Two months into this experiment.
I am now 8 months into salary life.
2 months in to working 2100-0700 call only.
The problem with ceasing to work all the hours, is that you cease to make all the money.
For my entire nursing career my self-worth has been linked to how much money I make.
I am certain this is similar to lots of adults.
And how much I can work.
Can work, not will work.
Because I’ve never met a shift I didn’t want to pick up.
But I am trying to reform my workaholic ways.
It’s a bit of an uphill slog.
I had grand plans when I started my shift.
I was going to organize the closets.
I was going to get rid of things.
To date, after Christmas, my biggest accomplishment has been tacking tee shirt mountain in our bedroom.
I love tee shirts and would routinely wear them under my scrubs.
Today I went through tee shirt mountain.
First, I separated them into types.
This pile is jammies.
This pile I wear out in public.
This pile I wear to work.
But I’m not working 5 days a week anymore.
I took the work pile and further separated them out.
This pile is the science ones.
This pile is the introvert ones.
This pile is the reading ones.
This pile is the Star Wars ones.
I have a lot of tee shirts.
Of course, I used to work a lot of hours.
I think I am going to rotate piles.
And all my funny/cool tee shirts get a turn.
To be worn when I go to work or out and about.
Or to class when I get to my next steps.
Now, which to take to conference with me.
I think I will take the kitten holding up the world, like Atlas in Green mythology, saying ‘I’m fine, everything is fine.’
And the educated, vaccinated, caffeinated, dedicated tee.
Basically, the entirety of the science pile.
What should I tackle next?
Book mountain, I think.
I definitely do not need to buy tee shirts for the foreseeable future.
Dispatches from the Evening Shift 