Things are slowly getting back to normal here at Chez Moi. I haven't taken down any of the three Christmas decorations I put up, including the lights on my balcony, but I have changed the picture on my desktop. To something with puppies and kittens frolicking. There are no hunky, semi-clad ranch hands on my desktop. No siree.
Last night I went to bed completely stressed out because I felt like I hadn't accomplished anything all evening. It was to the point I woke up with a headache and had to take an Advil and have a 30-minute power nap before I could function normally. I've started going into work a half hour earlier than I used to because it means I can leave half an hour earlier at the end of the day. It's part of my plan to turn over my leaf*.
So, I get home a half hour earlier and now I have plenty of time to be productive and do important things. Except that I don't accomplish a third of the things I wanted to do, and feel like a failure and how/when am I going to get all that crap done?
But then I though about what I did accomplish. I finished a book I was reading. I unpacked my suitcase, which was the last thing I needed to unpack. I made a slightly elaborate dinner - Cajun-spice blackened salmon with mashed potatoes and spinach salad. I blogged a little. I edited a bunch of pictures I took over the holidays. I went for a walk. Really, I did pretty good.
I don't have any formal resolutions for this new year. I supposed I could resolve to be less harsh on myself if I don't get everything done that I want to in the evening. Or, I could ratchet back my expectations about what I can reasonably accomplish in the seven or so hours between getting home from work and going to bed. Or, I could spend more time relaxing when I get home and worry less about Getting Things Accomplished Because I Must Be Productive Every Second Of The Evening.
I'm liking that third option. Housework and suchlike can wait until the weekend, anyways.
*See, I'm not sure I understand the expression "turning over a new leaf" fully. If by turning over a new leaf, you mean you are going to try change the way you do something, you're still doing to old thing, but in a new way, right? Therefore, you're not really doing a new thing, so you don't need a new leaf. Really, you're just turning over the old one.
