Maybe I’m crazy but…during these dog days of summer when we’re in the doldrums and the job market suddenly looks about as fresh as those drooping hydrangeas against the fence … it’s worth stepping back and talking about one of the hidden problems of the American work/life: downtime. Whether you have a job and are working umpteen percent more than your counterparts were 30 years ago…or you’re looking for a job and never feel you can fully take a break because you have to do everything under the sun 24/7 to get that job … downtime is something you just don’t want to admit to. So my thought is this: how many of us, who have been or are in transition, are in this space because it’s the only way we can slow down and reacquaint ourselves with ourselves? How many of us are burnt out by the constant demands of e-mail, cell phone calls, computer fixes and glitches, bosses who don’t care about us but their own bottoms, not to mention our own inner demons for perfection? How many times in your life have you taken three months off to rediscover your direction, your values, your place under the sun and the constellation Canis Major to rediscover yourself? Maybe, just maybe, you’re doing that today, under cover of a job search. Maybe this transition is intentional; not openly so; but still part of the plan, part of an unspoken way of reestablishing your balance, your work/life balance. If that’s the case, be brave: take a day off during the workweek for yourself. Take two. Hell, I’m going to take ten. I’m off for a two-week sojourn in the mountains. Ok, so I’m crazy, but … it’s about time.
Meta
Archives
- February 2013
- July 2012
- May 2012
- February 2012
- November 2011
- October 2011
- September 2011
- August 2011
- July 2011
- June 2011
- July 2010
- June 2010
- May 2010
- April 2010
- March 2010
- February 2010
- January 2010
- December 2009
- November 2009
- October 2009
- September 2009
- August 2009
- July 2009
- June 2009
- May 2009
- April 2009
- March 2009
- February 2009
- January 2009
- December 2008
- November 2008
- October 2008
- August 2008
- July 2008
- May 2008
- March 2008
- October 2007
- June 2007
- May 2007
- April 2007
- February 2007
- January 2007
- October 2006
- February 2005
- January 2005
- October 2004
- August 2004
- July 2004
- June 2004