This week’s primary goal was to be available and fully engaged in an audit at work.  It was Monday through Wednesday and I set up my weekend to prepare for the week.  So let’s talk about what is required for me to feel prepared for the coming week.

What was my focus this week:

I did laundry prior to the workweek.  This included one giant load of clothing and one large load of dirty towels and rugs.  If the laundry is done, then I don’t have to worry about running out of socks or underwear or having exactly the right shirt for the weather.  I don’t have a ton of clothes so it needs to be done biweekly before I start feeling the pressure.

I also scheduled making the chicken lasagna and bought and prepared chicken in marinades.  I also cooked ground beef for tacos.  This was all added to the freezer.  I didn’t really know if work would provide meals so I only brought my lunch Monday as, I thought, the auditors wouldn’t arrive until after lunch.  Instead, they were early.  I cannot afford to skip meals so I had to take it.

What were my stressors this week:

Stressor #1 was the audit.  I don’t typically need to be 100% social at work.  In fact, most of my day is spent largely solo.  However, I was the primary point of contact for this entire audit so not only was it challenging to keep them from taking long days, but I had to be up on my feet running around to grab whatever resource they wanted for three long days.

After just Monday, the bone pain in my legs was unbearable and untreatable leading to a sleepless night.  It was only 7,700 steps but these days standing on concrete even long enough to grocery shop steals my energy so quickly.  After work, I had scheduled making the lasagna, which took so much longer than expected.  Stayed tuned for my upcoming meal planning post for that.

By Wednesday, I had a full-blown new invigorated mast cell attack going.  Then the weather turned and added a migraine that rapidly got worse by Friday.  I finally started hitting it with the full course of abortives on Friday night and was able to take care of some paperwork.  I couldn’t solve a Sudoku puzzle correctly but did my taxes and enrolled in health care, so I can only pray I did them correctly.

What were my successes:

I did make it through the entire audit.  Barely, but I made it.  Additionally, I got lucky and my new vacuum randomly did get the firmware updated and the app is now working without me having to do anything.

As I mentioned above, I was also able to enroll in benefits that were due this weekend and I was able to get my taxes done as well, which wasn’t even in the plan.

What is the focus of next week:

This next week is all about getting back to good habits and destressing.  I have no doctors’ appointments and no specific work deadlines next week.  The weather is rebounding to warmer weather again so I should be able to break out of this cycle of migraines and hydrating should help get out of the mast cell attack.

I have brought lunch to work a few times now and I do have a plan to keep bringing lunch to work but it will just take some practice so hopefully, next week will just be about returning to baseline.

My major stressor for next week will be the complete lack of energy I’ve been having for a month or more now.  I’m tired constantly.  I talked to my primary about reducing my Zolpidem to avoid a hangover in the morning but he went a bit too low (only available in 5mg or 10mg it seems).

This can completely fail but this is my strategy for resetting sleep:

1. Exercise earlier in the day
   Strength training helps the most for me.  Not necessarily weight lifting but I find resistance or body weight exercises are the best. I’m starting with 10 minute increments to not injure myself.  Earlier can be after work, but not after supper.
2. Turn off drama television several hours before bed
   I almost can’t watch drama television anymore.  It keeps me in a heightened state and I can’t not binge it.  Even if I’ve seen it before.  So, I can watch YouTube or something that’s just someone talking closer to bedtime but I need to not watch anything that encourages non-stop binging.  Reading is also great.  I find Dave Ramsey to be easy to wind down with as well.
3. Yoga before bed
   The type of yoga matters and it wouldn’t have to be yoga.  Basically, engaging and purposeful disengaging of muscles all over the body really helps me relax faster.  Then if I can time it right with my sleeping pill I can fall asleep in 7 minutes.
4. Sleeping pills and timing
   Any insomniac knows that sleeping pills aren’t magic.  There are many downsides.  I’m not going to list them all here but the one that pertains to setting a sleeping routine is that if I don’t lay down about 10-20 minutes within taking the pill, it will go from a 7 minute sleeping time to a 2-3 hour getting to sleep process.  That’s with the sleeping pill.
   What this means for me is that I have to take my sleeping pill, go brush my teeth, and lay down to read or something like that for it to be able to work right.  If it turns into a 2 hour process, then I can watch YouTube or something boring but it’s just going to be long at that point.  I can do all of this and it may still be a 2-3 hour process.  It’s not fully in my control.
5. Stop caffeine four hours before starting my bedtime routine. 
   For me, this means 4 p.m. which sucks, but this is how my body operates.