Working fully remote right now, but I am also the sole caregiver for a spouse who got out of the hospital earlier this week and has had five orthopedic surgeries since 2016 and is scheduled for getting gallbladder out in eight days. Right now all she can do is work (also remotely) and sleep. I’ve cried at the grocery store before when we’ve had financial problems due to her health issues and I couldn’t afford a 1.50 energy drink to make up for my lack of sleep. So neither of us wants to work less.
There is no PTO for me. No village to help us. I’m working 54 hours a week.
Schedule: wake up, straight to work at 9 am. Eat breakfast and lunch as quickly and cleanly as possible at my workstation. I don’t really take breaks, because Teams goes idle after 3-5 minutes and then I am logged out. If I can, I carry my laptop around the apartment and do absolutely necessary chores (feeding cat, doing whatever is absolutely pressing or insisted on) one-handed.
Finish work at 7 pm. Quickly cook something, clean up. Do any errands. Work out for an hour or go for a walk. Shower.
By the time I get it all done, it’s 9:30 if I’m lucky and I’m too tired to do anything. I have literally stared into space because I can’t muster the energy to do something I would enjoy.
I’m supposed to clean out the car. To be fair it is messy, but not hazardous or smelly, front seats are clear. I should have done it last weekend, but I was too worried because my spouse was, you know, in the fucking hospital! Really my only chance to do it is either on Sunday, the day I have totally off, or force my burnt-out-to-a-crisp self to do it after everything else.
This task is objectively pretty small, but with our work culture, having an additional damn thing to do is legitimately making me cry right now.
So is there a way to appear active on a Remote desktop for 30-40 minutes? I love my partner but they seem to think that since I’m not in physical pain like them, I should be able to do anything “extra.” But I feel like my head’s going to explode!