New Routine Review: Day 3

Happy Friday! I am trying my best to get myself into a firm routine, but it is not happening yet. This is the fourth day after our "do less while you are here and do more when you are at home" talk at work, and it is Friday, so I am working entirely from home today rather than going into work. This week has also brought us a mandatory mask order (mine is rubbing a blister on the tip of my nose) and 24 hours where we went from 87 degrees to 29 degrees Fahrenheit...in 24 hours!

Over the past three days, I have tried to figure out an afternoon routine. I now have more afternoon hours to fill because I have to leave as soon as my essential work duties are finished. I am getting home in the early afternoon now, but I have done almost as many groups in the morning as I used to do all day, so my therapy fatigue level is the same as if I spent the entire 11 hours a day I used to do - 9 hours at work and 2 commuting. I am now only doing 6 of those hours at work, but I am struggling with using the additional 5 hours a day for good things and not just naps and avoiding things that need to be done.

I have managed to find some routine in the mornings. I now have my documentation system here at home, so I spend about an hour doing my documentation before I go to work (so much later than usual). I also do my social media and playing games, etc., in the early morning. The afternoon/evening routine is still eluding me.

So, when I can't do what I want to do, I tend to try to change things up to make things work the way I want them to do. Yesterday, I may have come across a solution for me.

Yesterday, I was tired after four groups. I drove home and was exhausted. This probably has more to do with my current allergic state than anything else, but I decided to rest before working. I took the recycling out to the dumpster and got into bed for a rest (problem #1 - the bed is WAY too comfortable for me!). I remained there for about 90 minutes before I started to work in my bullet journal which led me to my project book and a review of ideas from last month. I was then ready to spend some time making digital files for some new games (they are up on my Teachers Pay Teachers store site, by the way). I spent about 2 hours working on work-related things, and when I went to bed later, I felt like I had accomplished something important.

That's what I have been missing - that feeling of accomplishment.

I want that feeling to continue so I am going to be adjusting my evening routine yet again. This next week, I am going to try coming home, taking a couple of hours to rest, and then working on things that will make my professional life a bit more cohesive. The rest is essential right now as I am working through balancing my need for routine with my need to be working.

So, here is an outline of the routine that I am going to try next week. If it works, I will keep it up. If it doesn't, I'll review what did work and what could be changed to be better for me. Anyhoo, here it is...

5am-6am - computer work - email, blogging, etc.
6am-7:30am - documentation - work duties
2pm-4pm - rest - not by using the computer
4pm - start to work on projects, TPT files, file folders, session strategies, etc.
6pm - talk to family members, social media check-in and bullet journaling
7pm - webinars and check-ins; on nights without webinars, work on recording songs or Music Therapy Morsels.

That should give me three to four more hours per day of working on things that are work-related which will fulfill my responsibility to my employers in a way that helps soothe my anxiety and support my work ethic.

Time to start my day working at home - with client documentation!