Onwards

It’s amazing the toll that stress can take on your body. It’s also amazing how your body can adapt to previously unheard of regimes (such as fresh lemon and hot water – a bitter but effective detox – in the morning) in order to restore it to its proper balance.

I’ve had almost seven weeks out of an office environment and in the last two I have finally, thankfully, begun to feel like me again and my body is singing thankfulness to me for giving it a much needed rest. A new job, a new routine, new challenges and new opportunities await and I’m so looking forward to it all. My mind is back to a place where it has room to process, my body has energy with little pain and I have established a set of eating and daily habits that will hopefully serve me well.

So… things I’m looking forward to:

• That Friday feeling. When you haven’t had to work during the week, the weekend blurs into just another day and you lose its value. You need to work hard to be able to understand that kind of relaxation and I’m looking forward to getting back to working hard.
• Listening to Radio 4 in the morning. Being in touch with the world beyond your own bubble is great for perspective. My commute has become significantly longer with my new job so I’ll be tuning in in the earlier hours and getting my global news fix.
• Managing a team. I’ve seen some outstanding examples of how NOT to manage people in the last few years and I’m so grateful I have an opportunity to manage a team in a way that inspires them and enables them to excel. I hope and pray I do it well!
• Incorporating my rest habits into my new work routine. My skin is glowing, my stomach is happy and my energy levels are restored. There are ways I can continue this even with early mornings and I have every intention of doing so! The hot lemon is a great way to start but so is the significantly reduced sugar intake, the decent amount of rest, the flexible time and prioritising my time with God, husband, family and friends without trying to please and look after everybody.

Hubby and I are marching into an exciting new season. Onwards!

Work-related jetlag

When you’re someone who is usually so organised and who under ordinary circumstances has all tasks thoroughly in hand, it becomes very apparent when a new job is taking over your mind. Affectionately nicknamed (by me), the ‘three week brain fry’, this phenomenon usually kicks in around the third week of a new job. Simple tasks become impossibly difficult and a work-related jetlag overcomes your brain and body. The symptoms that a person may be suffering from this calamity are actions including, but not limited to, the following:

• Working from home and discovering you left the power cord to your work laptop in the office, an hour and a half’s drive away
• Driving past your junction on the motorway and only realising when you happen to notice the sign for the next exit
• Leaving your card in the machine at Starbucks and returning to your seat, without having even entered your pin number to pay

Perhaps one of the most horrifying (for me) indications that I was suffering from this sad affliction, was in writing an email to a good friend, when I wrote ‘whether’ instead of ‘weather’ and it took me a whole minute after sending the email to notice. I am without excuse.

Thankfully, this sorry state usually sorts itself out within a week or so and the sufferer returns to their normal, organised, in control self. In the meantime, the casualty should make sure they don’t make any important decisions and ensure they get lots and lots of sleep…