Of course I over-scheduled myself this past week. This job was supposed to counter-vent that but you can only do what you can.
I covered for the evening shift Thursday and Friday from 1900-2300.
I had agreed to cover the weekend call shift for the weekender months ago.
It was just my dumb luck that the two occasions collided.
Add in a soupçon of very late/early cases and add a dash of very long surgeries by Sunday I was hurting and had the entire week of my own shifts to do. I did a series of 5 things to make it a bit easier on myself.
The first thing that I did to be kind to myself was that I allowed my husband to take care of the house and the cat during the weekend. He also fed me and would have stepped in to feed the OR if asked.
I slept when I could and took naps as needed. This was number two.
It wasn’t a hard weekend, just a long one that was bookended with long surgeries on either end.
The third thing I did was take Monday off from working out by giving myself a rest day.
A book I had on hold at the library was ready to picked up and I did that on Thursday. I read in snatches through the past six days and returned it early. You know, for the next person. This was number four.
The last thing that I did was order new work shoes because I had been stepping out of my clogs.
And they came today!
Happy dance.
None of the things that I allowed myself to do were difficult but it can be hard to get out of the “I am responsible for the universe” mindset.
This is me giving myself and you permission to be kind to yourself during long stretches.
Even if you did it to yourself.
Especially if you did it to yourself.
Also, Merrell is finally making shoes that are not brown or black or navy.
Happy Day!
