Back to My Routine...Sorta

Me in my almost house!

After a long, busy weekend, I am heading back into my regular work routine. It is 4:24 am, and I am sitting here, gazing at my blogging post wondering what in the world I might have to say to myself at this moment. My home is a mess because I have started packing for the move that I will be doing next month. The to-do list is getting longer and longer as I try to sort through all the things that I will need to do during the next 30 days. I have my checklists to go through and get myself organized with, but I am also feeling a bit overwhelmed about stuff. When I get this way, I tend to try to compartmentalize myself a bit more than I usually do, and it gets very overwhelming very quickly. I am also a bit hesitant to commit to leaving my apartment and to make arrangements for things like utilities because of my parents' experiences losing houses after offers had been accepted and all that. So, my music therapy routine is a bit off kilter because my life routine is also off kilter. I am not ready for any of this, but I guess that it is happening since everyone is taking my money.

So, what does that have to do with music therapy? 

Not much, but it does have to do with me, so it is reasonable to think that I will have some overlap between what happens to me when I am at home and what I do when I am in my professional role. No matter what people tell you about ideally leaving home at home and work at work, there are times when things overlap. I am in that sort of time right now, but I will strive to continue to do all the things that I need to do for both parts of my life at the level that I want and can sustain.

I am looking ahead to the rest of my week. This long weekend was supposed to be an opportunity to finish up all of my conference watching, and I did a pretty good job, but did not get everything finished the way I wanted to do. I guess I will be watching presentations while I am packing tonight and every night from now on. I would like to finish the presentations that I selected. I am about a third of the way through my list. I did not do any sort of AMTA enrichment yesterday because I was caught up in all sorts of running around, paying invoices, and packing things. I managed to move things and pack enough stuff in my craft room to be able to access the box closet, so I then was able to box up my clothing and most of my DVDs as well as a small part of the craft stuff. I continue to purge sheet music and materials to donate to Goodwill. In fact, I just need to get into a routine of taking things each afternoon after work. I think I will try to start that tomorrow - just swing by the donation center as I am going home. That means that I have to put together a box of donations this evening to take in the car tomorrow morning so it will be ready tomorrow afternoon. That is doable. There you go, home things took over my work focus yet again.

It is difficult to focus on the five groups and one individual session that I have today. I do not have a strategy in place at the moment. I have no intern for the next 10 weeks, so I have to do all the therapy groups myself. That is not something bad, by any means, but it is yet another thing to navigate while everything else in my life is swirling around me. Focus, Mary Jane, focus. Tomorrow and Friday have less group responsibilities, slightly more individual/dyad strategies, and more office time. I hope to have my session strategies finished by the end of Friday so the next week will be prepped and ready to go. I also want to rearrange my office space to make better use of the space available. I am waiting the arrival of a new, large, lockable cabinet for some of my instruments before I can really do what I want to do in my office area, but there are some things that can be changed right now while I am waiting. I will also be getting carpeting at some point - hopefully sooner rather than later - so, there are some things happening that will affect my arrangement. The other thing that I have to take into consideration is that I have lots of stuff here at home that really belongs at work. For example, the mini fridge would actually be used at work where it is largely ignored here at home. That will need a space. I also have to figure out where I am going to keep the drum set pieces where they are not a constant obstacle to what I am trying to get folks to concentrate on during group music therapy.

Okay.

Today will start with documentation and email review. I have volunteered to make signs for the Halloween carnival, so I need to get started with that task. I will prepare my sessions and then work on the signs. I have three sessions in a row - almost all high schoolers. Two of those three classes will have new students present - not new to me, but new in the classroom - so there will be some unsettled students trying to figure out their new ways of doing things. Then I have a short break, an individual session, and then lunch. After lunch, I have two more groups and then time to work on projects and digital activity development. Then it will be time for bus duty, and then I get to leave for the day. That's one of the nice things about not having an intern - I get to work my day and leave when the day is finished instead of remaining so my interns can get the 8.5 hour day that they work. So, I will drive the hour home and then continue to pack and watch AMTA recordings...and pack and watch...and pack and watch.

There is comfort in knowing what I will be doing when in my work routine, especially since my home routine is a bit wonky at the moment. I am enjoying the idea of being around my clients for a bit, making music with them. These types of feelings continue to reinforce the choices that I have made for myself in my professional life - that of being a clinician rather than moving into academia or research or business ownership. I enjoy being a full-time clinician, and I love the challenges that come with that sort of music therapy interaction day in and day out. My clients are the reason that I continue in this job and this role in the music therapy world.

Focus, mj, focus...

Today is Wednesday. Wednesday. Wednesday. I have to keep telling myself this because conference time always mixes up my calendar awareness and two days of mortgage discussion and inspections and escrow and all that has complicated things even more. Today is Wednesday. That means three days of work this week followed by the weekend. Okay. I will use my tools to figure out what I need to do. I will start calling folks about moving services and transferring utilities and stuff like that when I get home around 4:15ish. For now, though, I need to focus on what I will do to get ready for work and to get to work. First up? Shower and dress in professional clothing. I will pack my ideas book into my backpack, look around to see if there is anything that I can take with me today to store in my music therapy office, take what I can, and then leave this place for my other area of focus, work. I have to get gasoline before leaving. I also need to make sure that I have my letter for my mother ready to go into the mailbox at the gas station. Time to focus myself and my thoughts on work rather than everything else.

Work. Students. Sessions. Music.