Help! I can’t seem to slow down!

Here we are again. Smack in the middle of my favourite time of year – the Christmas countdown. Actually, we’re almost at the end of the Christmas countdown as I write this, and I keep getting the question … Are you ready for Christmas? And you know what? No. I’m not. I feel like this year I have been so busy that I haven’t had time to “get ready.” I am ready in the sense that gifts have been bought, baking is done, house is decorated. Seems pretty ready, I guess. But I don’t feel like I’m ready in the sense that I haven’t had the time to enjoy it. We haven’t done any of the things we typically do in December, like family game nights and movie nights. And Christmas is next week! It’s just been busy. And Christmas itself is busy too. We have two family Christmas days/dinners (which is a lot). We have a get together with all our friends who will be home – which is amazing. And then the week is basically over. Now, I know that last month I wrote about all the amazing things that I get to do, and here I am complaining about all the amazing things coming up. But you know what? I need a day (or two) to stay in my pj’s all day and do nothing. Watch a movie. Read a book. Drink some tea. Walk my dog. And I can’t seem to do it!I’m very fortunate that I get a week off for Christmas between semesters, but I have somehow filled that week with pharmacy shifts and writing assignments, and that is my own doing. You know what my problem really is? I have a hard time saying no. To setting boundaries. And I really like to help people. To take on more. To push myself. I enjoy it. Also, when I’m home, I feel like I should be doing something. I know that the pharmacy is busy, why shouldn’t I go in and help? I know that next semester is going to be just as busy as this semester was, so why shouldn’t I try to get a jump on it? (Side note, I may be a work-a-holic). I’m list-maker. I have lists of things I “have to do” (or rather, things I think I have to do or want to do where work is concerned) and my husband is looking at my lists and shaking his head. His concerns are stress and burnout. That I’m not taking the time I should be to disengage and re-set. I just can’t seem to help myself!Last year we went to Antigua for Christmas, and it was glorious. We had both of our family Christmas days/dinners earlier in December. We enjoyed all our Christmas activities leading up to Christmas and we flew out on Christmas Day (it was supposed to be on Christmas Eve, but if you live in Ontario, you likely remember the weather last Christmas!). It was a whole week where I had no responsibilities. I actually did zero work. My husband’s decided we need to go away every year for Christmas now because it’s the only way I will take a break. Since we’re both in education, the only time we have off at the same time is one week at Christmas and a few weeks in the summer, but when we take a “vacation” in summer, we’re usually travelling to Nova Scotia to visit my family and I bring work with me. But last Christmas, in Antigua, the only thing I brought were books I had been wanting to read—for pleasure. No work was involved (although I did drag my family into a couple of pharmacies in St. John’s to check them out!).We can’t all just hop on a plane and fly away to take a break from work and responsibility, to re-charge and come back to our families, friends, and work fresh. But I think we can all benefit from taking breaks. I know so many pharmacy technicians, assistants and pharmacists who are giving too much of themselves to work. It’s hard not to. We’re health care professionals. We care about people. But we need to remember that it’s just as important to care about ourselves. To take care of ourselves. And I know that this is much easier said than done, but sometimes that means setting boundaries and saying no. Not taking a shift on your day off or vacation. Not working overtime. And I’m not saying that you should never do these things, but if you’re like me, maybe it means saying no a little more often. We need to engage in a cultural shift where saying no and taking care of yourself, instead of others first all the time (or trying to please others) isn’t seen (or felt!) as being selfish. We’ve all heard this before, but perhaps some of us (me included!) could use a little reminder that if we don’t take care of ourselves, we won’t be able to take care of or help others.

Help! I can’t seem to slow down!

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Blog Author

Sarah-Lynn Dunlop

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