Season of Learning

I recently accepted a new job, same company just different department. It is nice because I am learning something new but am familiar with all the people and the way the world works, making the transition easier. At my company, we use the term “drinking from a fire hose” when you are learning something new. People expect you to just get it and to immediately know what you should be doing. Therefore, you are constantly drinking from the fire hose to understand all the new material, procedures, and job duties.

Because of the pressure I put on myself during this transition, I stopped all my fun activities. Reading for fun, enjoying a glass of wine, visiting with friends and exercising were all put on hold. I spent all my personal time reading for work and studying new concepts. I am sure you know where this is going, but after about 2.5 months, I hit a wall. I was no longer retaining information I was reading, I was tired and ready for bed before the girls’ bedtime, I did not feel like “me”and I was not my energetic happy self.

I am lucky. I am lucky the feeling of “being drained” came so soon that I could course correct before true burn out. I realized in a whole day of doing nothing how much I really needed that rest time. I also took the time to reflect on what I removed from my life and what needed to quickly come back. All of my favorite things; I needed to be gentle on myself and allow myself time to read, drink a glass of wine, see friends and most importantly exercise.

Without the point of reflection, I was on a self-destructing path. I am now scheduling time to score myself on life balance at the end of the week. My weekly scoring looks like this:

Did I make time to read for fun a few nights?  Did I exercise at least twice this week?

Did I have a glass of wine one night?  Did I see a friend or two?

I encourage you to create your own scorecard to determine if your week was balanced. And like I always say, if it was not, be gentle, kind and readjust.