Hold on, digital calendars are a trap. They hide the mess but they also hide the work. My old color coded chaos showed the actual weight of my week at a glance, all those department codes screaming for attention. Now my phone just shows sterile blocks of time, and I miss seeing the whole ugly, true picture of how busy I really was.

Honestly david703 has a point though. We see a squirrel do one cute trick and suddenly they're planning their next chess move. It's probably just an instinct they have, like birds building nests. We love to put human smarts on animals but most of the time it's just basic survival stuff. I'm not convinced a fake nut drop means they're sitting around thinking up pranks.

Honestly that's the REAL job right there. I've had clients tell me similar things and you have to hold that space carefully. Set soft limits in your own head, like you're a friendly listener but not their free therapist. It keeps you from burning out. The trick is to care without taking on their baggage as your own, because that emotional work IS work even if it doesn't show on the bill.