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The Silver Linings in My Stressful Work Week

By Anne 14 Comments

I wish I had thought of these things when I was stressed out, there's always some silver linings to be found!

The months of September and October are tough ones for me.  They are when I work overtime, a lot, to hit a big deadline at work.  It doesn’t seem to matter how long a ramp we give ourselves, it’s always a scramble at the last minute.  This year, at six o’clock on deadline day everything looked like it was going well, until I found a broken forumula in a spreadsheet that had me up until midnight fixing it.  Oh the joys.

I have missed three weddings in the past two Septembers, and this year finally managed to attend one because we were more prepared at work.

When I work overtime, it also means that my commute changes.  I go from being able to jump into a vehicle that I’m not driving, to driving an hour each way by myself.  AKA, I have to be alert for two more hours.

All of this whining has just been to set the scene, don’t worry, the story turns positive.

This Fall

This year, my spouse ended up taking a work trip the week of my deadline.  It was a bit of a last minute trip, which compounded the challenges.  Thankfully, we put some effort into being more prepared than we ever have been before and that led to savings instead of wanton spending.

How I Save Pennies When I’m Stressed

Food

Food is by far the biggest struggle when we are tired.  I have, in the past, come home later than the grocery store and most of the restaurants in town are open, ruling out picking up a rotisserie chicken on my way home.

Instead, my spouse cooked a giant vat of stew Sunday afternoon, before leaving on the work trip.  It may not be sexy, but having a meal ready to grab for lunch and dinner, for several days, is a godsend.  The *last* thing you want to do after you have been gone for 14 hours is to start making dinner.  The vat of stew saved not only massive amounts of stress, but I probably would have dropped $5-10 on prepared food every night, if it hadn’t been available.

Additionally, it meant that I was eating healthier food, without salt and preservatives or other junky things.

That is a perfect segue into my next point about food: having food at work.

I watched my boss eat stuff out of the vending machine, like pop, chips and chocolate bars.  My body is NOT used to eating that stuff (unless I’ve been drinking and I’m at a party, then all bets are off.)  Plus, when you are stressed out, it is the last thing that your body needs to try to process.

Did I eat too many Clif bars?  Sure did.  But, a Clif bar is much, much better than a bag of chips!

They also cost less, as I had my Mom pick up a few boxes of them for me from Costco, dropping the price to a much more reasonable $0.88 each.

In addition to Clif bars, I always have a bag of apples in my office, as well as sunflower butter and oatmeal.

I make a concerted effort to start eating snacks, starting around 3:30, when I know that I am working overtime, because I know that I need to be alert in order to drive myself home.

This year’s advanced planning on the food front kept me healthier, less stressed out by the idea of having to find food for dinner and lunch when I got home, and absolutely saved me money.

Exercise and Appointments

This year, my spouse’s last minute trip turned what is otherwise a very minor chore into something that required more effort – taking one of our vehicles in for some routine repairs.

Normally, we just drop one vehicle off in the evening, and the next day I get dropped off at the dealership instead of at home.  Easy Peasey.

Well.

My spouse wasn’t there, so when I dropped it off in the evening, my ride home happened to be 7 hours away.  Not very helpful, that spouse.

Naturally I could have called a friend and asked them to give me a ride home, but I decided to treat this as a silver lining in my week: an excuse to get some exercise.

I donned my reflective biking rain jacket, grabbed a can of bear spray, and drove to the dealership.  Then, I walked home at a brisk pace, which took about 20 minutes.

It’s not exactly the greatest exercise in the world, but it did mean that I snuck some exercise and fresh air into a week that would have been summarily devoid of anything more strenuous than walking down the hallway to confer with a coworker.  When I got home, I felt great, and it didn’t cost a dime.

I also didn’t see any bears, which is always a plus.

The next night the vehicle was ready for pick up.  The dealership processed my credit card over the phone, left the receipt on the seat and stuck the keys in the gas cap.

I reversed the process and walked to go get it.  By then a neighbour and a friend had both offered to give me a lift, but I was determined to sneak the exercise into my day.  (No bear sightings, again!)

The Moral of the Story

To steal from the Scouts, “be prepared.”

It is amazing how much planning ahead can save you, in stress, in mental effort, in money and in health.

Just like meal planning, strategizing in advance can help you avoid a lot of mental clutter and financial clutter.

 

PS: Another silver lining is that I get paid overtime (not everyone in my position does).  So, my paycheque was substantially larger that week, and there have been several more hours since.  It’s my only chance during the year to earn overtime, and let’s just say that it is a LOT more lucrative than focusing on blogging.

As a side note: Deadline number two is looming and hopefully I will be posting more regularly again after that!

