Monday, January 17, 2011

Is it okay if I'm assertive?

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Quote du jour: I'd like to be assertive, if that's all right with everyone.

Site du jour: Get up from your chair every four hours, or else. Another study that finds sitting at a desk all day is unhealthy, even if you do exercise each day. Getting up even for a minute or two trims the waistline. The article suggests that the act of rising up from the chair, using the large muscles of the legs, provides a small but significant workout. (Another reason to do squat!)

I need to be reminded about this. When work is all about pressure, I feel guilty for taking a lunch break to eat -- I eat at my desk instead. (See? I'm a good, hard worker. I sacrifice my lunch time for work.) And taking a whole hour to get out of the building and run around in the rain seems utterly frivolous.

This is all in my head. So long as the work gets done, nobody cares if I get all self-sacrificial. My problem is that the amount of work I need to do, and the time I have to do it in, are not realistic. Not when you consider that they want it perfect.

The heck with all that. I'm back in the habit of exercising every day, and I'm not going to give that up, gain weight, lose momentum, and stress myself out just to make needless brownie points.

So today I am going to ignore the nagging little tug of guilt at the back of my mind, and put myself first at lunch time. I Have Spoken. (And putting that assertion up here is another way of making sure I don't cave in when lunch time rolls around.)

Exercise du jour: 2.5 miles around the track. It shall be done. At lunch.
And behold! I did run at lunch. Odd weather: the sky was blue instead of grey, and this was this bright yellow thing up in the sky that made the run much hotter than a normal January workout.

17 comments:

C said...

Are there shower facilities at your work or do you stay stinky for the rest of the day?

The Merry said...

Thankfully, there be showers. (Though one of the benefits of having a whacked out thyroid is that you don't sweat very much.)

Kelly the Happy Texan said...

Good reminder about work. I need to send this to my hubby who works at his desk through lunch too.

Have fun running (if that's possible). Still a love/hate relationship with me and running. :)

marie said...

I've acted like the martyr and worked through lunch for the last year. It doesn't really get me anywhere.

So this year, I've taken to hiding myself in our giant dining hall and not allowing myself to leave until I read 40 pages of a book.

It's been good so far :)

The Merry said...

The lunch or the book? ;)

Andrew Opala said...

I was very frightened of your assertiveness.

The Merry said...

Be afraid. Be very, very afraid. ;)

The Merry said...

Kelly, I wonder if the love-to-hate relationship with running will ever change.

Anonymous said...

Good for you!!! It irritates me greatly when I see people sacrifice their lives for their jobs. Stick it to The Man and be good to yourself!

Judith said...

Don't be a martyr! It's no good for your head or your body. Don't stay at your desk through lunch, even if you just get up and go for a walk. A. Nonny Mouse above is correct - don't sacrifice your health. Assertive is good!

Elena said...

Your life should be always on the first place, day by day, and the job on the third, after your family......

Andrea @ The Skinny Chronicles said...

I have the same problem! I always work through my lunch breaks! Not this week! Oh no...I'm gonna jog if it kills me.

Cat said...

I am woman,hear me run!

Or roar. Take your pick...

Cat

Lee said...

Your title for this post is darling.

Lu @ Done Dieting said...

Excellent idea. I absolutely will get up and walk around every 4 minutes. Er, wait. You said hours. Ok, I guess I can be productive for that long. You are doing great!

messymimi said...

It used to be, if you were loyal to your workplace, they were loyal to you and you stayed until you got a watch and a pension.

Now, they expect loyalty and working through lunch, but to have no reciprocation requested.

They have it wrong. Consider that you actually work for yourself, not them.

Yes, be assertive.

Amy said...

Americans say "working like a dog" and the Russians say "working like an American". Le Sigh.