My days are getting away from me...

[mousme]

Once again, I have found myself in that weird place I swore I'd leave behind, in which I have no time for anything anymore. No time and no energy.

Because of my job, I've had to cut back my social stuff almost 90%. Other commitments I thought would be over by now are stretching out, and might still be here by summertime, by the looks of it. As much as I enjoy these things, I can't help but just feel tired thinking about it. My weekends go by in a blur of engagements and obligations (ones I enjoy, but obligations nonetheless), and when Monday comes I'm still exhausted and have ten thousand things left to do.

The apartment is still clean, but I need to give it some serious attention in some areas. Starting Monday I'll be going to the YMCA three times a week, and once more for yoga, which means my mornings will be halved in terms of time, and that'll leave me with *one* free morning a week in which to do all the Other Stuff that needs to be done during the week (because I usually don't have time on the weekends).

Also, I'm tired. I go to bed and I'm tired. I wake up and I'm still tired Part of this is the usual starting-a-new-job tiredness that usually stays with me for three or four months until I settle down properly into the routine. Except that there's more to it. I haven't actually felt properly rested since August of 2006. There was that bout of Mystery Tired™, which started at the beginning of August. Then I started work at Dial-A-Husband, and while I had plenty of nervous energy because of New Job Stress™, I was constantly exhausted (and I do mean exhausted: I could barely muster the energy to make myself food and go to bed on most days). Of course, I was working 50 to 60-hour weeks, so I attributed it to that. Then November was NaNoWriMo, which means being tired is par for the course, and then in December I started a new job (again), and my entire schedule shifted *twice*.

So I don't know if the fact that I constantly feel drained now is just residual stuff from having two new jobs in a short period of time, or if there's something more going on that I've simply ignored since August, or what.

There are also other things I want to do, but I don't know when I'll ever be able to conjure the time to do them.

Anyway, I don't know what to do about any of this. I'm just whining, I guess. Don't mind me.

Comments

[joane.livejournal.com]

{{{hugs and pets}}}

Let me get the Jewish mama out of my system quickly - you've had iron and thyroid levels run, right? And maybe a test for mono? It's a long-shot, but you never know.

I'm around and doing nothing but Being Sick and Sulking, if you want a sympathetic ear.

[mousme.livejournal.com]

I haven't had any tests done yet. I was going to in August, and then the Mystery Tired™ got overshadowed by tiredness that seemed to be perfectly plausible.

I shall likely be making an appointment soonish in order to get all that settled.

I don't think it's mono: no fever, no inflammation, no nothing. Just tired. :)

[pasley.livejournal.com]

Whine away my dear! You're allowed (plus it makes me feel better about all my whining), and you also have a right to feel overwhelmed and tired from the sounds of your grueling schedule.
(Please don't mind my asking, 'cause I only do it out of friendly concern, but do you think you might be. . . what is the term. . . over-extending yourself? Do you really have to do all those things you do?)
Anyway, I'm sorry to hear you're feeling bad. Hope things get better, that this is just a passing phase.
xox

[mousme.livejournal.com]

Oh, I'm definitely overextending myself. The problem is, even my attempts to disengage from the stuff that's been draining have failed miserably so far.

I'm going to make another concerted effort to reduce the number of commitments I have. It doesn't look like much from the outside (at least, not to me), but my current work schedule doesn't allow for much these days.

*sigh*

I hope it's a passing phase too.

[pasley.livejournal.com]

Is there the possibility of a schedule change for your job some time down the line, or is it the night shift or nothing?

[mousme.livejournal.com]

Not much chance right now. I'm doing "swing shift," which means 2:30pm to 10:30pm, which actually suits me in terms of my own rhythms. I tend to be an early-ish riser (when I follow my own natural patterns, I tend to go to bed around 10 or 11pm and get up around 6am, supposing nothing else goes awry), and I enjoy having my mornings to get stuff done.

The only disadvantage of the shift means that my evenings are always shot in terms of anything other than work.

I honestly don't know if I *want* a different shift right now. What's killing me is the fact that I have no real down time, especially on weekends. So I think I shall have to regroup and re-evaluate what I want to do about that.

[silly-imp.livejournal.com]

"that'll leave me with *one* free morning a week "

It sound's like your mornings are turning into the equivalent of many busy folks evenings, one (or perhap two) free per week! Without the added social benefit of actually seeing friends in the evenings, alas.

[mousme.livejournal.com]

Alas. :)

Still, going to the YMCA is good for me. I hope I shall reap the benefits sooner rather than later, though. :)

[tcaptain.livejournal.com]

Go ahead and whine, its an inalienable human right :)

I wish I had some advice, but I don't really...so I'll just say I'm sending good vibes your way.

As for the Mystery Tired, stupid question but how do you sleep most nights? Do you have a hard time getting to sleep? Wake up tired or maybe congested? Anything like that?

I ask because I've been feeling somewhat the same and recently I picked up a humidifier and an air purifier and my sleep difference is quite noticeable after 4 days now. Just a thought

[mousme.livejournal.com]

Huh. There's a thought. I'm often congested in the morning. About ten minutes after I'm awake it goes away (though not the tired it).

I shall look into that. What kind of air purifier did you get, and (if I may be indiscreet) by how much did it set you back?

[tcaptain.livejournal.com]

Be indiscreet me dear...its ok lol.

It was a question of having extra money. I picked up a big honeywell column (if you want model numbers, you'll have to ask me later when I'm home) which is rated for 169 square feet or something. I paid 139 I think at Walmart.

There are cheaper models but I wanted 1) one that could handle a decent sized room, and 2) that had re-useable washable filters (didn't want to be stuck buying them over and over).

I leave it running all day (low setting)

If you are congested in the morning, check humidity, maybe your bedroom is too dry too. The humidifier I picked up (also with a filter...go figure) was cheap.

I think it was a combo of the two that made a difference imho but again, I have known for a while my place is extremely dry.

[joane.livejournal.com]

Oooh... I didn't even think of this before, but do you have any idea if you snore? Rich's constant exhaustion turned out to be sleep apnea, but we only discovered it after I crowbarred him out to the door to go do a sleep study. He never would have noticed on his own (naturally, being mostly asleep through it all) that he actually stopped breathing frequently during the night. One of his symptoms that we now know was connected was breathing issues (raw throat, stuffed nose) when he woke up in the mornings.

[mousme.livejournal.com]

No idea. I didn't when I lived with my parents, but that was five years ago. I have no one to tell me if I snore. :P

I suppose I should check to see if I can get some sort of test done for that...

[joane.livejournal.com]

It might be worth asking if you can get an appointment for a sleep study; they would be able to check if there's anything disturbing your rem cycles even if it's not apnea.

[dizietsma.livejournal.com]

something that helps me to balance things is to think of my "down time" as busy time, as a high-priority commitment, something that must be treated equally to all those other important things. when i think of it as slack time i find myself worrying about what else i could be doing instead which kind of spoils the mood and makes me want to not organize any more of it for myself.

Do Nothing

[blackbuffet.livejournal.com]

This will sound more than strange but you need to fit yourself some "Do Nothing" time to rest your brain just like you sleep to rest your body. I have worked the evening shift for quite a while (slightly earlier than you but around the same time frame) and one thing I found very annoying is not being able to optimize and take full advantage of the time I had left in mornings or late nights to get everything done...

I was then promply suggested to take some time doing nothing. Whether it be 15 minutes, 30 minutes or an hour... You need a little down time to help you get energized to tackle down that way-too-busy schedule.

Oh... and when I mean Nothing... I MEAN NOTHING. N-O-T-H-I-N-G. (Maybe pet the Feline Forces of Entropy.)