3 posts tagged “work”

I normally hate reading about people's dreams. I firmly believe they're far more interesting to the dreamer than anyone else. As such, I don't know that I've ever posted anything about a dream that took more than two minutes to read. But this is more than that. I promise.

When I worked in retail, the standard anxiety dream was being told by my supervisor that I could leave after I helped one last customer. That customer would then pull a Bible-sized list out of a purse or pocket. When I worked at a restaraunt, I would get sat by a group of 50 just before my shift ended. When I worked for a photo lab, I would pick up my last job bag for the day and it would have 5000 negatives in it to print. When I worked for the print shop, I would have to restart the computer and the printer and the computer and the printer and recollate everything by hand.

And I don't know when the last time was that I had a work anxiety dream. I really think I've not had one at this job. I know work has occasionally affected my sleep, but for the most part I've been dream free. Well last night, or at least a few hours ago for me, I dreamt that I walked into my cube/office and there was a small blob of peanut butter on my desk. I turned to answer the phone and when I turned back it was spreading. I'm carrying on a conversation and watching it spread across my desk. I push a pile of papers out of the way, and do it again and then picke them up to move them to a filing cabinet which is suddenly coatded in peanut butter as well. And I accidentally touch some of it and then it is creeping up my arm and I can't wipe it off and it's coming out of the phone and its everywhere and then I wake up. I wake up twitching and violently and the cats jump off the bed because I scare them (Andrew doesn't move) and the first thing I think is "Man this is a sticky situation I've gotten myself into." And then I start laughing silently so I don't wake up Andrw and the cats come back to bed, with their suspicious and tired noses smelling at me. And I haven't been able to get back to sleep. All because I had a peanut butter nightmare

My brain, it is TEH WEIRD!!!1!!

I'm feeling burnt out. Between the day job which is less stressful than it used to be, but more tiring, the small purse business, writing for Gapers Block, neglecting all three of my blogs, seeing friends, trying to read two books for book clubs, trying to spend some time with Andrew, wanting to get more involved with a non-profit I feel committed to and an aldermanic candidate that I want to see win, I'm friend, burnt, and needing a break. I think the fact that I got a cold right after Thanksgiving which  kicked my butt for a week and then lingered for two and then getting another cold while in Ohio for Christmas and still not feeling all that recovered, is a sure sign that my body is tired and needs a rest, a break, some relaxation, dammit!

And I intend to give it. I kept saying "I'll relax after Christmas, I'll relax after my orders are finished, I'll relax after New Year's, I'll relax after Martin Luther King weekend. But I have to start relaxing now. I have to work a little less each day. I have to take time to knit and watch Gray's Anatomy. I have to put aside my laptop and stop surfing for purse parts, management advice sources, shopping cart options, and just do something else for a while.

And its hard. I've slowly gotten into this habit where I come home from work, make dinner with Andrew, begin working either in my sewing room or at my laptop and then finally close the laptop at 1 am when I realize that I've just got to get at least some sleep so I'm not miserable the next day.

Last week we both stopped working each night at midnight. That's one hour earlier, and a nice start. I'd like to see us both stop at 11 which means we might actually get 8 hours of sleep a night. It's not exactly a resolution, but more a goal we've both been voicing lately. Losing 15 pounds by getting more exercise, eating less crap, and cooking more dinners are resolutions that are all entertwined into one that goes something like "Live like a responsible adult." We'll see how far we both get on that.

Last week I received the news that my promotion has gone through. I'm excited to have new challenges, delighted that I received what I wanted without having to argue for it, and nervous because now I have to be responsible for things I've not done in an official capacity before. And this is where I turn to the Internet for help. I've got good, or at least very decent, people skills. I'm a great listener and I really do care and want the people who will be answering to me to be happy, or at least as happy as possible, with their jobs.And I know that eventually I will feel confident in my abilities as a manager. However, since I've never been trained for this position I feel the need to get up to speed. My company will be providing me with some professional development classes. But I have no idea when those will start, what they will entail,or how helpful I will find them.

So if any of y'all out there have found a book that you've liked, or a website that you've gained knowledge from, or even a lesson that you've learned and would like to share, I'm all ears. Or eyes, I guess.