Adjustment Period

It should come as no surprise, gentle readers, that going back to work after a year and a half on the dole has been a bit of an adjustment. 

I was nervous about going back to work after being unemployed for only a couple of months, not because I felt like I wouldn't do a good job, I know I'm capable and know I can do a good job wherever I am (though I was a bit nervous about living up to expectations - everyone wants to shine, after all!).  But, after a long period of unemployment, I was mostly nervous about the adjustments. You get used to doing your own thing.  You get used to sleeping in if you feel like it and staying up till 3AM to get your work (blogging, sewing, writing, art-making, what-have-you) done and going out till all hours on a Tuesday just because you can.  Even if you, like me, are doing a million things and working on a thousand projects and going to loads of meetings - it's still, for the most part, on your own time.

When you get a job, suddenly, all the work your doing is according to someone else's schedule.  From commuting with the masses to being at your desk at a certain time to making sure to be available when your boss needs you, your time is no longer your own.  This is something to which your MatchGirl must adjust.  I still have lots of projects of my own happening - fun Work It Brooklyn events being planned for the next few months, a sewing party with me and the fabulous Hip Girl's Guide To Homemaking, a little blogging here and there - and while I have always been fairly good at managing my time, I need to relearn how to manage my personal time with my project time and my working time.  I need to get used to organizing my nights and weekends around things that I need to get done as well as things that are just fun.

This weekend was a prime example.  I had homework to do.  I had blogs I wanted to write.  I had reading and research that needed to get done.  But it was a beautiful weekend - so many interesting things to do, so many friends to run into while strolling through the neighborhood on the arm of my gentleman friend - your MatchGirl simply could not focus on blogging or homework or laundry.  It just seemed like it would be such a better idea to keep walking around, holding hands and soaking in the sunshine.  And it was a lovely weekend.  But Sunday night came too soon and I'd gotten very little done.  I wouldn't have spent my weekend any other way, not this particular one, dear readers, but I definitely didn't make the best use of a lot of my time.  No worries.  I was up early Monday morning to do a little yoga before getting ready for work.  And I was up late Monday night, finishing homework and writing blogs and making food for the week (or, at least for part of the week).

It's only the start of my fifth day of work.  I suppose a little period of adjustment in only natural.  I'll be glad, though, once a little time has passed and I've re-learned to juggle my time with a little more ease.