Some thoughts on stress in my life

Things have slowed down a little bit this week. phew.

Up to last week and earlier this week, I was working 12+ hours/day with no lunch or dinner break. I often found myself eating lunch or dinner while doing work. I usually get to school or to the clinic around 9am or so and don't get to leave school untill about 9 or 10pm. For the last few weekends, I've been coming to the lab on weekends to do some work. On top of that, my prof has been telling me that my life will be like this for the rest of my career and been giving me A LOT of work.

No wonder I was stressing out like crazy. I was stressed last year, but this year has been even more intense than last year. I've been having difficulty getting good quality sleep, feeling irritable, sad, my body was tense and heart beating fast for no apparent reason. I think I was officially "burnt out."

But towards the end of this week, my schedule was not as crazy as it used to be. Then I realized how much this crazy schedule had been weighing me down. I feel so much better now! I really need to learn how to balance between work and play.

I added all the hours I spend working. Research Hours + Externship Hours + Classes + Babysitting + Other Meetings and Conferences = 42 hours/week. This does not include the times I spend doing homework. Last week, grand total was 56 hours/week.