Time Out

I was listening to a news update on Ferguson, Missouri this morning in the car and President Obama was criticized for being on yet another vacation.  Now I’ve done a good job of remaining politically neutral on this site and hope to continue that. I will neither attack nor defend the president’s actions. Something I will defend is the notion of a vacation.

I feel the vacation pendulum has swung yet again, now against the notion that folks need a break. We had the factory days where workers toiled for 12+ hours, six days a week. Then we brought in unions and codes and realized that everyone needs a break now and then. With the 1980s came a resurgence in work ethic. People hustled about in their skirts and suits, new-fangled and unwieldy cell phones flopping against their sides in bags large enough to hold a Volkswagen. As the American public raced up that corporate ladder, we kicked the lazy 70s dust off our shoes and embraced Reaganomics and the Gordon Gekko approach to work. As the millennium came and went, technology improved to a point where a desk in an office was almost obsolete. Work could be done from just about anywhere, and was. (Have you ever heard a flush while on the phone with someone??) Now a mobile workforce can close deals and send reports while breastfeeding, ordering a latte, or having their oil changed.

Recently, though, I’ve noticed that there seems to be scrutiny and prejudice for those who need a little R&R. The president is not alone. In a staff meeting a few weeks ago, a young apprentice in our shop was heralded for having checked and responded to email while on a vacation.

I ran into a friend of mine a couple of weeks ago who shared that her supervisor was in a foul mood as she was called back early from a trip with her family to Chicago for a conference call! What?

The most recent stats from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (March 2014) shows an unemployment rate of 6.7%. A good number of the 93.3% who are employed are either looking, thinking about looking, or should be looking (but don’t know that yet) for a new job. Those who have a good, solid job and are relatively happy are definitely in the minority. With companies downsizing and employers constantly looking for ways to cut costs, I can see how it would be easy to forego your own happiness in exchange for some level of brownie points with your superior.

Even God rested. He worked hard for six days and then took a break. Now I imagine, had the technology existed, He may have gotten a call or email on that seventh day. Something like “Uh, yeah, this is Bob from Maintenance. We’re getting calls from the North Arctic that the sun isn’t setting. We’re going to send dispatch to check it out, but just wanted to let you know that it’s not getting dark up there.”

All this to say, you’ve got to be good to yourself. There are basic principles you should know and live by:  

You only live once.

You only get one body (and mind) so take care of it.

We are all easily replaced. If you don’t think you are, shoot me an email.

So, give it your best, but don’t give it your all. Leave something for yourself, and your family. No one arrives at the Pearly Gates and thinks, “man, I wish I’d worked more and spent less time with my family, doing the things I enjoyed.”