How to Weather the Storm, and Move Forward to the Calm

Raise your hand if you are a “people pleaser”? Guilty as charged!

Raise your hand if you have the tendency to take on multiple projects at once? Yup!

Raise your hand if you are an over-achiever and the “Yes Man”? Okay, you got me!

First, I want to say if you are anything like me, take a deep breath. I’m not here to preach at anyone about work-life balance. In fact, I think I’m one of the very few who argue that some people get an unrivaled sense of happiness from their work accomplishments. It does not matter what you’re doing, as long as your happy. And for different people, happiness comes from different things. Now, this is not to say you should burn out. Not at all. Take care of yourself. Eat regularly, get your rest, and know your mental and emotional limits. Keeping this in mind, it is important to have realistic expectations. There is nothing wrong with having high expectations, but there is a problem with having unrealistic expectations for yourself. Let me share a quick anecdote about how unrealistic expectations are a recipe for disaster.

Allow me to set the scene. It’s the first week of hybrid model classes, I am moving to my new apartment and working. There is already a lot going on here but add to the fact my life is in a great state of flux. My schedule is up in the air, I’m not settled into my living space and yet I still wanted to fit in more. So, I commit to the recording of a podcast interview for work amid the chaos. Bad move on my part. It was such a wonderful opportunity; I truly did not want to pass on it. But the thing about great opportunities is that life presents you with more. Each opportunity in life is unique, but never definite.

So here comes the storm that was brewing all week. It was on a Thursday, the day of the interview. I woke up in a frenzy realizing that I had agreed with my Graphic Design professor to make up class that morning at 10 a.m. The time is now 9:35 a.m. I rummage around my unpacked room for my computers, a charger and my phone. I dash out of my apartment, and barely make it on time to class. After class, I came to the sudden realization that I would have to stay on for campus longer than I anticipated. I had planned to stay on campus until 2 p.m. the latest, but my Global Marketing class was on campus at 4 p.m. Commuting back to my apartment for the podcast interview was no longer an option. After a brief meeting with my boss preparing for the interview, I secure a quiet space on campus for later and put my computer on battery saver mode. After a quick lunch, I rush over to the study room I booked for the interview. I open my computer and see I have 30 minutes of battery remaining despite being on power saving mode. I also seemed to have left my headphones I needed for recording at home.

Not good, but it’s about to get worse folks. My computer dies in the middle of the interview and I have no other device to get back into the recording platform. I get a call from my boss; she assures me that everything is ok, and the interview will go on as planned, but without me. I sob in a pathetic cubby for about 20 minutes. I was at my breaking point. The stress of the week and the mishap of what was supposed to be the highlight of my week broke me.

The next morning, I have a meeting with my boss. She assures me that everything is okay, I’m not in trouble. She wanted to check in on me. For the first time that I week, I admitted that I was not okay. I can usually keep up with the hustle, but this week was not a good time for me to step up at work. I should have focused on settling in. My expectations of what I could accomplish that week were unrealistic. I also wasn’t prepared enough.

They say hindsight is 20/20, well, here are a few things I could have done differently that day:

· Pre-plan my week

· Pack both of my chargers and headphones

· Choose one priority and base my decisions around that single priority

· Test out different tech solutions in advance

· Be honest with myself

· Communicate early with my team members

But after my long, not so great day, I did one thing right. I let myself recover. I decided to go to bed early that night and not do any homework or anything related to work. I needed to calm myself down after weathering the storm so that I could move forward. I would advise the same for anyone after a less than spectacular day. Give yourself credit for weathering the storm and allow yourself the rest to move forward.