Growing Pains

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Before I started my new job I posted something on facebook about how I don't like being the new kid at work. A former coworker commented and shared "the growing pains only last so long." At the time I was encouraged and hopeful that it would be a smooth transition.

I have officially been at my job for a little over 2 months.. and as of my paycheck last Friday I have a whopping 4 hours of PTO to show for it!! The past 2 weeks have been quite the learning experience.

Two Mondays ago was absolutely terrible. It was all I could do to make it to my car at the end of the night and not cry! I'm serious!! On Monday and Tuesday I work 12-9pm to accommodate for clients that work during the day and need to come to groups at night. I had an evaluation at 3:00pm which lasted 2 hrs and 15 min instead of the scheduled 1.5 hrs. I was late for my 5:00 appointment and had to apologize to him and explain that despite his efforts of catching the bus to meet with me we would need to reschedule. Then I had to lead a 2 hr group at 5:30. I met with a client after group, and couldn't catch my breath until 8pm, still not having had dinner! AHHHH! Later in the week I spoke to my supervisor and we are rearranging my Mondays so I don't have that scheduled evaluation right before group so I at least have a chance to take my 1 hr lunch break!

In addition to that crazy Monday schedule, I had to kick 2 people out of group that night! 1 person was sleeping and one person was texting, and those are 2 automatic things that will get you kicked out! So that was exciting.. Then that Thursday during group I had to kick someone out because they looked high! All new experiences. Thursday evening two weeks ago I decided to stay an hour late to get caught up on things (Monday really messed up my week big time!) and left work and my car stopped working on my way home!! Thankfully my husband wasn't working that night and was able to come keep me company (and provide a warm car! brr!!) while we waited for the AAA tow truck. I found out this past Tuesday that my car needs a new engine and the cost will be over what my car is worth! SO! We are car shopping!

THEN this past Thursday I found out something that should have been included in my work process that I hadn't been doing. Sadly it was checking with insurance for pre-certification and approval! Well it was missed the entire time that I had been meeting with my client, so there is the potential that our agency will have to lose that $1,000+ because of this mistake. Dang.

Based on the format of the orientation process I knew that I would learn from mistakes... but goodness. That  was an expensive mistake to learn!!! I filled out an appeal and faxed 45 pages to the insurance company last Friday, so I'm still crossing my fingers for a positive outcome.. but I'm still written up! Oy.

So that - in a nutshell - has been my two weeks. I'm trying to stay positive and think forward to when another 2 months have gone by and how much more I will know.. but that is going to take some patience and perhaps a little perseverance!

It has been interesting to learn about my coworkers and their boundaries. Some coworkers always take their 1 hr lunch break, a lot work through lunch, and others come in before their shift and get caught up on work. I'm trying to find the balance that works for me. Since I can't leave early if I work through lunch like at my last job (bummer!) I have to decide if it's more beneficial to me to have an hour where I don't do work things, or eat and work through lunch so I'm not as far behind. Sadly our location is a little out of town, so I can't just get up and go to Target on lunch or run necessary errands. If we were closer to things I'd be more inclined to leave and clear my mind. So far (apart from crazy days when I don't get to eat until I'm home) I've found that it reduces my stress to get things done during lunch so I don't have as much hanging over my head. Once I have a full case load I may welcome the break!

Thanks for reading if you made it this far! What are some of your work boundaries?