Tag: work

Overwhelmed at work: Stay Calm

When your job is overwhelming, it can prove difficult to get work done. There are ways to stay calm and able to complete the work.

Work can be an overwhelming process. There are jobs to get done, people asking questions and phones ringing off the hook. When in an office, there is so much going on.

It is easy to become overwhelmed with everything that needs to get done and the happenings around you. To survive in this kind of workplace, you need to have various ways to calm down.

Make a List

The first thing I decide to do is make a list of things I have to do. Seeing my list makes me feel calmer and less overwhelmed. When one lays out the tasks, they are no longer floating around in my head.

When I make a list, my head is calmer. I am able to focus my energy on what I need to do. When I spend less time lamenting over what I must do; I am able to spend more time doing the tasks.

A list will provide you a place where you can cross off what you have done. This is a visible representation of what you have accomplished.

Take a deep breath

There are times when making a list will not help. It can aid in feeling calm is taking a deep breath. This can help the mind calm down when it starts spinning out of control.

If you need to take a deep breath, it can help to close your eyes while you do it. When your eyes are closed, imagine you are somewhere that makes you feel relaxed.

Overwhelmed: Go for a walk

If taking a deep breath did not do the trick, take a break. Walk away from your desk. If it is a nice day, take a walk and get some fresh air.

Fresh air can clear your mind and when you go back inside to get work done. A quiet place outside for even two minutes is relaxing.

If you are interested in reading more, please read my story.

Balancing Time: Grad School and Work

Graduate School with a full time job is difficult to make happen. It is a lot on one plate.

Balancing time: the School and Job Experiment

For six months, I attempted to hold a full-time job while trying to attend graduate school full-time which requires balancing time. My school made this possible by offering my master’s degree online.


I woke up in the morning, went to work, went to the gym (sometimes), came home, ate, and did school work. I am not sure how people do it. Some do it out of necessity and kudos to them.


It wore me out. I never took time for me and became not pleasant to be around. I was losing friends and family. Everyone in my life could tell it wasn’t working for me.

The End Result of the Experiment


If going to school and having a full-time job is required for you to be in school, I will write about how I survived this for six months in an upcoming post.

The main goal is time management and making sure self care is one of your top priorities.


This lifestyle was not sustainable for me. I ended up having to choose one or the other. Finally, I let my school slide through the cracks and needed to pick one or the other.


I picked school. School is going to allow me to move forward in my life. I changed my full-time status with my work to part-time. The status change will enable me to spend more time doing school work.


The more time is crucial for me to have because of my brain injury. I required longer to fully grasp a concept that we are learning in my classes, I need to and can now spend more of my day focused on school work and bring my grades up.

I take what I do seriously and want to be the best I can be. My lifestyle change allows me to do my best in school and decide if I am indeed cut out for it.

Please check out my story if you haven’t yet.

Full-time Job: When you Have Not had One

After spending time in school all our lives, it is a shock to have a change in schedule. It takes time to get used to the change in schedule but it happens and in the end we will get used to it.

Whether or not you have a brain injury, once we get to a certain age we will have to find a full-time job.

This is surprisingly different from a school schedule. This takes some time to get used to. The need to work a full eight hours is different between having class and then a break.

My job is explicitly tiring. It is a very physically and mentally exhausting. The mental component probably holds true for every job. The other difference between school and jobs are that jobs have the same routine Monday thru Friday, whereas school is different every day.

Full-time Job: Give it time

I have found that finally after six months, I have gotten into a new routine and am able to do what I want to do. It turns out that a full-time job doesn’t leave much time for much else.

I have had to readjust what I want to do during the week and what I need to get done during the weekends. Throughout college, we get used to going to maybe three classes a day and having the rest of the time to do other things. Turns out, adult life is not like.

Be Okay with Change

My job also forced me to change my schedule. I have to be at work at 7 in the morning. This requires that I go to sleep earlier than others. I get to be home before others are off work. After six months, I have finally changed my schedule.

I have also had to schedule time for me to do what I love individually. My sport is time-consuming, so I have found that the weekends are the only real time I have to partake in it.

After I have figured this out, I am happier. This allows me to get less fun stuff done after work, and during the week.

Understand the Difference in Holiday


A rude awakening was when I was still going to work, and my brother was home relaxing because he was on winter break. I have found that even though it was annoying, it is how life will be for a while.

All in all, I am happy to have my job even though it has required some getting used to. It is a rough realization, but we will get used to it.

If you haven’t read my story yet, please click here.