. Even though all of my jobs are part-time, when you add up all the hours I do each day I am working full-time hours. Sitting in front of a computer for hours a day is draining and I usually want to rest when I’m done with work. I also still have regular things to do after work that I’m not doing in the middle of the day like I did when I wasn’t working. And I’m working on cooking more at home so that also takes up time.

For me to do more fun things in my life, I do need to plan ahead and add them to my schedule. And I know I can do that and I’m sure if I asked my friends if they wanted to plan something, we would. But I’m back to where I have felt before in my life when I just don’t feel the push to be super social. But this time it’s different since I’m coming off of a year of not be social at all. So I know I should make an effort to make plans, but I’m really just enjoying the routine and normalcy right now. This is something that I was missing for a long time, so routine doesn’t feel as routine as it used to.

I know that more and more things are opening and happening around LA, and I do want to take advantage of this amazing city that I live in. But while going on adventures is a bit about the novelty of it all, so is having a normal schedule again and I’m really just enjoying having something like my old life back and being in a routine that I can count on.

And I’m sure that it’s only a matter of time that I will be bored of my routine and really craving to go out and do something. And I’ll figure out what I can do and what seems safe and I’ll have much more interesting things to write about.

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Default ThumbnailHaving A Pretty Boring Routine (or This Keeps Repeating) Default ThumbnailJust Trucking Along (or Enjoying Like Being Normal And Boring) Default ThumbnailStill Working On Creating Better Habits (or Getting More Prepared For “Normal” Life Again) Default ThumbnailA Little Of My Old Life and A Little Of My New Life (or Yet Another Thing To Balance) Default ThumbnailHaving A Busier Routine Is Nice (or This Feels Even More Like Normal) Default ThumbnailWorking On A Work/Life Balance (or Almost Repeating A Recent Monthly Challenge)

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Finally Back To A Full Work Schedule (or I Really Do Like Having A Stable Schedule)

Posted on June 9, 2021 | Comments Off on Finally Back To A Full Work Schedule (or I Really Do Like Having A Stable Schedule)

For the past year, there have been so many changes with my work schedule. Before the pandemic, I had a very stable work schedule. It wasn’t necessarily the same schedule every day, but from week to week it was the same unless I was working a few extra hours to bank hours to take time off. Even with having one of my jobs being on my own time and having a lot of flexibility, I was consistent with the hours I worked and that allowed me to have stability in my life and to plan for things outside of work time.

At the start of the pandemic, I had reduced work hours for a while. Then it got reduced even more to only working 3 hours a week to handle voicemails and pass off messages. And then in August, I was out of work with my box office job. I still had my flexible one, but it wasn’t a lot of hours.

And then, when I got my new job, things started to stabilize again. I still had some fluctuations with my work schedule with my hours changing slightly and then switching up my job responsibilities. But it’s remained pretty consistent since I completed my training with the job. And then recently, I went back to my old box office job for a few hours a week. It was a bit of an adjustment to get used to working that job again, but fortunately I was able to pick it up quickly. I knew because of my new job, I wasn’t going back to the hours I had with the old job. But I also knew there was a little room for additional hours and that it might be happening.

And this week, I’m increasing my hours at my old job. I still don’t work there on Mondays since that company is closed on Mondays and I have already been working on Saturdays for the full shift. But now, I will be working 2 hours in the afternoon Tuesday-Friday. And this pretty much maxes me out for what hours I could do. I guess I could add the first hour in the morning 2 days a week, but unless things get crazy at that job I doubt it will be happening.

I have felt like I’ve been back to my full schedule since I started back at my old job, but now I’m really back to something closer to my old schedule. I am working earlier than I used to a few days a week since my new job has a different schedule than my old job. But for so long I worked until 3pm most days and that’s what I’ll be back to now. There is a slight chance I may be adding more hours to my new job later in the day, but that’s something that would happen in the future and it’s not something I’m worried about just yet. For now, I’m just happy that I’m back to what feels like my normal schedule from before the pandemic.

I’ve said this before, but I’m glad I had a slow transition back into working. I think it would have been overwhelming to go from no work to a full work schedule again. I’m still working on breaking some of the bad habits I gained when I wasn’t working and I’m glad I’ve had the time to slowly adjust to it. I do still have a few struggles (mainly with not getting enough sleep), but I’m working on getting better each week and I know I’ll be back to how I’m hoping to be soon enough.

And besides loving the consistency with a full work schedule, I’m also glad from a financial standpoint. I’ve been doing ok for a bit, but it’s because I’ve had money saved. And I don’t want to keep using that money to pay my bills. Since starting back at my old job, it’s helped even though it’s not a ton of money. And with the increase in hours, it still isn’t a ton of money but it will help. I’ve been doing a bad job with my budgeting again, and knowing I’m at what should be my schedule for a long time is motivation to work on a fresh start with my budgeting app. I know that I still don’t make a lot of money and I have to be careful, but knowing that I should be making enough now to not have to stress each month is a great feeling.

As much as I wish I lived a life where I didn’t need to have day jobs and could live off of my acting career only, that’s not my reality. I hope it will be my reality one day, but until then I need to be happy with my day job situation. And I’m finally in a good place again with my day jobs and I’m so happy that this is just one more thing that feels like I’m getting back a bit of my pre-pandemic life again.

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Default ThumbnailGetting More Used To My Schedule (or My First Full Week At The New Job) Default ThumbnailSeeing How To Make My New Schedule Work (or I Have A Better Idea Of My Free Time Now) Default ThumbnailReadjusting (or I Guess I Forgot What It Felt Like To Work My Work Schedule) Default ThumbnailGetting Myself Back On Schedule (or At Least This Is A Slow Transition) Default ThumbnailWork Begets Work (Old Bosses Possible New Jobs) Default ThumbnailUnderemployment Is Frustrating (or Trying To Find The Balance Of Flexibility And Work Hours)

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