As the clocks grows closer to 4:00 pm my stress level starts to rise.
I am trying to leave work to get home to my family and the rest of the work world is also finishing up their day and gettind ready to clock out for the day. The last hour of work seems to be the 'dumping' hour.
Everyone is working through their To-Do Lists and trying to accomplish those few last things that they need to. The emails start flying, the phone starts ringing. People stop by on their way out and fill you in on the days activities and dump their list to you. It's like an adult game of Hot Potato.
There is nothing more that I want then to leave but my job doesn't allow it most days. How do you look at someone standing in your office and say "OK, time to go- I'd like to leave work now." I can't do it. I don't have it in me and unfortunately some days that is the only time that you can get all the people in one place- the meeetings are over and it's a time when things can finally get done.
When I finally escape and start the trek for home my mind is racing. I am thinking about work, I am thinking about getting home to see my family, I am thinking about all the things I want to do when I get home, all the things I need to do when I get home, all the things that I need to do tomorrow, all the things I need to do to get ready for ______ (Christmas, Birthday, etc, etc), all the work that I should do when the kids go to bed to get ready for the next day at work, what to have for dinner, etc.
The traffic through Minneapolis is not fun. And to top it off someone decided it would be a great time to work on the road so my used-to-be-four-lane commute through the city is down to 3 and on some days 2 lanes. Makes for a long and annoying stop and go ride.
I hate the 4:00 hour.
I hate the stress I feel trying to leave work.
I hate the stress I feel driving home.
I hate the stress I feel about letting my family down when I am late.
I hate the stress I feel about letting my coworkers down when I am not around if they needed me.
I hate stressing about what to have for dinner.
I hate having to stop at Target every night to get what we need to make dinner.
I hate not being able to accomplish everything I have on my To Do List.
I hate not being able to even cross off one thing on my To Do List (most days).
Most of these things are avoidable. I can change my behavior or patterns to change the course.
Question is- why haven't I done anything about it yet?
1 comment:
The answer: you haven't had time to make a to-do list outlining the process for changing your behavior. It's a vicious circle. Here's a thought: move to Alaska where everything is slower, people are less organized, and the commute is pretty much only slowed by a moose crossing the road. Come. You know you want to. :-)
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