I can't believe I've been at my new job for almost a month now.
I'm starting to get to know the different people in my groups and have come up with some good (and not so good) topics and activities to work on with them.
Amazingly, each day I have a good chunk of alone time, so I utilize lots of websites, books and just my own brain power to come up with ideas and then I organize stuff to use later.
I also got an old school planner to lesson plan my week.
The lack of stress and continued support for one another continues to astound me.
Yesterday someone bought the entire department lunch as a form of employee appreciation. This stuff has happened on several occasions since I've been there.
HR even sent me a survey to fill out, to ensure my experience as a new employee is going well.
The MAJOR perk is that I receive benefits again after only 30 days of employment, so I should *knock on wood* get out of paying over $1600 a month for Cobra. (Who the hell has that kind of $$$$????!!!!!!!)
I think things are going SO WELL in fact, that I have no motivation to do anything else but relax on my weekends and evenings.
Which is making me feel that I probably need to give up this P/T stuff I've been doing on the side.
A major reason for this (besides my own lack of moto) is there's also been a lot of changes in a short amount of time going on with those programs, so completing the work is not as easy as it once was for me. Some of the changes (usually staff/bureaucracy related) anger me so much that I have said fuck it on some occasions, letting the work just sit there, not caring if I get paid.
I also have this strong belief in not mixing the two in any kind of way, which limits my ability to follow up on things when I am at work during the day.
My new supervisor knows I am still doing work for them, and I don't think she cares one way or another, but even though I do have down time to make a phone call or follow up on a form, I just feel unprofessional about it.
I actually had a conversation with her in supervision last week that I am aiming towards giving it up once I finish the major stuff I am working on right now.
I still don't need to make a decision for a little bit so we shall see what happens.
How are things going in your neck of the social work woods?
Have you ever struggled with a similar issue when it came to P/T work, even though the extra cash would be nice?
I used to work for a nonprofit running a program for homeless families and adults with severe and persistent mental illness, on the side I house sat or pet sat, in addition I did child care at a church for additional money. While I benefited from all of that because I was having a difficult time making ends meet financially it was really hard to do self care when I was working so many hours and didn't have enough time to decompress. I definitely wore myself out. Additionally what I've learned from my previous time in hospice is that research has shown that the #1 thing people regret in their lives when they are on their death bed, is working too much, which took time away from family and friends. Right now, being in a new job for just over a week -I can hardly imagine putting many hours into any other work. I want to be present and learn this new job and network and I think for me, the distractions of another P/T would definitely weigh on me. In the end, trust your gut, I think you already know the answer to this last question :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for responding! I was offered another case yesterday and I didn't agree nor disagree. And I told flat out that I couldn't get there this weekend or during the week and they didn't seem to have a problem with it......
ReplyDeleteGood for you for drawing some boundaries here. Thinking about this some more you might consider what questions you would ask a client/friend if they came to you with similar concerns. And I would ask myself, am I fulfilling my purpose in life and taking care of myself so that I can continue to live that out. Hope that makes sense!
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