Mandatory Down Time

I'm not home much during the week because I work so far away from my house. I leave around 7am and get home around 6:30pm on a normal night when I don't have anything going on after work. But now that the weather is getting nicer I have been stopping to do my workouts on the nature trails before I go home. So yeah... a 12 or 13 hour day is typical and if I get home around 8pm that means I have about 3 hours in the evening at home before I go to bed. And those 3 hours are spent cooking dinner, doing housework, chores or whatever -- plus trying to fit in a little time for relaxation and hobbies.

So I really treasure my weekends and I'm usually pretty selfish with how I give away my time. The weekends are my time to recharge and prepare myself for another long week of working and life.

I've noticed that since I started working this job with the long commute I have become a homebody. When I'm driving or at work or just away - I often find myself thinking, "I just want to BE home." Not "go" home, but to already be there.

This past weekend wasn't very relaxing and I wasn't at home very much at all. I spent Saturday with one of my Meetup.com groups and we went on a shopping trip in the Detroit area. Then I hit the coffeehouse Saturday evening to listen to a jazz band play. Sunday I spent up north with my grandparents - bring grandma home from the nursing home for the day, cooking my grandparents a meal, doing laundry and housework and other chores all day.

So here it is, Monday morning, and I've got a headache and I'm battling grumpiness. All because I didn't get my mandatory down time over the weekend. And next weekend is a long way away still.

I also know that when I get grumpy or too tired that my eating habits go down the toilet. So this time around I'm going to be hyper-aware of the tendency and try hard to avoid the pitfall.

I'll try to find some time for purposeful relaxation this week (probably not until Tuesday or Wednesday though) ... it won't be exactly the same as sleeping late and having a leisurely day at home ... but I'll do what I can to combat the grumpiness and exhaustion that often comes after a busy weekend.

~Pam