CART Problem Solving: Late Hours

CART Problem Solving Series

Sitting Apart
Handling Slides
Classroom Videos
Latin
Superscript and Subscript
Schlepping Gear
Late Hours
Expensive Machines
Communicating Sans Steno
Cash Flow
Lag
Summer
Test Nerves
Ergonomics
Speech Recognition, Part I
Speech Recognition, Part II
Speech Recognition, Part III
Speech Recognition, Part IV

As you can see, I'm writing this at 4:00 in the morning. I did nine hours of CART today, with my first class starting at 8:00 a.m. (7:00 wake-up) and my last class ending at 9:00 p.m. I got groceries, came home around 10:30, helped make and eat dinner, sent off my daily transcripts, and then I had some medical journal transcription to do. Then I had to spend several hours trying to adjust my steno machine with my two hex wrenches to get rid of the annoying rattling noise the left hand keys had developed. It mostly worked. Then I practiced for the RMR, answered some emails, did a bit of recreational internet browsing, and now here I am, three hours before I've got to get up again. Because our work is so variable and so seasonal (summer work is especially hard to find), many CART providers try to cram as many hours into their schedules as they can in a given semester, so that they can put aside some money to live on during the slow times. But it can be tough to be out in the field for such a long stretch every day. I don't actually have a solution to this one, but I'd welcome suggestions from fellow providers and anyone else who might have ideas on how to make it easier. Other than utilizing every spare minute between classes to do the administrative stuff (like emails and transcription work), how do you manage to balance a jam-packed CART schedule with the rest of your life, including sleep, household tasks, and time for the stuff that makes all the hard work worth it?