DECOMPRESS

M. Need to vent

C. Go for it. What’s on your mind?

M. I’m feeling like a complete loser. I haven’t been sleeping well. I’m tired/sleepy when I wake up, tired/sleepy during the day, and tired/sleep when I go to bed. Fortunately, I at least have gotten some sleep the last few nights. I’m on edge and feeling depressed. I’m tired of being tired. I have a doctor appointment on Wednesday, but that seems like an eternity.

C. I’m sorry to hear this. What do you think is prompting this or exacerbating the matter?

M. Let me just vent. So, for one, I’m down because I wake up so early and can’t fall back asleep, so this aggravates me and I start the day in a foul mood. I wanted to get a bunch of stuff done the last few days and today, but I have zero energy, which makes me feel like a loser because I think I should be tough enough to push through this. It feels like I have a vice on my head. It’s like I just want to sleep, but can’t.

C. Go on

M. So, I woke up around 5. Fell asleep around 11:30. So, that’s about 5 1/2 hours.

C. Go on

M. It’s been like this the last 3 nights, which is better than the two previous nights when I got like maybe one hour sleep.

C. Go on

M. I’m walking around like a zombie. I want to have high energy, but I’m just beat and feeling really frustrated about this.

C. Go on

M. I’m okay when I sleep well. If I get a decent night sleep, I’m okay. But, now because I sleep so poorly I don’t look forward to the morning because I know I’m going to wake up drained. It’s a terrible feeling.

C. Go on

M. Yesterday we went out of town and had a “nice” time. I put “nice” in quotes because even though I really enjoyed being with N, I still felt like I was operating at 60%. While we were there, I took a few online depression and anxiety tests and scored high on both.

C. What’s gnawing at you?

M. A bunch of stuff. I’m frustrated that we haven’t heard back from PW. I would feel 100x better if I knew we had this project because it would give me room to launch PM without worrying about $.

C. You spoke with G today, right?

M. Yep

C. Now I know you guys haven’t heard back from A

M. That’s right. G emailed her a week ago and has not heard back.

C. But, G did not seem to worked up about that, right?

M. Right

C. Why is that?

M. He made the point that it’s the end of the year for PW, so they’re swamped.

C. If I recall, they already have the agreement, right?

M. Yes

C. So, if I’m not mistaken, G presented to A and her boss and they both liked what they saw, right?

M. Yes

C. And PW is doing very well, so budget is not an issue, right?

M. They are doing well and have $, plus they know have the project fee, and are VERY happy with the work we have done to date.

C. I know you’d like to have an answer by now, but my sense is that because it’s the end of their period this will get approved but not until August. Does that seem realistic?

M. Yes. You’re right that they love us and the quality of our work. We’ve been working with them for over a year. It does piss me off that A did not respond to G’s email, but fortunately they’re doing well, they know us, they said they want to do the project, and they have not balked at our quote.

C. Like I said, I know it’s hard that you don’t have a definitive response yet, but all indicators are very positive. I would assume that it WILL happen. The odds are more in your favor than against you, wouldn’t you say?

M. That’s a fair point. Thanks for helping me put this in perspective.

C. What else?

M. F’ing Comcast. Our internet is down. The download speed is like 1 MPs. F’ing pisses me off. I’ve had to make something like 5 calls and they’re supposed to call me back. It’s so f’ing frustrating to deal with them. It’s like this every single time. It’s also affecting N. Fortunately, I can use ATT on my iPad otherwise I’d have zero connection. And the phone isn’t working either. F***!

C. Sounds like a rough day. You’re already feeling like crap and then you have to deal with this. That can be very frustrating. My advice is that you take some time right now to chill.

M. It’s also so f’ing cold that I have no desire to go outside.

C. Listen to the audiobook about sleep and close your eyes for a bit.

M. Okay. Thanks for listening and the advice.

C. Sure. Did this help?

M. Yes. I’m still tired but it was helpful to get this stuff out of my system.

C. Okay. Take care. Let’s talk later.

M. Okay. Thanks again.

C. You bet.