Math for Commuters: 101

I realize that I haven’t written in quite some time. in fact, the last time was to announce that I had a new job. Well, since that time, said job has sort of sucked up all of my time. It’s not that I don’t like it- I do. It’s challenging and I’m learning a lot, but it’s also time consuming. I’m working slightly longer days than I was at the church, plus I am commuting to Maryland. I’ve come to realize that I don’t mind the actual drive. The 30-60 minutes (depending on traffic) is kind of nice to have to myself, to sip some coffee, to listen to music or a podcast. However, the challenging part is simply the lost time. I lived 3 miles from my last job. I could get there in 7 minutes. So, if I needed to be there at 8, I would get in my car at 7:53. Then I worked til 4:30 and I was home by 4:40. Not bad. Not to mention Fridays I only worked til 2:30. It was not a bad schedule at all. To have that schedule I gave up lunch time- but I didn’t mind at all. I was busy and there were lots of people to interact with, so my days went by pretty quickly. And I was gone from my house for aprox. 8 hours and 47 minutes 4 days a week and 6 hours and 47 minutes the 5^th day totaling 41.9 hours/week. I’d come home and have time to organize my life/eat/rest before evening activities at 6 or 6:30.

The new schedule just takes a little more time. I shoot to be on the road at 7:15 (which sometimes gets me to work before 8, and sometimes it doesn’t. traffic). Then I work until 5. Then it takes about an hour to get home, not returning til 6. However- if I have an evening activity (gym, bible study, choir, etc) I have to go straight there. Now, at best I am gone from my house for 10 hours and 45 minutes 5 days a week. That is a cumulative week difference of aprox. 11.85 hours per week. That’s almost another work day and a half!! Although most nights I go directly to another activity. For example- tonight I went to the gym and met some friends. Got home at 9. That’s a 14 hour day.

All this to say, some things have suffered. When you lose nearly 12 hours out of your average week, some things are just going to. Among them- hanging out with friends, returning emails, reading for fun (my book stack continues to grow and my magazines haven’t been opened since the December issues), and creative outlets (ex: blog).

It’s been 11 weeks since I started this new job. And I do like it. And I feel like I’m STARTING to get into a rhythm of my life. But it is a challenge. I am open to anyone willing to organize/streamline my life. Keep me posted.

And in the meantime, I hope to return to some of those things that I have had to leave behind these last 3 months. I’ll get there. Maybe.