Today (Tuesday 10th May 2016) I have worked from home, it is a sheer luxury and something I try to do at least once a week. Most of the time I have an extremely productive day, with no interruptions and the ability to stack the dishwasher for a couple of minutes, in place of spending ten minutes chatting to a colleague about the new hair do, the awful weather, her lavish home-made multi-coloured salad.
Usually I love it because I can do a few mummy/housewife chores around my working day, which means I’ve achieved double in the same amount of time. Something us full-time working mums struggle with on a regular basis.
Today though, I am thoroughly unmotivated. There is washing that could be folded, a present to wrap, some work to do and some emails to send, but instead of multi-tasking at 100mph like normal, I am distracted, grumpy and unenthused.
Then it hit me.
It’s the dreaded PMT.
The PMT that affects my MMB, which is my Motivated Mummy Brain.
Having self-diagnosed this horrible mini mental-health blip, I felt immediately a bit better. I could justify why I felt so fed up, disillusioned, sluggish and generally not on top form. My daydreaming about quitting the job to do something more exciting and the sudden negativity and ridiculous paranoia that I am a rubbish employee is in the main because of a hormonal imbalance.
Amazing!
I know that a sudden influx of important emails and calls will spur me back into action at some point today. The accelerator will be depressed and I will whizz back up to a respectable 80mph with much better focus.
This is because the main impact of my PMT is a self-motivation drain – the Motivated Mummy Brain Drain. I need someone or something to drag me out of it, to get me going and to inspire me again. I don’t have any major deadlines for today, so that isn’t helping. We haven’t got any guests coming round, so I needn’t worry about the washing in the dining room, or the cups on the side. My daughter is at nursery until 6, so I have no entertainment requirement and my other half is at work. It feels a little like I’m not needed.
**** pause *****
I’m writing this out of a lack of inspiration for what I should be doing. It’s a bit naughty and honestly, I am a committed and devoted employee, but today I’ve taken a little time out to brain dump on how I’m feeling. This should blast some of the negativity away and already since starting this post, I’ve paused to answer calls, crack on with work and have even taken the washing upstairs.
Tomorrow should be a better day, and now I have recognised that my PMT will always affect my MMB, I will aim to be a little kinder to myself and put it down to an off-day that will require some chocolate.
How does your PMT affect you?