Is the trainee manager all right? Relatively speaking, I mean? That's not a small incident!

When I was going to school and/or working "flexible" hours, I set what I called totems through the day to look forward to. Stuff that, barring a major life event, wouldn't change. It didn't have to be fancy. For instance, one semester I set aside an hour after class but before work to get a coffee, do a sudoku puzzle and read a spy novel. Or I'd look up new releases at the movie theater and plan some movie nights a month or so in advance.

For me, those totems gave a small sense of structure, a milestone to look forward to when everything else was in flux.