I’m an epidemiologist with ADHD working a second job. Here’s how I make it work.

Julieta, 34, is an epidemiologist who loves data, dogs, and dancing. When she’s not crunching numbers, you can find Julieta dancing to Latin music, cooking up a storm for her friends, or curled up with her pups and a good mystery series.  

6:00 a.m. My alarm rings, and I press snooze. My body still hurts from a boating accident this weekend, and, quite frankly, I’m pissed it even happened. It’s the first thing I thought about this morning. It still doesn’t make sense to me how the captain we hired to charter us hit a sandbar in the middle of the Gulf. Why were you going full speed, sir? Not to mention, I still have to adult today, and the dogs need to get up and go potty. But I’m not ready to peel my body out of this warm bed I’m in. 

6:20 a.m. OK, I really have to get up now. I mindlessly scroll through the dozens of notifications on my phone as if I don’t have to walk out of this house by 6:50 to beat the airport traffic on my commute. The sun isn’t even out yet. It should be illegal to be up this early. I’m going to shower even though I don’t want to. 

6:30 a.m. My alarm rings again. I know I can shower, brush my teeth, let the dogs out, and feed them in 20 minutes. I have plenty of time. But what am I going to wear? After my shower, I run to the pile of clean clothes I have yet to fold. All black again today? Sounds good to me. 

6:55 a.m. I don’t have time to feed the dogs. But at least they went out to do their thing in the yard. I walk to my car, and it’s freezing. I live in Florida. Why is it so cold in April? I wait for my car to warm up and completely forget to text my roommate to feed the dogs. Off I go to tackle another day with a million things I must do — but probably won’t get to. 

7:22 a.m. Wow, I made it to work on time again this week! That’s a win for me. My supervisor is so over me and my lateness. It’s not like I have any pressing matters until 9 a.m., but they want me at my desk at 7:30. Look at me, here at 7:22. I’m crushing it today. I quickly text my roommate to feed the dogs before I forget again. 

8:30 a.m. The dogs were fed, which means I can finally let go of my dog mom guilt. I need my quad expresso on ice. I don’t want to lose my parking spot, but if I’m going to make it through today, I’ll have to deal with the extra steps. 

12:00 p.m. I take a quick nap at my desk. I hope it’ll give me enough energy to make it through the day.

4:30 p.m. I barely got through the workday. I had a psychiatry appointment earlier to talk about changing up my meds. I haven’t taken my ADHD medication in about two days, and it shows. The pharmacy says it won’t have my new medication ready until sometime tomorrow. I just can’t today. I did some stuff I needed to do to meet deadlines. Now, it’s time to go home. Whatever wasn’t accomplished today may or may not be accomplished tomorrow. 

6:30 p.m. I’m finally home! Cuddling with my dogs is my favorite part of the day. I’m so drained. I hope my meds will be ready soon. The idea of cooking a full meal makes me want to skip dinner. String cheese and a Diet Coke it is! Good night. 

6:00 a.m. Tila, my American Bully, wakes me up right before my alarm goes off. She’s so sassy in the mornings. Can I open my eyelids first, ma’am? Now that I’m up, I turn off the 15 alarms I have set. I get in the shower and think of all the things I committed to this weekend that I now have no interest in. Sigh. Off to work I go. 

8:30 a.m. Why did I say yes to cooking for a whole baby shower when I’m bartending tonight and opening tomorrow morning? I work great under pressure, but I might have bitten off more than I can chew on this one. 

9:00 a.m. I should be starting my workday, but instead I’m scrolling through Amazon and Fashion Nova to find some themed outfits for a bachelorette party in Nashville next weekend. The outfits look all right, but what if they don’t fit? Typically, I’ll order different sizes and attempt to return the ones that don’t fit. But that never happens. Maybe this time I’ll get to the UPS store and return them. Ugh, what am I going to make for this baby shower? 

11:00 a.m. Now I’m on TikTok looking for inspiration and ignoring all the emails that keep coming in. My ADHD medication is ready, so I decide to take a short lunch and pick it up. I have about three different projects due at the end of the day and haven’t started any of them. Why do I leave everything for the last minute?

