Monday, April 2, 2012

More on the Importance of Saturday Morning Prep Work

Finally! A weekend when I can get my work done! Well, Saturday was a wasted day because I was totally foolish Friday night and was hungover like a champ on Saturday. Lately, I've been doing this. For the last three weeks in a row I've gotten really drunk one night--so drunk that the next day is a complete wash for productivity.

One thing I've noticed: these has all been weeks when I haven't been able to prep on Saturdays.

The last three weeks, well four really, although the week after Spring Break I was a bit fluish, so that one sort of counts here, but for the last three weeks, my workouts have gone out the window. I went from six days a week to 2-4. That's bad for me. And for the last three weeks, we've been eating terribly. Lots of pizza. That's our go-to when we don't feel like cooking.

And what has changed in those last three weeks?

No Saturday prep.

I knew in February it was what was freeing up my week days--that little time spent on Saturday prepping (although a pain, but still), but I didn't realize what an overall impact it had in such a positive way on my overall well-being.

I know I wrote about this on the other blog, but I had not realized truly what an impact it had on me.

The one time I got drunk in February was when my bro and SIL came in. In January, I was getting sad and drunk on Monday nights, for whatever reason, that was my stress night. But in February, once I started prepping on Saturdays and was able to work out then Saturdays through Thursdays, I wasn't so stressed on Fridays. I was exhausted from the week (usually from the work outs), but not stressed. And if I had beer on Fridays, it was two. Although we weren't really going out either. But on Sundays and Saturdays when we'd go to friends' houses, I wasn't getting drunk like I have been.

Yesterday, since I was totally not feeling well Saturday morning, I had to get up early so I could prep. before going over to the g'parents'. I didn't finish and had to finish when we got home, but still, it was done. And I had time to cook. And I slept really well last night, and I woke up this morning not stressed out because I've got the lit class under control. And I have no grading this week either (except I might have some lit analyses coming in, but I don't think anyone is writing on Realism, or few may, but I can knock those out Thursday).

The point is, I'm not stressed out about this week. The point is that I can come home from school today and work out and not have all this stuff hanging over my head. It also means that I won't have to chose among working out, finishing work, or cooking. It means that I won't have to get up at 5 am tomorrow morning and finish my work before school.

Again, I know I wrote about all of this over at the other blog, but I didn't really realize (I'm slow, right? It takes me forever to figure these things out) how much of a difference it makes. Like I knew Saturday prep meant that I got to work out in my afternoons during the week. That was the point of Saturday prep. What I didn't realize was a) how much that afternoon working out was keeping my stress level down and my health up (I've been feeling low grade crappy for about four weeks now--no, I'm not pregnant--that was a bit defensive, but if I mention a sneeze on FB, everyone jumps in with "omg! you're totally pregnant. So I feel I always have to clarify and then apologize for my defensiveness); b) how much of an impact it had on my willingness/energy to cook during the week; c) how much more enormous prep work is during the week compared to Saturday morning. It's easier to find six hours (at the most--like if we're reading 100+ pages, which is rare for the week, but happens, or Henry James) between 6 am and noon on Saturday than it is to find that during the week, even if it's broken up. It just took me a while to realize that.

So now, since I've gotten this taken care of for the week, NOW I feel like we can return to our regularly scheduled program. I'll let you know if this is the case. :)

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