Cinderella Syndrome

Dear Reader,

All work and no play makes Jack a very dull boy.

On the scale of work and life, this weekend for me was extraordinarily heavy on the work side. I am currently struggling with graduate school applications and have spent a large amount of time on formulating a research question. I have calculated that this weekend (only counting Saturday and Sunday) I have spent a total 15.5 hours working on my research proposal (and still counting). Sometimes I feel like Cinderella, I feel that my days are always overflowing with some sort of work or other tasks. 

After a long week and somehow even longer weekend, I am sitting at home this Sunday evening, secretly hoping that tomorrow is some sort of federal holiday. Although the days were long, I am glad that I took this weekend to work very hard on something that I care about. During the week it is literally impossible for me to focus on anything non-work-related for a period of longer than 60 mins. So, even though this weekend was not exactly “fun” nor full of adventure, I think it was certainly a good use of my time. 

As long as I do not have too many office/ work weekends, I’m sure that the work/life balance will even itself out. While it is important to find ways to incorporate relationships and fun into our routines, we would be kidding ourselves if we assumed that we could balance all weeks the same way. This week for me was a work week in the purest sense. However, once and a while other weeks have days devoted to travel, adventure, and relaxation (well, at least ideally). 

I even managed to get lucky this Sunday evening. My boyfriend and I surprisingly found some time to online shop for Halloween costumes together (we’re going to be vampires!). Also, we went out to dinner at the Italian restaurant Bertucci’s for a quiet evening. At the end of the day, Dear Reader, I don’t think I want to work like crazy forever. I don’t want to turn into a “dull boy.” However, I do know that I am very happy to work and get things done if it means that at the end of the day, like Cinderella, that I get to go to the ball. Even if our work/ life balance dips too heavily towards the work side of things, it is important that we, like Cinderella, reward ourselves at the end of the day before we turn back into a pumpkin on Monday morning.

Love,

Raven