So I was sitting in my cubicle in the late afternoon at the Fed and I was beat. I could have napped right there. There was no chance my body was biking seven miles and doing the other various torturous gym activities I find myself doing. I just wanted to go home and sleep. Perhaps I was getting sick, maybe dehydrated, or ever lacking sleep. I am unsure.
I do know the following:
- Back in my teaching days; I walked around, talked all day, never had a moment to rest, yelled at kids, walked up and down 5 flights of stairs all day long, no AC and nagging children constantly saying, "Ms. Ribods...."
- Now I sit in AC, cushioned chair (who knew they existed?), stare at a computer, speak the language of acronyms, interact with maybe 5 people in person and I'm no longer on an 8 period schedule.
5:00pm is the new 3:20pm. Conference calls are the new faculty meeting. Lunch? No one does it. And there I am.....ready to pass out at around 3pm. I am not sure what to make of this lifestyle I am living this summer. It's odd. It's what most of the working world deals with everyday. How?! I don't miss teaching, but I miss getting through the day in one piece.
Verdict: The grass is not always greener :)
3 comments:
Ha!! I feel you! You know we were messaging through that lame science training meeting, one of my friends was almost falling asleep. We are too used to being in constant motion. Sleep breeds sleep, objects in motion stay in motion, right? I think that is even a law of science! Hello! I find myself almost dozing in staff meetings or days spent out of the classroom...I have no words of advice.
CAFFEINE!!!
Seriously, I do not like hopping myself up on any type of stimulant, but I do have some caffeine in the morning. I try to limit myself to one diet coke, but some days, one just isn't enough. I don't drink coffee, so I'm discriminated against and I have to buy my own soda.
Staying busy is the main thing. As long as I stay busy, be it typing a report, sending tons of emails, chatting with you or the wife, I can maintain consciousness. When I have to review documentation or read some lame-ass report, I usually have to take breaks every 20 minutes to remind myself I'm still alive.
LUNCH??? WTF!!! Thats the only guaranteed break you have during the day. DO NOT, I REPEAT, DO NOT SPEND LUNCH AT YOUR DESK!!!!
You have an hour, make the most of it, go out to lunch (yeah, I know its expensive, but to me, I'd rather spend money than sit at my desk an extra hour), go for a walk, take your lunch outside and eat it, get some fresh air, just get up and go away from the office for an hour and do something other than stare at that blindness inducing box called a computer monitor.
Conference calls and staff/project meetings are the bane of my existence. Daydreaming is how I usually stay awake, thinking about where I'm going to ride my bike that afternoon, what I'm going to do when I get home, etc. Doodling, thats right, drawing random things on the note pad in front of you. Sometimes I actually participate in the discussion being held, which is even better. If you can actively participate in whatever the meeting is about, you don't have to worry about falling asleep. Otherwise, you're F-ED, and you'll spend most of the meeting nodding, drifting in and out of a semi-lucid state. Everyone does it from time to time though, so don't feel bad.
Katy was right, inactivity breeds inactivity. You have to do something other than go home and veg. Although, sometimes, sitting on the couch and watching TV after work just happens, just don't let it happen more than two days a week. You don't have to go to the gym every day, but go to the store, buy groceries, walk around a grocery store for an hour, walk around the mall for an hour after work, meet some friends at a bar, just do something other than nap or sit on the couch.
Teachers always have the best advice: no advice!
I hear you Nate. I decided to leave the office for few days and go to Key West where no one really believes in working. I pretty much worked on my tan the entire time I was there.
I like the way you are encouraging me to eat and drink after work. Walk around the grocery store for an hour? Perhaps you have never been to a NYC grocery store. If I walked around for an hour, I'd get dizzy after the 58th lap. Luckily, I do hit the gym, walk around the city and just spend about an hour a night on the couch.
Thanks for the abbreviated lifestyle of corporate America. It paints a pretty picture of hell. It's 1:20 pm and I am going to get back to my TPS reports just to get through the day!
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