I left for vacation with a big, incomplete project on my plate and an assignment that arrived my last day in the office with a due date before my vacation ended. Sigh. I miss the early days in my career when there was enough time during work hours for the things you were asked to do. It hasn’t been that way in a long time. I was going to go away for vacation, but when it finally rolled around, I’d had no time to plan my trip and I just didn’t need any more stress. Work was suffocating me; I was beyond burned out. Work was also interfering with my ability to get stuff done at home – so I cancelled my plans to go away and did a ‘staycation.’
For the first five days I was content to mindlessly pull weeds, bike ride and tend to some long-ignored home repairs. I knew at some point I would also spend time on the unfinished work, but first I had to refuel my tanks and reach a mental place where I wouldn’t resent the intrusion on my vacation so much. In a way I was taking care of my needs and in another way I was just procrastinating. You can’t keep performing at a high level without breaks. And the unfinished project required creativity – something that doesn’t flow easily when I’m worn out.
Starting was the hardest part, but a ridiculous heat wave made it easy to stay indoors in spite of the beckoning sunshine. Once I knuckled down, it came together in a way I was pleased with. And the minute I did enough to show my face on Monday morning, I shut the computer down and spent the rest of the afternoon reading at the river.
For the first five days I was content to mindlessly pull weeds, bike ride and tend to some long-ignored home repairs. I knew at some point I would also spend time on the unfinished work, but first I had to refuel my tanks and reach a mental place where I wouldn’t resent the intrusion on my vacation so much. In a way I was taking care of my needs and in another way I was just procrastinating. You can’t keep performing at a high level without breaks. And the unfinished project required creativity – something that doesn’t flow easily when I’m worn out.
Starting was the hardest part, but a ridiculous heat wave made it easy to stay indoors in spite of the beckoning sunshine. Once I knuckled down, it came together in a way I was pleased with. And the minute I did enough to show my face on Monday morning, I shut the computer down and spent the rest of the afternoon reading at the river.