Jobbing: The New Job - the first 2 weeks

I've been at my new job for 2 weeks now! It's interesting how quickly I've adapted to the new routine. As you know, in my previous job, I worked from home. With the new job, I have an hour commute! So - big change. It's impacted: daycare hours, cleaning routine, laundry routine, wake-up times, etc.  I've had to make MAJOR tweaks to everything. 

The Routine 

The routine was probably the thing that I've had to tweak the most. I actually had to write it down so I wouldn't forget anything and to make sure the timing worked. I've had to move things to the weekend, because it was just too much to take care of during the work week. Here's my work-week schedule: 

3:30 AM	Work-Out: 30 mins?
4:00 AM	Mom's Morning Routine
4:30 AM
5:00 AM
5:15 AM	Son's Morning Routine
5:30 AM
5:45 AM	Out the Door: Son to Daycare (6am drop off)
6:00 AM	Drive to Work (Carpool)
6:30 AM
7:00 AM	Mom: Work
7:30 AM
8:00 AM
8:30 AM
9:00 AM
9:30 AM
10:00 AM
10:30 AM
11:00 AM
11:30 AM
12:00 PM
12:30 PM
1:00 PM
1:30 PM
2:00 PM
2:30 PM
3:00 PM
3:30 PM
4:00 PM	Drive to Daycare (Carpool)
4:30 PM
5:00 PM	Pick up Son
5:30 PM	Dinner Routine
6:00 PM	Play with Son
6:30 PM
7:00 PM	Load Laundry (as needed) / Bath for son (as needed)
7:30 PM	Son Good Night Routine
8:00 PM
8:30 PM	Good Night Routine
9:00 PM	Mom Sleep

I'm "trying" to eventually get a workout in the morning... I'm not there yet! I'm not sleeping well and I keep snoozing for too long. I have started wearing my Fitbit HR again, so I can track: water intake and steps. I've been trying to make sure I get up every hour and walk around at work. Not successful at being consistent, but it's a work in progress. At least I'm realizing how much I'm NOT getting up and moving. Hoping to make incremental improvements as I go along. 

Meal Planning

Meal planning has NOT been easy for me. When I worked from home, I would just cook my lunches and cook dinner - without feeling too rushed. I am still trying to tweak the meal planning to work for me. I keep making too much food. I thought I would make food for the week for: snacks, lunch, and dinner. But it turns out, that when I get home - I'm not really in the mood to eat a "real meal." I also end up feeding my son a fruit-based meal vs what I made. He refuses to eat chicken or veggies at times... but he will always eat fruit. So, meal planning on Sunday for dinners -- doesn't really work and has led to food waste. 

Since that's not working, I'm making tweaks to only make enough for lunches and plan for an easy to put together dinner. 

Here's an example of a week of food, which includes lunch and dinners: 

Although the meal planning hasn't worked for dinners, it definitely works for work snacks and lunch. Here's an example of one day: 

Here's it all packed up in my cool new "lunchbox": 

Here's it closed: 

I'm absolutely LOVING the rubbermaid lunch blox sets for food storage and the Fitmark Box for a lunchbox.  The blue ice that comes with the rubbermaid lunch blox's keep the food cold all day, that I don't even have to use the refrigerator at work (which is nice because it's on the other side of the floor). I also love how the rubbermaid lunch blox fits perfectly in the Fitmark bag. This has been working perfectly, which is so very nice. 

Cleaning and Laundry Routine

This, I have to admit, was the hardest adjustment for me. I love doing one load of laundry a day. I've been doing that for years and love it. I also was cleaning a little each day, so it wasn't too much in one sitting. With the commute and new work schedule, this had to change.

Instead of cleaning a little every day, I now clean 1x a week on the weekend. I also rotate, so I clean downstairs one week - then upstairs the second week. So, each area of the house gets touched once every 2 weeks (instead of once a week). I was worried about this... because I like cleaning each area at least 1x a week, but it was just too much to maintain with the new schedule. The house is still "picked up" every night, but just not cleaned. Since we are at the house less, it actually hasn't made a huge difference switching to every 2 weeks vs 1x a week. This is a work in progress... I might tweak again as I get used to things.

The laundry has been tough. I'm trying to do one load a day still... I've just switched the days I do them. The only day that I have a lot of laundry is when I do my clothes, since now I have a lot of work clothes and have multiple loads. I don't have time to fold during the week, so I try to save the big folding items for closer to the weekend. Here's the new laundry routine:

• M: Whites
• T: Cleaning Rags 
• W: Rotating Items (Throw blankets, bath mats, pet items) 
• Th: Towels 
• F: My Son's Clothes
• Sa: Sheets
• Su: My clothes (2-3 loads) + iron/steam work clothes for the week 

This may get tweaked again, but it seems to be working out OK thus far.

The Job

The new job is interesting. I'm still getting used to the work culture and the people. Supposedly I was hired as a "change agent" to help implement some changes to the department. However, the team I'm working with is HIGHLY resistant to change! Whenever I ask questions about the process, they are very defensive. If I suggest anything or throw an idea out, they push back on it before they even understand what I'm suggesting. <sigh> It's not "BAD" or anything! But it's going to be interesting as I get more comfortable and trained in their processes/procedures. Or when I actually start making concrete suggestions for improvement. The team has been doing it this way for years and all of them have been in the job for a long time, so they are very comfortable with how they do it - even if there's a more efficient way to manage it.

I do like the job and I know I can contribute a bunch. They are expecting me to take over the team in a few years, when the current manager retires. I'm basically shadowing her to learn everything she knows. The truth of it is, the industry/products are so complicated - so it'll probably take me 3 years or so before I really get all the ins and outs. But it'll only take me a few months to get down the procedures/processes.  She is planning to retire in 5 years and is hoping I'm up-to-speed by 3 years and then I'll be taking over the last 2 years, while she's there as a resource. It's a good plan on paper and makes sense. Will see how it all goes.

I am totally grateful for this job and for this opportunity. I know I will eventually be happy there. I left work on Friday feeling very satisfied with my work for the day and with everything I've learned thus far.

Well, that's my update on the new job and all the changes to my routine :) More to come, I'm sure.