Norwegianne.net

Category: Personal

  • Goals for March

    My goal for March is pretty basic. Take my time and get better from this burnout, and figure out steps to prevent it from being a recurring thing.

    I am now over two weeks into the sick leave. The fogginess in my head partially lifted this week. I have energy for longer stretches of time now – but still require some catch-up rest after doing activities. (And by activities, I mean doing the dishes, making a meal, walking around the block, visiting my grandmother in the nursing home, visiting with friends or the physical therapist.) Unlike the first week, where I would lie in bed all the time or on the couch, I have been slightly more active this week.

    I am due to see my doctor again next week, and evaluate from there. I think that I have improved a lot during these two and a half weeks, but at the same time, I also know that I am quite far off from being where I really should be and where I started out, so it will be interesting to see how I am at the day of the doctor’s appointment.

    My doctor originally wanted to give me sick leave for five weeks, but we started with three weeks. I think some longer time would be good, given where I am at this moment.

    But as we are beginning to think that the theory is that I actually experienced my first “burn-out” over two years ago (with an unknown time leading up to that), it will likely also take time to get to point normal again.

    Of course, the fact that this post is a week after I initially expected to publish it, kind of is very on-the-nose with how I am feeling at the moment. Everything takes more time to do than I think it will.

  • Status for February goals

    In February I wanted to…

    • Order tickets to visit Oslo. –
      • I did not do this. With the level of energy I was having, traveling anywhere seemed like a major task – and even ordering tickets for a future date seemed unwise.
    • Play in the KVSC Trivia Weekend. 50 hours of trivia. Playing from Norway, on Minnesota time.
      • Anything that could be done from the sofa… It was great fun, but again the energy levels played in, and there was a lot more sleep going on than there has been earlier years.
    • Go on more hikes. (Possibly walk to work depending on shape and weather.)
      • The flu and the energy levels put a stopper for this.
    • Reschedule with friends who were invited to the tea party – and set up new times to meet.
      • See: Energy levels. I have been in contact with them, though.
    • Blog more.
      • Anything that can be done from the sofa… in theory. Slightly higher activity levels than in January though.

    Summa summarum: after two months of listing goals, I am really bad at following through on them. On the other hand, even if just some of the goals get fulfilled, that’s better than none.

  • Burnout: week 1

    One week of staying home from work. Honestly, it does not feel like it. It feels like I was at work yesterday.

    One reason for that is that the majority of the days go by quickly without feeling like I do much of anything. I  sleep a lot, and it takes me a long time to get started in the mornings. I read a bit. I watch a bit of the cross country ski world championships. I knit a bit.

    I have reblogged a lot over at Tumblr. Not that that really says anything about how much energy I have. Basically, it requires about as much concentration that I have.

    When a trip down into the basement feels like a long hike. When a trip to the kitchen feels like a long hike… I think that not going on my work trip this week was a smart decision.

    I said to my sister as she came home from work today that my head feels less foggy today than it has done in a long time. It does. But at the same time, there are also huge variations in how I am feeling just within an hour, so I am also expecting that to go back and forth over the coming weeks…

  • Burned out

    On Thursday, I went to my doctor. (We have been having bi-weekly appointments since November/December.)

    Back in September the theory was that various physical ailments that have popped up since January 2013 (at least) were depression and anxiety related. (Dizziness, nausea, headaches, tiredness, feeling down, etc.) So I have been having sessions with my GP for that.

    But after listening to me on Thursday, she said: “I think you might be burned out. And the anxiety and the depression are really symptoms of that, and not the main cause of the other symptoms which also come in burn out mode.”

    There was a theory on why it has lasted so long, and have gone in waves on how strong it has been – basically it has been building in strength until I hit the top of a wave, and then it crashes and I am forced to take time out. This time we are sort of hoping that we have caught it before a major crash, and just a minor one in the aftermath of the flu two weeks ago.

    I am therefore on sick leave until our next appointment in three weeks, with a strong admission to not do any work. I disconnected my work email from my phone.

    A planned work trip next week got cancelled – which felt like such a huge relief (not have to wonder whether I would have the energy to be around co-workers and be “on”.) that, while I initially wondered about the doctor’s decision, it made up my mind that it was the right one.

    For the next three weeks, it will be a matter of first relaxing completely, and then gradually try to fill the energy back up with activities that I enjoy. And then we will evaluate where I am and what we need to do to stop it from happening again.

     

  • In-between ill

    Of course, it became evident when the fever left me that I am really terrible at being “in-between” ill. When I had fever and was coughing, I was quite good at that. Making sure I had enough to drink. Kept warm or cold depending on what my body wanted. And took a couple of Panodil to get the fever to behave once it reached 39 degrees.

    When the fever went away, I still felt terrible, because then the mucus started its invasion. I felt lethargic after the fever.

    But also because the hormones that the fever had repressed suddenly came back to life and with the hormones come my anxiety and my depression.

    Which result in fun (?) times either way.

    After almost a week at home, I had my first day back at work today. With the lack of energy, and lack of appetite, it was a shortened day at work – but as I kept working from home, it still ended up being a long work day. Fortunate that I have enough projects that can be done from home.

  • The flu

    When I visited my grandmother in the nursing home on Saturday, she and the other inmates were a coughing choir.

    On Monday, two days later, the cold I had been waiting for, for weeks, broke. Only, I suspect the flu instead, as there is fever, aches in the muscles, lack of appetite, mucus and a lot of coughing.

    Fun times. I am sleeping moderately well at night, though, thanks to Panodil. I am not a person who naps during the day, so getting in 6+ hours of sleep at night is crucial.

    I am trying to only use the Panodil for the things it will help the most with – the fever and muscle aches when I am trying to sleep. I sort of figure that my body needs the rest to heal itself.

    Yesterday, I juiced a bunch of clementines and ginger, with some carrots and an apple to get some vitamins and fluid in.

    Anyone have any good tips for the flu?

    (null)

  • January resolutions

    January resolutions
    Happy New Year, people!

    I never keep the resolutions I intend for a whole year, so I thought I would try to have some resolutions each month this year, instead, and then hope at least some of them will become new habits. Or you know, a way to get it done.

    In January, I will…

    • Read more paper-books and less e-books.
      • I made my goal over at GoodReads to read (at least) one more book in 2014 than I did in 2013… and I ended up at a lot more past that, thanks in part to e-books. . So new goal is one more than I read in 2014 for 2015. But I also figure that I need to get cracking on reading the physical books in my TBR pile…
    • Visit a couple of museums.
      • I was fairly good about doing this when I lived in Oslo for the first six months of 2014. Now it is time to start going back to it in my home region.
    • Print out myNanowrimo novel and start editing.
      • I actually finished in 2014. So, clearly, I need to go back to it and have a look at it.
    • Make the BBC GoodFood Calendar recipe for January.
      • I missed a couple of recipes this year, but overall, I made some tasty new dishes that I might not have made otherwise.
    • Invite friends for a tea party.
    • Walk to work at least once a week.

  • Nobel prize week

    I’m oddly emotional about the fact that two Norwegians have a share each in the prize for medicine.

    Never heard of them, but I had to choke back a tear nevertheless.

    Norwegians winning stuff will do that to me.

    Apparently in most areas where something can be won.

  • Summer

    A selection of photos from the åast couple of weeks.

    I moved home from Oslo, and went straight to work. My holiday time is in the end of August…

    But I still have managed to enjoy the summertime.
    (more…)