Time Off
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Time Off
Last week my wife was out of town all week, so in addition to taking care of the kids, getting them to school and sports, etc., I also got to be the stable boy and vet for the week. We had a sick horse, so he was locked up and I got the joy of cleaning manure out of his stall twice a day as well as the excitement of sticking fingers in his mouth to get medicine in there.
As a result, my workday was a nice broken stream something like this: wake up, check email, get kid #2 up and fed, work for 30 minutes, take kid #2 to the bus stop, come back have a cup of coffee and check more email, go feed horses and shovel manure, come back and feed kid #3 and get her dressed, than back to work for 2 hours before taking kid #3 to school. Then a 3 hour, no kid break to get work done before grabbing kids and getting them started on homework. Then around 5 I sign off from work and go back and repeat the horse care.
Whew, sounds bad just typing it.
Actually it wasn't so bad and having a flexible job helps. I was able to do some work at night and push some things off to the weekend, but it still made for a busy week. The first two days were stressful, especially on day two when kid #1 was late and I got to drive him to the bus stop at 6:10am. However as I was out there shoveling in the beautiful Denver weather I realized that I should be enjoying this a little more. It's a good break from the computer, where I can sit for 4 hours without moving on some days.
I know that being in a corporate office things are harder, but getting some breaks and time off from your job is key. Vacations are rare events and often they don't come when you really need the break. Trying to recharge on the weekends with a family is tough, and there isn't much time left.
But there is time. Maybe not between every meeting or everyday, but if you make a conscious effort to take a break, you can find time. Even a 15 minute break, walk to the cafeteria to get a snack, drive away to Starbucks for a quick cup of coffee, anything that gets you away from the desk, out of sight, and lets you sit for a few minutes, will do you good.
Your boss will forget that keeping you recharged makes you more productive. Or he won't believe it. So it's up to you to find time to get away from things. Remember your world won't come crashing down if you're 15 minutes late for something or you take a few minutes off in between developing that stored procedure and testing it.
Make time for yourself today, even if it's 5 minutes standing in a stairwell. Just make sure it's away from your computer.
Steve Jones
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My Blog: www.voiceofthedba.com -
Words to live by, Steve! We often forget, in the hustle-bustle stress of work, to take time to take care of ourselves!
And then there are those days when I'd rather shovel your horse's stall than the stuff at work...
Here there be dragons...,Steph Brown
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Absolutely right, but what I have noticed about the 10'er away from the desk is that it isn't a substitute for living in harmony. How many reach that state with themselves and what did they go through to reach it?
Humans are self styled victims of irratic and spontaneous discontent, which makes me wonder if I'll ever truly live in harmony. The short version: the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence (no pun intended about the horses Steve).
One thing is for sure, it definitely takes a long conscious effort to achieve anything and to achieve happiness is probably the truest of this.
Max
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Last year I found I had very high cholestrol. I decided, among other things, to start walking more. So, after lunch I walk two laps around the back of our building twice around as we have paved paths all around our building. It is probably just over 1/2 a mile twice around. I also take an afternoon break when I can and the weather cooperatates and go once or twice around again. When the weather is bad I take a walk around the inside of building just to stretch my legs and let my eyes refocus on something else.
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Test? We're supposed to test the stored procedures?
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That 'erratic and spontaneous discontent' is no accident. If humans were not obsessed with searching for greener pastures, we'd still be a minor player on the Savannahs waiting to get a morsel after the real predators had made a kill. It's precisely because humans are never happy with the status quo that they have populated the planet, gone to the moon and probed the solar system. No great discoveries, no great projects were ever made by contented people.
Of course, like many drives, it needs to be moderated. But it gets an undeserved bad rap.
...
-- FORTRAN manual for Xerox Computers --
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My break just occured when I read your article. Thanks!
My bonus break came when I responded to it!
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thanks steve for reminding this .I live near the ocean in the northeast and nothing like leaving for lunch and ride my motorcycle to the deli for a sandwich and eating it on the pier.
on the winter i drive and sit inside the car but its does recharges my batteries.
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satz, I can say the same about myself: near the ocean in the northeast (do we live in the same town? 🙂 ). I walk in the morning, mostly. This Saturday I walked 6 miles for the Boston Heart Walk event
Regards,Yelena Varsha
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Steve, as one who has nearly as many years shared with horses (35+) as with these darned machines (40+), I can promise you that they single-handedly have helped me maintain what sanity I have! And more critically, since they are my life and the reason I put up with this crazy business, they do more than keep me physically fit! Anything that lets you focus on the 'why we do' helps you through those impossible sessions with the auditors, or the MBAs who have no clue about effective, efficient design as long as the thing generally works.. I don't know too many folks who have been doing this as long as I have - but we long-timers all have something that is exceptionally important to us that keeps us going.
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Not at all..that was addressed to rookies who don't know any better and don't script them right the very first time...not "Old (& capable) hands" like you....
On a less capricious note, funnily enough I recently (yesterday) turned down a really, really exciting job in exchange for the tedium of the present one only because my current job lets me telework full time - though the worklife balance has started tilting in the favour of "life" more than "work" the past 2 years, and the job has become seriously dreary and monotonous everytime I weigh the two, "Life" invariably emerges weightier..so though I'm not "happy with the status quo" guess I'll be infinitely unhappier without it..
**ASCII stupid question, get a stupid ANSI !!!** -
Now that's a tough one. I'm ambiguous when the head hunters come calling, they are generally interested in what you can offer their client not visa-versa and can give the impression of selling a new life (soon there'll be schemes like the kid-porsche exchange). It seems this thread is bringing out another idiom: rather the devil you know... springs to mind. Not that a change won't do you good either, ironically that's what this thread's about. In all fairness though, sometimes there's nothing like being offered a new opportunity.
Max
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During the summer months here in Cornwall, UK, I like to nip down to the beach and go for a swim during my lunch. It wakes me up, invigorates me and gets me set for the afternoon.
Plus, it means I'm taking a bit of my day back for myself.
Tom
Life: it twists and turns like a twisty turny thing
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Used to live in beverly ma and now moved to southern mass near providence/capecode and work in back bay area .
kudos on the heart walk ... i walk 3 miles every day from back back station to work , which is all the walking i think i can do now
satish
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Time off ?
I work 9 to 10 hours a day. Then when I go home, I have my 'second' job - a maid, a driver, a cook etc. Even at weekend, there are so much things going on, yard work, grocery shopping, arguing with my husband, fighting with my son.....
This weekend I have a party for my friend's 60 years birthday at my house. I volunteer to do it but I hate it. At this point, I don't want to see and talk to anyone. I just want to have some quiet time alone.
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