When weeks run away with you

This crops up in my blogs quite a lot – stress levels.

Work stress, family stress, and the constant feeling that time is running faster than I can keep up with it.

Work has been relentless.

Meetings stacked on meetings, deadlines rolling into each other, and the pressure that comes with responsibility.

But work isn’t the only thing adding weight to the week.

My parents are beginning to struggle more now. That brings its own emotional and practical pressures.

Suddenly there are more things to organise, more running around, more worrying about whether they’re alright and whether they need help with something.

Of course you help your parents – that’s just what you do. But it does add to the load.

What makes it harder is when family support isn’t shared.

This weekend was Mother’s Day, and my sibling didn’t even come over to see our mum.

Not even on Mother’s Day.

That’s something that needs a proper conversation soon about what family actually means and the responsibility we have to be there for our parents as they get older.

You can’t just leave it all to one person.

The weekend itself flew by in a blur.

A mix of sport, family time, and the usual background stress from work that never really switched off.

Even when the laptop is closed, the thoughts are still there.

Today I was working from home and thought I might actually get a little time to breathe.

I started work just before 8am, checked the diary and thought maybe there would be a gap somewhere.

9:00–10:30 Teams call

11:00–12:15 Teams call

13:00–14:00 Teams call… which overran until 14:30

And just like that, the day was gone.

Tomorrow is even worse.

A two-hour train journey to get to a meeting… for a two-hour meeting!! (This is precisely what Teams meetings are for)… followed by a two-hour train home. Plus the 25 mins drive from home to the station and back 50 mins..

Because it’s an afternoon meeting, by the time the travel and the day are finished it’s basically a 12-hour working day. Totally non productive.

Wednesday currently looks clear in the morning, but that just means pressure to prepare for a face-to-face briefing on Thursday before meetings all weds afternoon. And then suddenly it’s Friday again.

That’s how work is going at the moment. Fast, relentless, and with very little breathing space. And people then chasing me up have you done this and that??

And the one thing that keeps getting squeezed out is time for me.

Time for Davina.

Tonight I’ve got a migraine building, the kind that comes when the stress has been sitting there for too long. And the only thing I can really think about is how much I need some proper Davina time.

Not rushed.

Not squeezed into an hour between meetings.

Just real time to switch off from everything.

Makeup.

Wig.

Lingerie.

Hosiery.

Heels.

A dress.

Perfume.

Just relaxing, being my other self, and letting the stress melt away for a while.

Sometimes that quiet space is the only reset button there is.

Davina