Filed Under: Career, Observations Tagged With: stress

About Anne

Anne dreams of financial independence and is working her way towards it, whilst still enjoying life. She has a penchant for gift giving, which got her started with her first blog, Unique Gifter. She also loves money (who doesn't?) and needed an outlet to discuss it. Her likes? Seafood, figure skating, road cycling and skater shoes.

Comments

  1. kay ~ the barefoot minimalist says

    November 30, 2015 at 12:47

    Bears??? You know, I didn’t even know there were bears in Florida. Why would there be? They seem better dressed for cold climates. But no. Bears, panthers, alligators, ETC. I may need to get me some of that bear spray! Great tips on the stew and I hope you get a nice, long break soon! 🙂 P.S. I don’t get notifications from your site anymore. Could you check and see if I’m showing as subscribed? When I try to subscribe, it says I already am. Thanks Anne! I thought you’d gone on hiatus or something! 🙂
    kay ~ the barefoot minimalist recently posted…What’s In a Name?My Profile

    Reply
  2. Karen says

    November 20, 2015 at 18:27

    I made a HUGE chicken pot pie last Sunday and while it took me a couple of hours on Sunday bc I was crazy enough to make my own crust and gravy, it was really nice knowing that I didn’t have to cook during the week. Although there were a couple of times where I was tempted to buy food, knowing that there was a lot of food in the fridge that shouldn’t go to waste, got rid of the feeling.
    Karen recently posted…ENTER TO WIN: One of a Kind Show GIVEAWAYMy Profile

    Reply
  3. Derek at MoneyAhoy says

    November 16, 2015 at 11:45

    Anne,

    Nothing wrong with stew! I used to be a cliff-bar-a-holic, so I definitely know where you are coming from there :-).

    That’s great that you are getting OT for all those extra hours. That is a huge plus! I wish I could say the same…
    Derek at MoneyAhoy recently posted…How to Pocket $5,000 in Savings in One YearMy Profile

    Reply
  4. Jayson @ Monster Piggy Bank says

    November 7, 2015 at 20:07

    Preparation is the key to make this life easy. Anne, when preparation is handled well, we have less worry or stress to deal with. Right? Good luck.
    Jayson @ Monster Piggy Bank recently posted…Investing in Gold and/or Silver in AustraliaMy Profile

    Reply
  5. Kristin says

    November 3, 2015 at 12:19

    It’s so true – being prepared makes life so much better. I can always tell when things are getting out of control because I haven’t checked my planner and am not following my routine. I hate getting my car serviced too. Maybe if they set up work stations, I could bring my laptop and bang out some work 🙂 I can’t handle the waiting areas, such a time waster.
    Kristin recently posted…Online Income Report With Traffic Views For OctoberMy Profile

    Reply
  6. Aaron says

    November 2, 2015 at 11:51

    Excellent points. For me, one crockpot dinner a week during the fall/winter takes a lot of stress out of the holidays and this time of year. A great, warm meal and leftovers!
    Aaron recently posted…25 Worst Financial Mistakes Anyone Can MakeMy Profile

    Reply
  7. lee says

    October 29, 2015 at 10:37

    I really enjoyed reading this. Thanks for focusing on the good even though it’s a lot easier to mope and complain about the bad.

    Reply
    • Anne says

      October 30, 2015 at 08:04

      It is so, so much easier to focus on the negatives!
      Thank you so much for taking the time to comment. 🙂

      Reply
  8. Sylvia @ Miss PF says

    October 28, 2015 at 06:06

    I love how you snuck in some exercise, there! Thank you for focusing on the positive! 🙂
    Sylvia @ Miss PF recently posted…Seven for Sunday (#8)My Profile

    Reply
    • Anne says

      October 28, 2015 at 07:12

      🙂 It took a bit to focus on the positives, but there were quite a few this year!

      Reply
  9. NZ Muse says

    October 27, 2015 at 18:49

    Ohh yeah food goes all to hell when life gets hectic! Applaud you for being so onto it. I hope the stress fades soon.
    NZ Muse recently posted…How blogging made me a better negotiatorMy Profile

    Reply
    • Anne says

      October 28, 2015 at 07:00

      So badly. This is BY FAR the best we’ve ever done during this time period 🙂

      Reply
  10. Vanessa says

    October 27, 2015 at 16:41

    Ah small town life — when you can just leave the keys to an unlocked car in the gas cap
    Vanessa recently posted…Good Debt And Bad Debt Are Highly SubjectiveMy Profile

    Reply
    • Anne says

      October 28, 2015 at 06:55

      Shhhhh!
      I should tell you some stories!

      Reply

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The Bottom

You made it all the way to the bottom! Thanks so much for reading.
Did you know that The Bottom is the name of a town on the island of Saba, in the Caribbean? I went there on a trip once.
The other bottoms I think about are my own bottom, and the bottom of the champagne bottle. Often when I find the bottom of the champagne bottle, my own bottom grows. Funny, that.

Thanks for reading!

- Anne

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