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Day 176: Gratitude 16

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Gratitude of the Day: Vacation Time

My second gratitude of the year was my job and I am thankful to have a job. But I’m also thankful I get all the additional benefits of having a full time job. Vacation time! And sick time! And 401K contributions! And holidays with pay! I was temping for a few years and it was a real hardship whenever I had a holiday or had to go to the doctor. I took a vacation once for a few days and I had a good time, but I was also constantly worried about money because I had to take those days without pay.

Now I’m full time and I can finally plan my vacations or days off and really enjoy myself because I’m getting paid while I sip lattes somewhere else. I understand this is a luxury to have and I really appreciate all the benefits that come along with full time work.

Until tomorrow. (Note to self: Remember – I like my job!)

189 Days to go.

Day 172: Gratitude 12

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Gratitude of the Day: Half Day!

Today’s gratitude is an easy one! We were given a half day at work because of the long weekend this weekend. I mentioned yesterday that I’ve been working a bunch this week. I’ve been really tired and worn out, so it’ll be nice to have some extra time to myself (if I can leave on time!)

Until tomorrow.

193 Days to go.

Day 171: Gratitude 11

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Gratitude of the Day: New York Times 52 Places To Go in 2018

I love this feature the New York Times comes out with every year. I’ve been looking forward to it for a few months now and it finally came out today! It recommends beautiful and interesting places to travel to, both typical travel destinations with a new twist and places off the beaten path. The photos are beautiful and it gives me new ideas for places to travel or just places to look at pictures of.

Work has been hard and long the past few days, so it’s a good reminder that the world is a big place. It helps me look beyond my small corner of California to the wider world and I’m thankful for that. Plus ideas of where to travel to! 🙂

Until tomorrow.

194 days to go.

Day 168: Gratitude 8

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Gratitude of the Day: Laura Mvula with Metropole Orkest conducted by Jules Buckley at Abbey Road Studios

I discovered this album about a year ago after someone on Pop Culture Happy Hour recommended it and it makes me truly happy. It has a sort of melancholy yet hopeful sound and I can listen to it over and over any time of year. It’s really great to write to and have on in the background or to just sit with. Plus I discovered a new artist whom I love.

Easy one today, but something that I’m really grateful for.

Until tomorrow.

197 Days to go. (Under 200 days is consistently freaking me out as I type the numbers).

Day 167: Gratitude 7

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Gratitude of the day: Pomodoro Method

Have I mentioned I used Pomodoro Method in the past? The basic premise is you set an amount of time to work where you only focus on one task. So set a 15 minute timer for writing and then you get a 5 minute break and then another 15 minutes to focus (or 25 or whatever time works best for you) and then wash and repeat. It’s really helpful to break down larger tasks into smaller time increments to make them less daunting and more manageable (and easier to start)!

I started using the Pomodoro method coupled with the X-method (don’t miss a day so you can see all those sweet x’s) and it really changed the way I get things done. I have such a hard time starting tasks, but it’s easy if I tell myself I only have to do 5 minutes and then I just keep rolling along until I’ve gotten more done than I anticipated. And I get to fill in a day on my Habit Tracker 🙂

Easy peasy.

Until tomorrow.

198 days to go. Eek!

Day 165: Gratitude 5

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Gratitude of the Day: This Blog

This blog may never be what I hope it will become, but it’s helping me keep myself accountable for what I want to accomplish. I love the quote from Bill Gates:

Most people overestimate what they can do in one year and underestimate what they can do in ten years.

With this blog I can see my failings and successes over time across days and months and maybe even years. I can see where I need to put in more effort and where I can sit back and relax. It’s really good for me.

Until tomorrow.

200 days to go! Oh my!

Day 162: Gratitude 2

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Gratitude of the Day: My Job

I like my job well enough. It’s a lot of work and the people can be a little overbearing, but it’s generally a good environment and a good job. Sometimes I let myself get overwhelmed with all the bad things about it that I often forget the good. There’s some politics, but not a whole lot. I have friends at work that I get along with and I don’t usually get the Sunday Scaries. Most people work hard and we all do our best.

On my way back to work today after the holidays, I need to remember that I’m thankful I have a job that pays me pretty well and that I generally like. There’s not really much more you can ask for in a job, so I’d say I’m in a pretty good situation.

Until tomorrow.

203 days to go.

