It is beautiful outside. Your mind is wandering as your gaze goes again and again to the nearest window. It is time to take the advice of Monty Python and "run away," if only for a day or two. I can tell it is Spring particularly by the sounds— the chirping of birds, the aroma of new flowers, the breeze in the trees, and the snuffle of those with allergies to all of the above. One sound I didn't mention was that of children squealing with glee as they stream from the school doors for Spring Break. As adults, we usually don't get a week off each spring to play. But I could use one, couldn't you?
This brings me to my point this month; let me just grab my soapbox here.
It is very important to get away from work once in a while. I keep running into these folks who brag that they have not taken a sick day in their lives and have not been on vacation since 1987. They always say this like it is an accomplishment or a goal for which they strive daily. Let me tell you here and now that burnout is a real thing and it happens to those who get buried in work to the exclusion of the rest of life.
I have been guilty of the occasional 60-hour week right before a deadline. It was not fun, but we did what we had to do to get the product and the documentation out the door as promised. (The hard part was, as many of you know, making sure the documentation actually reflected the version of the product we were shipping, but that is another story.)
These things happen despite the best planning, however they should be the exception and not the rule. You know when you are reaching your limit. If you need help, here is a list of signs that you need a break:
You answer your home phone with your work phone greeting
Your pupils have a cursor flashing in them
You get into the car and look for the disk drive
You find yourself at a meeting then can't remember why you are there
You take a red pen to typos on a Chinese menu for fun
You dial "9" for an outside line at home
Your kid says his goldfish is floating atop the bowl and you tell him to reboot the fish
You get up, dress, and get almost to the car before you realize it is Saturday
You've eaten at your desk so often there are enough crumbs in your keyboard to feed a family of five
These are only a few of the warning signs that you need to step away from the computer and take a breath. We have PC-free zones on some trips and sometimes I am not even allowed to talk about STC! Take it from me, your fearless leader, and run, do not walk, out of the office or house and see the outside world. It is a wonderful place and no one out there cares if you use the semicolon in the wrong place or traverse into passive voice. Doesn't that sound great?
It is beautiful outside. Your mind is wandering as your gaze goes again and again to the nearest window. It is time to take the advice of Monty Python and "run away," if only for a day or two. I can tell it is Spring particularly by the sounds— the chirping of birds, the aroma of new flowers, the breeze in the trees, and the snuffle of those with allergies to all of the above. One sound I didn't mention was that of children squealing with glee as they stream from the school doors for Spring Break. As adults, we usually don't get a week off each spring to play. But I could use one, couldn't you?