What a month it’s been. These monthly gratitude journal posts are the only posts I’ve been able to keep up with at the moment, and I’m just managing to keep up with the daily sit down and review of how I feel at the end of each day.

I admit that my work life balance is most definitely unbalanced! And I’m grateful to have frank conversations with various people who have passed some wise words of wisdom to help me form action plans.

During this busy and difficult time, I’ve been finding gratitude in the simplest of things; like food, tea, driving, and good parking. I suppose I need other areas of my life to be easy and still, whilst I navigate the choppy waters that is work.

I’ve been watching a Korean drama with the hubby and a Chinese drama by myself and sometimes I yell at the screen in frustration over the characters’ actions or inaction. I wonder if people were to watch my work life whether they would yell in frustration at me too?

I then remember that I’m only human. And I also remember that we have to do what we have to do until we can do what we want to do. At the moment I am surviving – but hopefully, and soon – I can be thriving.

Until then, here is what’s helping me get through these choppy waters:

1 Grateful for having a car and being able to drive, allowing me to run lots of errands today.

2 Grateful for calendars helping me plan my week/ month. Grateful for lie ins, resting and recuperating.

3 Grateful for alarms and reminders, keeping me on time and helping me stay aware of my timekeeping. Work is different now that I’m helping put out fires, but that means I have less predictability, which I need to find a way to cope with.

4 Grateful for dog walks in the park, it was an ok morning weather-wise, but seeing Artemis traipsing about and sniffing everywhere really helps me stay present and mindful.

5 Grateful for podcasts, as I was in my car for a total of 4.5 hours today in traffic behind stalled vehicles and crashes – luckily I had some really good podcasts to listen to during this time. Grateful for Artemis, snoozing on me this evening. Grateful for insightful conversations, it’s been highlighted to me that I’ve been pretty good at raising boundaries and protecting my mental health in relationships, but I now need to transfer that to my relationship with work too.

6 Grateful for colleagues, as a couple brought in really tasty sweet treats from holiday. Grateful for work as there was ice cream today! Grateful for candid conversations and having a better understanding behind how people work. Grateful for using tools to help me be the bigger person and not engage in a fight that I was invited to, I kindly communicated that someone should speak to someone else about something so as to not get involved and ended the conversation – I fundamentally disagreed with this person but didn’t wish to dismiss them or argue with them. Grateful for my old line manager who said I’m doing a good job being a new line manager. And grateful for podcasts, this episode of Barb Knows Best was recommending books, so I’m keen to look into these books.

7 Grateful for cleaners coming to clean our house, today has been a 13 hour work day and I am so glad that people can help keep the house in working order. Grateful for some sunshine, drying the clothes in the garden wonderfully.

8 Grateful for memory coming back: I parallel parked for the first time since passing my driving test 9 years ago. People say it’s like riding a bike – these things come back to you – but I suppose I have purposefully chosen not to park in spaces that required such a manoeuvre. Grateful for a varied and super productive day: the car was hoovered, events were booked, food was cooked, and TV was watched – an all round successful day.

9 Grateful for a varied and productive day today, again. Grateful for being able to have my eyes checked. Grateful for having hair and being able to chop it off for donation. Grateful for the sun drying out laundry. Grateful for family dog walks, Artemis was tired out from our evening walk which was slightly longer than usual. And grateful for the hubby for cooking dinner.

10 Super grateful for a fellow dog owner helping me park at the vets, those parking spaces are tiny! Grateful for lentil lasagne, much tastier than Quorn.

11 Grateful for fresh eyes, I was working on something gone midnight last night/ this morning but could only figure it out after a restless night’s sleep – goes to show that rest is important.

12 Grateful for sounding boards and venting out my frustrations. Grateful to have people in my life who have been through, or are going through, similar issues so we can discuss effective action plans. Grateful for my past experience and knowledge helping me investigate and figure things out independently.

13 Grateful for Artemis who was absolutely adorable this evening, snoozing on me on the sofa. Grateful for a little down time, as I’ve been burning the midnight oil so it’s lovely to rest this evening. Grateful for colleagues who have been praising me for the work I’ve been doing and for being proactive and preventing errors from happening going forward.

14 Grateful for Artemis today, helping me stay present when I’m with her – right now all she cares about is the apple tree in the garden and getting them apples! Grateful for the hubby, offering really good hugs. Grateful for my line manager offering support as I navigate some difficulties with my direct report. Grateful to the wider business, as I now find myself instructing people or advising them on the best practice on doing things and they actually listen to me – I must admit, this is an odd yet nice feeling.

