Unconventional Schedules
As children, our schedules are created for us. Maybe they're not even created intentionally. Our parents (or caregivers) guide us though the days - nursing us while we are young, swaddling us into cozy balls, introducing us to team sports, bringing us to school. This "regular" schedule (often based on the school day and even stretching as far as the school year schedule... why do people feel like they should work less come Summer? maybe it's all the sunshine...) is ingrained in the mind of a western individual.
Now I am guilty of this sense of "normality" when it comes to a "job" (I think i'm quoting because I feel like these are constructs of society). Now, after being pushed and pulled through the academic system (for better or for worse), I feel unsettled with my lack of 9-5. I feel an intrinsic guilt when sitting in coffee shops mid-day, attending late morning yoga classes, or running along the Bay at any hour I please. Yes, I do have a job. But my schedule varies from week to week, and I have a different level of availability than the typical. Wanna meet for happy hour? is a question that isn't so common anymore. This concept isn't rare, uncommon, it's nothing to call home about. It just is. And it makes me feel weird.
When I was working a "9 to 5" as an AmeriCorps member, I remember lamenting with fellow members about the mundane, laborious days of the work week. High burnout rates. Fatigue. Just overall exhaustion. But now I am having trouble with not having a "9-5." Even though I fully understand I will be glued to a schedule for the rest of my life (well, hopefully I'll have some flexibility), I am still feeling out of place. I believe this is a good challenge, and I am trying to take it on. Maybe it means I need to create more of a schedule during week days and fill my hours with other projects (new language, side job, volunteer project, more yoga, book goals). However, I just want to congregate with all the servers, bartenders, the yogis, the artists, all those whom are not confined by a 9-5. Or I need to accept this lifestyle and learn how to make the best of it.
Cheers.
Now I am guilty of this sense of "normality" when it comes to a "job" (I think i'm quoting because I feel like these are constructs of society). Now, after being pushed and pulled through the academic system (for better or for worse), I feel unsettled with my lack of 9-5. I feel an intrinsic guilt when sitting in coffee shops mid-day, attending late morning yoga classes, or running along the Bay at any hour I please. Yes, I do have a job. But my schedule varies from week to week, and I have a different level of availability than the typical. Wanna meet for happy hour? is a question that isn't so common anymore. This concept isn't rare, uncommon, it's nothing to call home about. It just is. And it makes me feel weird.
When I was working a "9 to 5" as an AmeriCorps member, I remember lamenting with fellow members about the mundane, laborious days of the work week. High burnout rates. Fatigue. Just overall exhaustion. But now I am having trouble with not having a "9-5." Even though I fully understand I will be glued to a schedule for the rest of my life (well, hopefully I'll have some flexibility), I am still feeling out of place. I believe this is a good challenge, and I am trying to take it on. Maybe it means I need to create more of a schedule during week days and fill my hours with other projects (new language, side job, volunteer project, more yoga, book goals). However, I just want to congregate with all the servers, bartenders, the yogis, the artists, all those whom are not confined by a 9-5. Or I need to accept this lifestyle and learn how to make the best of it.
Cheers.
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