Day 125: Sunday Scaries

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I know I’ve been going on and on about my new job, but it’s a big life change. I’m happy I got the title and salary bump, but it’s definitely been an adjustment. And still is! It’s been a lot of work and I’m genuinely wondering how long I can do this for. Hopefully it’ll get better, but if it doesn’t, I know want a life outside of work and time to work on my own projects. After all I’m putting in 50 to 60 hours a week, which I enjoy for the most part, but it’s ultimately not what I want to do and it’s a lot of time.

For the moment, when Sunday rolls around I just don’t really want to go to work. I don’t dread going and I don’t mind being there when I’m working, but I just don’t want to go. This is normal. Work is work.

My first job out of college was terrible. I don’t know if the job was actually terrible (although people often left) or if I was just adjusting to life after college. Probably a bit of both, although they did have some weird policies. Whether or not the job was terrible, it made me feel terrible.  Every Sunday before work I would just lay in bed for hours with a crushing feeling in my chest. I would walk to work and imagine getting hit by a bus. (Definitely not healthy.) I would cry in the bathroom at work and made elaborate lists counting down the hours, and the minutes for each workday. This is not normal.

Eventually, I chose a day I was going to quit (and made a list counting down the days). I booked an airplane ticket for a few days after my planned exit date, so I couldn’t back out. And then I quit. And I felt fantastic – a weight lifted off my chest which had been crushing me for the past year. (I also played, “One Day More” from Les Miserables on repeat the day before my last day. It was great.) It was a terrible job and sometimes I wondered if I should have stayed, since the following few years weren’t a walk in the park, but in the end I think it was a good decision and I don’t regret it. I’m even thankful it was so terrible, because it brought me to my current place in life and now I know if I ever have those feelings again to get out. It was a good learning experience.

I didn’t know the term Sunday Scaries until I moved to LA. I like it though. It gives a cutesy name to something terrible. Hopefully I don’t have it with this job, but if I do, I already know what it feels like and I know I have the choice and the power to make it go away.

Until tomorrow.

240 days to go.

 

 

Day 123: Monthly Check in Pt. 4

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Time for my fourth monthly check-in. Everything sort of fell by the wayside since I got my promotion. Not only did I start a new job and have to figure out what I’m supposed to be doing, but several people were out of the office for various reasons and it was A LOT of extra work. My schedule has just been work, sleep, eat, repeat. It’s terrible.

  1. Work on my Novel – Like I said, everything fell to the wayside so I haven’t worked on my book at all. But I have several days over the Thanksgiving holiday to work on it and get back on track.
  2. Ballet – I went a few times at the beginning of the month, but then fell off since I was working a lot of overtime. Classes are cancelled for the weekend, but I’m aiming to be back on track next week. Hopefully….
  3. Promotion –  DONE! 
  4. Get out of credit card debt – This is actually going pretty well! With my promotion, I have a higher salary, but I’ve also been working a ton of overtime so I have more money than anticipated. Good for the holidays too. 🙂
  5. In a relationship – Still Bumbling. Since I started working more, it’s been harder to date. It didn’t really pan out earlier, but I know I have to keep trying. I often wonder if I’ll ever meet someone, but that’s another thought for another day.

So there’s my fourth monthly check-in. I feel a little discouraged since I feel like I haven’t done much since last month. I have to remember things take time and I can’t get everything done all at once. It’s only been four months and I’ve already accomplished a few things. I have eight more months to get everything done.  Plus, as they say, you have to plant the seeds for the trees to grow in the future.

Until tomorrow.

 

Day 117: Hi again!

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It’s me! I’ve been MIA for many, many days. I got my promotion at work and then radio silence basically. A few team members were sick or traveling for work and then we had a major event coming up and so I really only had time for one thing. My life the past few weeks has just been work, eat, sleep, repeat. I’ve never clocked over forty-five hours previously, but now I’m getting close to sixty. It really is exhausting.  I don’t know how people do this for years.

I really haven’t had time to do anything else in my life these past few weeks. I wrote for ten minutes today before I had to rest and take a nap. I skipped ballet and I’ve cancelled on so many dates in the past couple weeks, I think of myself as a flake now. It’s no good. (I am making way more money than I thought though…)

I didn’t think it was going to be like this. And maybe it’ll get better in the future. It really has to. Maybe it’ll be better once I know what I’m doing and can just do it at the drop of a hat without doubting myself…but if it doesn’t then I don’t think I can do this in the long term. We’ll see. I need to go take my second nap of the day now.

Until tomorrow.

248 days to go.