Making the Most of My Personal Time

My job is weird. I feel like that's the best way to start today's entry. (A close second was to note the fact that I'm starting this entry earlier than any other... at least compared to others in this recent streak.) Even comparing my job to ones with similar responsibilities (like a teacher, academic counselor, or hall director), my job is weird. I think one key component that sets it apart from other occupations is the hours, which instead of 9-5 are 4-Midnight. Also, instead of having every Saturday and Sunday off, we schedule a month at a time and have enough days off in the month to average out to two off a week. It can be sticky some months, but we do get the vast majority of winter break and spring break off when the campus is otherwise open.

Now, having different hours than a traditional office definitely has its positives and negatives. The key positive is that the students always have someone to turn to and someone who is looking over them. There's little things, like that if parents call when they aren't working, we can talk while being in full work mode. A major downside does come from working with places that stick to the daytime schedule. If I truly didn't start working until 4pm every weekday, I couldn't complete any cash advances since they close up at 3pm, for example. The banks are also in a tight spot because their lobbies close at 4:30pm.

I bring this up because one of my goals this year is to be deliberate about the separation between my work time and personal time. Each of my co-workers and I can look at days when we were "off" but that basically just meant that we were working, but with our apartment door closed. There are some instances like I mentioned above that are unavoidable, but I'm really trying to widdle it down compared to my first year or two. Having my new computer in my bedroom does help with the distinction because I don't jump over to school emails and different files.

Another thing I've been having fighting is the other side of the spectrum: not using my personal time for anything. There are days off when I just goof around and don't get much done. I don't plan on doing a lot of work work, but I'm talking about things like writing letters to friends, grocery shopping, or going through old paperwork. On the weekdays, the time before 4pm is usually my own and I run into the same problem. My mind doesn't snap into a productive mood until a lot of my 'me time' is gone.

Fortunately, in today's case, while I didn't get much done today, I do also have tomorrow off and since I have absolutely nothing work-related that I need to be at tomorrow, I'm going to use that day and make it all about being productive for me. (What a run-on sentence!) Any tips of making my personal time more productive would definitely be appreciated.

Well, this seems like a good end point. See you tomorrow. Hope both your and my days are productive!