Nell at Work

I survived the first two weeks at work. Yay me!

But, Nell, you say. It’s only Thursday! And yes, you’re right, of course. But Ascension Day is a public holiday, so I have today off. And Friday is something we call a squeeze day here in Sweden, which is a regular working day “squeezed” between a public holiday and the weekend. Some companies, my employer among them, give their employees that day off, too, so no more work for me this week. I asked one of my new coworkers if I can still say that I’ve survived two weeks at work when I’ve not yet worked two actual weeks, and she said yes, so there you go! 😁

Upper left: my train station. Upper right: a rapeseed flower field on the way to work. Lower left: my train was canceled on Monday, so I parked my butt at a coffee house (properly socially distanced, ofc) while I waited for my husband to come get me in the car. Lower right: chilly temperatures + face masks = foggy glasses.

And so far, I like the job. There are some obvious cons: I have to wear pants (or at least not the robe I wear during my writing mornings) and brush my hair 😱 My new coworkers are all super nice and I like them…but they’re not my morning writing crew, so anyone not Ofelia, Ally, or JM start at a disadvantage! 😁 The gazillion teenagers going to school on the same train as me, constantly bickering over one thing or another, is driving me crazy, but I’m managing better since my husband lent me his noise cancellation head phones.

One more serious con is that working messes with my writing routine, so I need to carve out a new one. I still write on the mornings I have off, like weekends or today, and maybe that needs to be enough. For now, at least, until I get into the job more.

There are pros, too, of course. The commute to work is awesome for listening to audiobooks (audiobooks also helps drown out the teenagers). Actually meeting people is also fun; I wasn’t sure at first since I’m an introvert, but I’m surprised at how much I like it. The tasks are varied and interesting. And then there’s the steady salary!

So all in all, these first couple weeks have been great, and I’m happy about the job. And I’ll figure out a new writing routine; if I don’t put too much pressure on myself, I’m sure it’ll work out organically. A million other authors have managed to write while working a full-time job, so why wouldn’t I, right?

Right. 🙂