Wednesday, July 17, 2013

Taking the time

In the previous blog, I wrote in passing something about time, not having enough time. My schedule these days is jammed pack full of assignments for class and carving out time to study. One of the things I've learned these couple of months is the importance of taking the time to care for oneself. In nursing school, the textbooks talk often about burnout which is manifested when a caretaker/nurse stops caring and just goes through the motions of caring, kinda like a robot. One of the biggest contributors to burnout is not taking the time to care for oneself. As a new mother and student, I found a few weeks ago that I was burning out. I hadn't taken the time to exercise or do yoga as regularly as before. I was experiencing tension in my neck and some headaches. I was continually in a rush and didn't feel like I have any time. With a baby, I also felt emotionally overwhelmed--feeling guilt that perhaps I'm not spending as much time with my baby even though I'm there in the room with him, studying, when I'm not in class. So this week is the last week of summer classes, and finals are next week. Last week, I went for a run, took a zumba class, went for a walk, and a few days ago I did yoga, the next day went for a mile run. I've been feeling the release of tension in my shoulders. The energy resurge is almost immediate. It's not like I gained more hours in the day. I still have 24 hours in a day, I still have more homework and studying than ever. However, I feel like I gained clarity--that makes a difference in studying. I feel more confident about my decisions because I have clarity. My days are planned and when I'm with my son he knows I'm there for him. I'm consciously stuffing the guilt in the trash. There is no room for guilt, because guilt simply drags down our time together. Planning a trip or activity in the day, that breaks up the monotony of playtime/crawling practice/feeding for him. Also, I'm now okay with being apart for him during study time. There's no point in him watching me study. :) And really, he's happier not to watch me study. Anyway, there's my two cents. Take the time to exercise and stuff the guilt.