August, its fair to say, was a little bit mad. In my last blog post, I wrote about the challenge of accepting the days where you just feel completely deflated and like you need to ignore everything apart from the duvet and a streaming service (I have a lot of them so it depends on the mood I’m in!).
I’ve just come to the end of the first two weeks back in work and it has been hard. Really hard. On the whole though, this is to be expected. Everyone goes through a phase of worry and anxiety when starting a new job and most people throw themselves into it to try and make a good impression. Needless to say, this has definitely applied to me!
The thing that was most daunting to begin with was having to have the conversation with my manager about what exactly has been going on with me over the past five months, and the planned next steps on the road to recovery. I needn’t have been worried at all. They were amazingly supportive and its really helped me get to grips with everything. They have been really accommodating with the date for my next therapy appointment and have been very reassuring with comments of, this is absolutely normal for starting a new job!
The positives are that I have survived! I had a GP check up to see how things were going and my GP is ecstatic with my progress over the past few months and even managing to make it through the first two weeks. I have got into better eating habits as well, as the routine of the days supports meal times. My hydration levels are up and my movement goals on my Google Fit has been smashed and upped!
But as the second week drew to a close, I was starting to feel a bit off. I was feeling far groggier in the mornings, my appetite was fluctuating a bit and some of my skin conditions were flaring up. I was also particularly irritable. I’d become neurotic about the tiniest little things which wasn’t good and words were failing me a different times.
Over the weekend, I took out my planners and looked through them. This has been the first time where I have consciously looked back through my wellness and bullet journal in one go and there on the pages were clues as to why this change may have occurred (aside from the obvious of just being back in work).
I had actually had a few nights sleep where I was down on sleep by anywhere between 30 and 90 minutes. I had missed breakfast on two days. I had also not had any real time to myself. I’d literally got up, travelled to work with others, spent the day around people, travelled home with others and then spent time with my husband until I couldn’t keep my eyes open. All of this, was adding up to me feeling horrendous. Having it in my planner to look back at, has been really important to helping me understand this and to explain it to my husband.
The process of reviewing my planners, has only really become routine after re-reading the bullet journal method and this is just further evidence that it should be part of the routine. I used all of this to help plan this week and, although I’m only two days into the week, I am beginning to feel the difference. I’m still getting there with my overall mood and feeling about things, but I’m feeling a little difference with my skin conditions and I’ve been able to explain it all to my husband so that he can support me through it.
If you don’t review your planners regularly, I really recommend it because it can help you make adjustments and improvements that will hopefully have a positive impact on your day to day goings on.
My Life Planned Out 