1:30 p.m. Did I let my dogs out this morning? Oh yes, I remember now. I did. We had a smooth morning. The new meds are finally kicking in. Time to start project one. I’m writing a standard operating procedure for one of my annual reports from start to finish.

4:00 p.m. Why do I underestimate myself? I finished my projects with an hour to spare. I turned my phone off and put it in my purse so I had no distractions. I set a timer for each project and was able to accomplish all of them, even though I’d had weeks to do them. I am trying to procrastinate less. 

6:00 p.m. Before heading home to get dressed for my bartending shift at my roommate Nataly’s restaurant, I stop by the store. I’ve decided to make a pan of Spanish rice and beans for the baby shower — can’t go wrong with that. I get the ingredients and text my friend that I’ll pick up her MegaPot on my way to my shift. I let the dogs out and play with them outside. I love seeing them run around and chase their tails in the yard. They’re so funny and have such big personalities. 

2:00 a.m. The bar was slow tonight, but I’m not mad about it. I had a chance to restock and run some inventory. One of my regulars came in and told me he’s having surgery. Of course, I offered to bring him food while he’s recovering on Monday. I’m home now and have lots of energy, so I put a load of laundry in, clean the kitchen, mop the floors, and organize my bathroom. Time for bed. 

7:30 a.m. What a beautiful Saturday morning! I wake up, shower, and take my meds. A bagel with coffee sounds great right now, especially in my freshly cleaned kitchen. I make a list of everything I must do before my shift at noon. This helps me stay on track, since my time today is very limited and every minute counts. 

11:00 a.m. I do my laundry for the week, so I don’t have to worry about it tomorrow. I missed a couple of things for my Spanish rice, so Nataly runs out to get them for me. When she gets back home, we sit down and have a short meeting at the kitchen table. I run her books for her as well as doing a few shifts at her restaurant, so I make sure to keep her updated on her accounts as far as inventory, payroll, and bills go. I’ll be out of town next weekend, so I bring her up to speed on my dog’s new eating habit. Apparently, Shadow doesn’t like wet food anymore. Shadow’s been taking the blankets from inside her crate to dry off her food before eating it. That explains the damp smell in the living room. 

12:20 p.m. I’m super late getting to the restaurant today. I lost track of time organizing a couple of things in the house. Thankfully, things were OK without me. Right as I walked in, three tables also walked in. It’s go time! 

4:30 p.m. That was a busy shift! I’m heading home to start the rice and straighten my hair for the baby shower. I’m excited to bring my sister and niece with me. This is a traditional Dominican baby shower, and where I live, there aren’t many Dominicans. It will be nice to have a taste of home for the night. 

6:30 p.m. The shower started at 5, and I just finished the rice. My hair looks fabulous, though. I forgot to pick up my Target order that had the shoes I was going to wear with the outfit I picked out. I’m so late, and now I can’t decide what to wear. I’m a little overwhelmed, but I found a cute jumpsuit in the back of my closet that was quick to put on. Can’t go wrong with a jumpsuit. 

6:45 p.m. We’re in the car, but I didn’t realize the venue is 30 minutes away! I didn’t even think to gauge the commute. I hope they’re not waiting on me to serve the food. My tank is on empty, too. Oh fun, now I need to stop for gas. I’m so stressed, and I was hoping to have fun tonight. 

7:15 p.m. We made it! I open the trunk, hoping the food made it in one piece. Of course, some spilled. I scramble to clean it up and hand the pan to my sister. Luckily food hasn't been served yet. I can finally relax and enjoy myself. I feel right at home even though I live so far away. I miss listening to bachata in a party setting. We play baby shower games and needless to say, I lose them all. I blame being childless for that. 

10:00 p.m. My dancing shoes took a beating tonight. I could not stay off the dance floor. Now I’m home, snuggling with my dogs and feeling thankful that another event is behind me. Next weekend, I’ll definitely be kicking my feet up and relaxing near a nice body of water. Hopefully.

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