Lesson 3: Know how to decompress.
What I’m doing for work now is a step in a completely different direction from where I was one year ago. But you know, mama has to feed her kids.
I work at a halfway house. The rewarding moments can be few and far between. It’s really hard to feel like you’re making a difference when the people you’re trying to help question you at every turn.
It’s especially hard for me because I’m a sensitive person. The process of learning not to take every little thing personally has been difficult to say the least. And I have so much more learning to do.
I used to be a stay at home mom. In some ways, that prepared me for the type of work I do now. In other ways, I’m incredibly ill equipped. But I did learn a pretty good trick to help me stay sane.
You have to leave work at work.
I have a nearly 20 minute drive home from work. Sometimes, I turn on whatever Spotify playlist I’ve been obsessed with and sing at the top of my lungs. Other times, I completely zone out to a podcast or an audiobook. Either way, I try really hard to leave work behind.
Now that I’m away from my babes for 8+ hours a day, I don’t want to be worrying about clients and their challenges when I’m home. I want to be completely present when I’m home. I’m not perfect. You can always tell when I’ve had a particularly stressful day. Those are the days when we hit the McDonald’s drive through for happy meals. But I don’t beat myself up over that either. It’s all part of the process.
So keep a routine. Know when to be the work version of you and when to be the home version of you. It’s not easy but it’s totally worth it.
Warming Up 