15 Grateful for friends visiting us and sharing a nice meal. Grateful for Artemis being very well behaved when eating out – her first time, in fact. Grateful for the hubby watching Korean dramas with me. Grateful for a spot of gardening this morning, as it was much needed and it offered a helpful metaphor for work: pruning and cutting really overgrown wisteria at the source instead of pruning and cutting at the end of the vine, which made me think about work and cutting problems at the source.

16 Grateful for dramas today. The hubby and I have started watching Korean drama Hometown Cha Cha Cha and it’s such a lovely show, giving me vibes of Doc Martin. I’ve also started watching Chinese drama You Are My Destiny, which has been really funny to watch.

17 Grateful for biscuits and chocolate biscuits as I have been gorging on Victoria biscuits. Grateful for tea too, super tasty. Grateful for my line manager who has affirmed my stance on something and reassured me that I’m doing well considering potential conflicts.

18 Grateful for Artemis today, we had a lovely walk this morning and her recall is getting better. She also snoozed on me this evening and it was quite therapeutic stroking her as her fur is now so soft and silky after a visit to the groomers.

19 Grateful for strawberries today, as I had strawberries for the first time in ages. Grateful for snacks from work that are surprisingly both healthy and tasty. Grateful to make small progress with a work project – small progress is still progress. Grateful for a colleague who is leaving and her last day was today, she’s going back to Australia and will be sorely missed.

20 Grateful for podcasts, listing to Barb Knows Best and hearing some really insightful stuff – absolutely love this podcast. Grateful for Chinese dramas, offering some reprieve from a super busy workday.

21 Grateful for biscuits today, helping me get through a tough work day. Grateful for Artemis, being absolutely adorable today. Her fur is so silky and stroking her is so soothing.

22 Grateful for the hubby today, helping me park and navigate somewhere we haven’t been to before. Also grateful for the hubby as we celebrated our 11th wedding anniversary today. Grateful for Artemis, seeking lots of affection and being absolutely adorable. Grateful for all the tasty food we ate today.

23 Grateful for sleeping in this morning, recharging and recuperating. Grateful for Hometown Cha Cha Cha, which feels like watching a warm cup of tea – like I’m being hugged whilst watching this really warm and uplifting show.

24 Grateful for Chinese takeaway, which I haven’t had in years, it’s good to taste some memories. Grateful for Artemis who napped on me this evening.

25 Grateful for frank and open conversations about work and life, currently I have very little balance here so I need to actively work on that. Grateful for the advice I’ve heard and I’m aiming to tackle the problems I’ve been experiencing to better improve my mental health.

26 Grateful for tea today, really needed caffeine to get me through. Grateful for the hubby offering really comforting hugs. Grateful for colleagues bringing in super tasty chocolates back from holiday. Grateful for some normality and having a casual team lunch and just chatting and chilling which doesn’t happen often. And grateful for the satnav redirecting me home instead of crawling along a crash on the motorway.

27 Grateful for work paying for lunch today. Grateful for Leon, as I haven’t had Leon in maybe over a year. Grateful for colleagues advising me on how best to evidence things to make change happen. Grateful for the higher ups at work being aware and considerate of my upcoming workload and ensuring I’m not bogged down with admin.

28 Grateful for past me having already cooked dinner so it was a quick and tasty dinner tonight. Grateful for the hubby offering lots of hugs and advice.

29 Grateful for a little lie in, recuperating after the epic work hours I’ve been doing. Grateful for seeing friends who we haven’t seen in over a year and catching up. Super grateful for dog friendly pubs serving super tasty food – sticky toffee pudding with warm custard – so tasty!

30 Grateful for the hubby cooking dinners for the week and dealing with the dog most of the day while I was working. Acts of service is one of my main love languages so I’m super grateful for that. Grateful for Artemis giving me sofa cuddles. Grateful for Korean drama Hometown Cha Cha Cha which is so funny and so heartwarming.

31 Grateful for checklists today, helping me blast through some things at work and making sure I’ve remembered everything that needs to be actioned. Grateful for my line manager supporting me by agreeing to help my direct report while I independently work on other tasks. Grateful for lemon juice, washing away all the tea stains in my mug – it’s like a completely new mug!