It's ironic that I wrote a post on self-care since I've been working so much lately! With my continued long commute and 5-6 day work weeks, work really took a toll on me these past few months. Things I experienced include:
Poor eating habits: I certainly engaged in lots of emotional eating this past month, mostly chocolate.
Increased acne: Probably from stress and lack of sleep.
Increased irritability and poor mood: Likely from lack of sleep and exhaustion from work.
Increased sleepiness: I've actually had to pull over and nap in my car several times during my afternoon commute. Not good!
Lack of productivity: This is demonstrated by things like my messy room and lack of blog updates!
This month, I'm definitely going to take a few days from work and perhaps take a trip somewhere. Self-care is something that should not be neglected by social workers. I know that I was not giving my best during these past few weeks. Hopefully after some recharging I'll come back refreshed and do better!
I hear ya! I was working about a million hours a week for awhile and realized that while I love what I do, it's not the only thing I want to do with my life. I started blogging right in the middle of that crazy schedule and can't believe how writing a blog has helped in so many ways-- totally an unexpected outcome!
ReplyDeleteMy blog is not all about social work, but social work seeps in a lot.
This is the post that really started it all for me:
http://seashelldownbytheseashore.blogspot.com/2011/10/me-at-my-desk-on-slow-day.html
this one is more focused on SW:
http://seashelldownbytheseashore.blogspot.com/2012/04/mission-statement.html
Hang in there!