This post may contain affiliate links, for more information see DISCLOSURES
Oh, hey, I found this little gem sitting in my drafts folder about my most recent migraine.
I didn’t want to complain to much about work in the midst of it, but, as of two weeks ago I’m done with that job so might as well hit publish.
I decided not to try to add anything more to the post. But let it speak for itself. I strive so hard to maintain a good work life balance and optimal mental health. Work is the main factor I don’t have full control over, but I sure try.
I’ve been a little quite on social media the last week or so, and no blog posts either.
Work has been draining.
It is a purposeful attempt to avoid going in to details about work.
But I did want to talk a little bit about stress and work since this is a pretty big factor in why I want to FIRE (become financially independent and (kinda) retire early).
Stress = Migraines.
Luckily, I’ve been able to hone in on my main migraine trigger. When I seem to be relatively on top of my stress, migraines are rare. Maybe once a year or so.
When I was in Pharmacy School I would get a migraine, without fail, 1-3 days after final exams. So this is kind of a funny thing with me. After the stress resolves, when I finally begin to relax, is when my migraines typically kick in.
Not getting migraines has never really been part of my considerations when working to try and reduce my stress levels. But every now and then things get super stressful for a bit, and then I get the associated migraine, and I’m reminded how important it is to try and keep my stress levels down.
Maybe I should clarify – it’s the stresses that I really don’t have any control over. THOSE are what I try to keep down. I seem to do pretty well dealing stresses related to being say, busy at work.
What seems to kick off migraines: stresses related to having very little or no control over the situation. This is what happened over the last week relating to work.
These are the stresses where I find myself not being able to fall asleep, or waking up realizing I am mulling through a situation trying to find an answer or trying to prepare for a disagreement.
These are the types of stresses I have been able to seemingly eliminate from my personal life by ensuring that my family is financially secure.
One great thing about financial security is that I never sit awake at night with a pressing concern over money.
I use Personal Capital to track my money after being introduced to it. It’s a big step up from Mint and gives me a much better overall picture with less late night money obsession
Back to work…
Ultimately, I had to address some personnel related situations at work. What was awful was I started to get the migraine mid way through a really difficult conversation that I had to lead. And when I get migraines, as they are setting in, I literally can’t read and I have difficulty seeing. I often have extreme difficulty mentally focusing. I cannot maintain a conversation.
That is the trouble with migraines, who knows when you will get one. At least in pharmacy school I knew to expect it after final exams. How awful it would have been if they kicked in anytime. Maybe my body has just changed.
Seriously though, this is not good for a professional.
Regina is That Frugal Pharmacist. She’s a PharmD, mother to a son with cancer, breadwinning wife, personal finance enthusiast, artist, writer, and entrepreneur. Regina’s single-income household has been debt-free, including her home, since she was 28 years old.
Her money approach is “holistic financial health.” She encourages mindful spending, awareness of the non-monetary costs of choices, and aligning personal values with money habits. Regina sees a frugal lifestyle and mindset as an important part of environmental stewardship. As such she’s interested in ongoing efforts towards self-sufficiency and sustainability.
One more reason it’s good riddance to that job!
Whoops! Somehow you got left sitting there in need to approve posts even though you’ve posted before! Sorry! and Thanks for checking it out. I’m still not really working right now, a month+ later, but my stress level is waaay down. Life is good.
I only become stressed out when I multitask. When there’re many work, when you’re doing a work another one comes in and you have to attend to both at the same time. That is when I become unorganized and my mind becomes dizzy.
Now I focus on only doing one work at a time, even when there’s some time in between the work, like when you’re waiting because it’s in process but later you’ll need to get back to it, so in the middle I don’t bother doing the other work because it’s killing my focus and takes more effort for the brain to think two tasks at a time.
Hope this helps you.
I’m actually pretty good at multitasking in a lot of situations. But you need the time to be able to focus as well. As long as you come up with a system that works for you, that’s the key!