Thread Drift

[indysteel]

I'm going crazy trying to keep my calendar from blowing up. I have two days a week that I meet with a personal trainer over my lunch hour. I have a third day each week that I almost always have lunch with one of my best friends whom I would otherwise never get to see. The other two lunch hours are often filled with meetings. I'm used to that, but suddenly, everybody and their brother wants to schedule a lunchtime meeting. I'm already well into March, and I don't have a single free lunch hour. I know that sounds like no big deal, but it sometimes nice to just sit at my desk and read TE.

But today was emblematic of what really drives me crazy. I scheduled a meeting for today about a month ago with the volunteer coordinator at the YMCA. Last week, an issue came up at work that required a meeting for today, so I rescheduled my Y meeting for Thursday--which meant that I had to cancel lunch with my girlfriend. Then my work meeting got cancelled so suddenly today was open again. Last night, I got an email from the woman at the Y saying that she had to cancel Thursday's meeting. I asked if she could meet today--the day we were originally scheduled to meet. Fine; she say. That'll work. Then this morning she cancelled on me because of a conflict that just arose on her end.

Did you follow all that? Likely, you didn't because even my head is still swimming. See, I contort my calendar only to then have everything cancel at the last minute anyway. It's maddening.

So, now I'm moving onto breakfast meetings. I hate breakfast meetings, but if it means my lunchtime calendar is less crazy, then so be it.

[bmccasland]

Indy - my head is spinning from your lunch meetings.

I actually block time on my calendar for lunch. That way it looks like I'm busy, but in reality keeps people from scheduling meetings through lunch - because they don't include actually eating.

[Catrin]

Yikes Indy, I thought my week schedule was wild! I hope things calm for you soon, part of our lunch breaks are to unwind a touch for the rest of the day and you aren't getting that chance at all

bmccasland - good idea, when things get too wild at work I will do that myself.

[Crankin]

Gee, my schedule is full of things like 7 year olds with suicidal intent, a family of 8 getting their washer and dryer allowance taken away by the housing authority at the same time their 10year old daughter is refusing to go to school because of increasing anxiety, and deciding how I am going to help tell the 14 year old sister of my client that her dad is never coming home because he molested their little brother.
I'm not complaining. But, I try to keep my lunch time free so I can sit at my desk and look at TE before I go back to reality....

[indysteel]

Gee, my schedule is full of things like 7 year olds with suicidal intent, a family of 8 getting their washer and dryer allowance taken away by the housing authority at the same time their 10year old daughter is refusing to go to school because of increasing anxiety, and deciding how I am going to help tell the 14 year old sister of my client that her dad is never coming home because he molested their little brother.
I'm not complaining. But, I try to keep my lunch time free so I can sit at my desk and look at TE before I go back to reality....

Well, that puts a lot into perspective. That is some heavy stuff. My job offers its own reality checks, they're not nearly as stark as yours.

[Sky King]

When I was a marketing rep all my lunches were meetings so I started blocking out 3:30 to 5, 3 days a week and went to spinning class. I had several evening events so never felt guilty about taking an hour and a half for myself. Now that I work at Bike Touring News, downstairs from my house I miss those meetings but will say I love being my own boss

[indysteel]

When I was a marketing rep all my lunches were meetings so I started blocking out 3:30 to 5, 3 days a week and went to spinning class. I had several evening events so never felt guilty about taking an hour and a half for myself. Now that I work at Bike Touring News, downstairs from my house I miss those meetings but will say I love being my own boss

Oh, I wish I could do that. Few of my lunch time meetings are actually work related, so I can't balance out my work day like that. Most of them, instead, relate to volunteer/civic things I'm involved with.

I'll admit that I further complicate my schedule because, minus yoga one day a week, I try to go straight home after work, at least during the winter. I have some night vision issues and a 25-milie commute, so I like to get home before dark. Come March, it gets easier to schedule things because of Daylight Savings Time, but during the winter, I find myself having to cram a lot into my work day. Ironically, work itself is really slow right now; it's my lunch hour that's nuts.

But Crankin offered a dose of perspective. Plus, I do like to be busy most of the time. I just hate when things have to get rescheduled over and over again.