Weighed Down

Yes, "weighed down" is exactly how I feel right now. Like a sinking anchor, a balloon that won't stay afloat, a bag too heavy for the back. And maybe even like what a lot of patients often tell me, "it feels like there's an elephant on my chest!" It's only the 3rd week into my 13 weeks straight of ward medicine, and I'm already "weighed down," on the verge of burnout. Ha, can you tell I'm a countdown person? I was at the store the other day, and a singing Christmas tree told me it was 74 days 'til Christmas. But no, I was not quite in the holiday spirit.

I am weighed down by all the patient care duties, all the work hours, demands of my pets at home. The pager calls from the hospital while I'm trying to feed myself and the animals at home, the insanely early wake-up calls, the regularly scheduled sleepless nights, aggg!!! What's worse, I have a BIG test this Friday that's woefully unstudied for and Kitty is getting sicker, quickly spirally out of our ability to take care of her. At work, it's one patient after another, admissions upon admissions. At home, it's books piled high to be read, and Kitty's intestinal mess to be cleaned up day after day. Thank God that Hiro has stepped up and leaving his business for me exactly where I want him to. But Hiro is getting older, and he needs professional obedience training now which I have not yet secured for him.

I've finally spent some time today realizing I'm overwhelmed and coming up with some ideas to fix this. My upcoming free weekend, although already planned full, is so much more needed now. What I need is just a little time off and then get into action:

1. Prioritize my to-do's
2. Cut down on the daily non-essentials
3. Maximize my spare time at home
4. Re-focus on the really important goals.

Ha ha, my life is sounding like a business plan, if only I had come up with a cute acronym. I'll be okay, a concoction of sleep and wise stategizing will do wonders for being "weighed down."