I want to try to keep things positive on this blog, but realistically I know this won’t be the case all the time. This subject popped up while I was casting around for ideas to write about and I thought it would be a good way to work out ways to combat the things that drain my energies, or to at least minimise the effects.
My commute is probably the biggest drain on my energy resources. The trains are usually busy and noisy. I’m barely awake by the time I’m getting on the morning one, and really not up for enduring the noise and bustle of the homeward one.
For the morning journey, I tend to crank up the comfort tunes on my headphones and block it all out till the end of the line. When I can I go home on a different line as the train usually has more room and less of the scrum to get on. This means I can relax more on the homeward journey and even get some research or writing done if I have my laptop or notebook with me. I have a long drive home from the alternative station but I do feel better on that journey.
Work can be a major drain on both my mental and physical energies. It often wipes me out much more than it really should. My anxiety about it will prevent me from sleeping properly, making me tired the next day and therefore more anxious about getting enough sleep which leads to the inevitable vicious circle. It’s very hard to counteract this, so weekends are often spent catching up on sleep and being creative before the weekly cycle kicks in again.
My social batteries are regularly quite low. It’s honestly great to see friends, but I can start to flag quite quickly if there are too many people involved. It’s nothing personal about the company most of the time, I just struggle sometimes in social situations. This is another experience counteracted at weekends in my loved-up bubble away from people in general.
I don’t really get time to do else, but I do try to do things that feed my soul whenever I can, but maybe that’s for another post.
