Downshift Musings

How to live slower while working full-time? This is my new concern since I started a full-time contract position in February. First off, I want to state that I don’t regret making this change. I am really enjoying being back at AllClearID, a company I was employed at previously. I feel challenged and valued, both positives in my book, and I am earning more, which is great considering we’ll have two kids in college come this fall.

However, I don’t want to lose what I’ve been working toward over the last few years. I’m trying not to get back on that hamster wheel or fall back into patterns that caused stress and an unhealthy lifestyle. So, considering this, I am trying to stick to certain habits.

Menu-planning

I think this is vital. Over the years one of my top stressors each day was deciding what I was going to make for dinner. I now schedule menu-planning for Saturday and try to do a big shopping trip on Sunday. I don’t end up having to plan every meal because we have more left-overs now that fewer family members are home.

Working from home twice a week

One of the reasons I considered this new job was the twice-a-week work from home policy. So far I’ve only been WFH on Thursdays, but I’m planning to add Mondays soon.

Taking Mass Transit

Once again I have opted out of having a downtown parking spot and I am continuing to take the bus to work. This takes longer but helps me be “green” and enforces patience and tolerance. I can also start biking (my employer encourages it) and I’m going to try walking one-way (4 miles) several days a week to train for our upcoming pilgrimage.

Exercising

I will not sacrifice my personal training appointment or my Hot Barre gym class. I was able to re-schedule my personal training to another morning to accommodate a daily work meeting and I work from home on Thursday so that I can continue attending my Hot Barre class.

Keeping weekends and evenings open

Now that the kids are independent I actually have free time in the evening and weekends and I’m trying to keep it that way, except for social commitments such as church Supper Group. I have bell choir practice in the evening twice a month and have another volunteer responsibility for a couple of hours the first Saturday of the month.

Getting extra help in the yard

I hired a yard guy to help with the grunt work in the yard on a regular basis. Now I can enjoy the creative gardening and not worry about mulching, mowing, edging or leaf blowing.

Keeping up my use of 2Do.app

I wrote about this app in my post Finding a Daily Rhythm. It continues to help keep me on track and not let the house work get behind. It also reminds me of the pets’ monthly meds and tasks like turning the compost or watering the plants. The lists I have currently configured include Home (repeating household tasks), Grocery Needs, Decluttering Tasks, Home Repairs and Week’s Meals.

That’s it for now. Life is always evolving and this is just a new set of transitory conditions. I’m hoping to maximize the positive and remember what is important.