burn it down? (maybe not. that's a lot of cleanup)

So, I thought my head might implode.

I was at the pharmacy to get new meds for my son.

The lady at the pickup counter said they had the prescription from the doctor, but they needed to order the medication...and that I needed to talk to the pharmacist.

So I went over that line. About 737 games of phone solitaire later, I got to talk to him.

"It's on back order. We haven't gotten it in over a month and we don't know when we'll get it," he said.

So I asked, "Ok, can you tell me what medications you HAVE so the doctor can know what's available to prescribe instead?"

I already knew the answer. The pediatrician had me he wouldn't tell her which meds were in stock when she'd called in the prescription.

Sure enough..."No, the doctor has to decide what's best and call it in."

I raged the whole way home. HOW IS THIS PATIENT CARE? 🤯

Anyway, I messaged the doctor so she could start the process over again. Whee!

Luckily, the next med she chose was in--although, picking THAT up was its own snafu. I drove to the CVS a lot that week.

So...it took me a couple of hours, several trips, and a near system-induced embolism to pick up a medication...one "simple" errand. AND I was efficient and focused on this task.

I'm fortunate...I could work this into my days pretty easily.

But so many "easy" life tasks are time consuming like this. Even with laser focus AND flexibility it's almost impossible to get it all done.

Working, caregiving, running errands, making appointments, dealing with dinner (Every night! Forever! Really?!?!?)

No wonder women are burning out.

I hear a lot of people talking about how that's bad...but I don't see a lot of people in power DOING much about it.

Unless you count making the very people in danger of burning out responsible for figuring out how to keep themselves from it…

• Set work boundaries!
• Schedule self-care time!
• Meal plan!
• Ask for help!
• DANCE IN THE MOTHERF*#$ING RAIN!

But trying to make sure you live! laugh! love! while stuck in a system that’s one of the major contributors to your burnout is like trying to light a candle in a windstorm...there's a lot working against you.

So what do we do?

I am, in case you haven't figured it out, #teamCrowley on pretty much everything. And definitely this: the system is working as intended.

It's just a terrible system.

But who can add dismantling to their To Do list?

I don't really know what the answer is.

But I do know you can’t set your world ablaze if your flame’s gone.

I also know, unfortunately, that's it's up to us to protect our fire and keep it lit.

For me, building something that worked was more flame-fanning than trying to fix or dismantle what exists.

What do you think might work for you?

Would still totally love to set some stuff on fire,

Kristen