Thursday, April 12, 2007

Work And Leisure

Yesterday I had a quiet day. It rained most of the day so I really didn't mind being at work. By the end of the day I was able to get through the emails that accumulated in my absence. I am a person who likes quiet and uneventful days at work. I really don't mind working if I can approach my daily tasks calmly and in an unhurried way. It is the Zen approach to work. I am much more productive in this atmosphere than when the day is hectic and packed with meetings or unforeseen activities. I prefer to control my day rather than have it control me. Yesterday, after I sent out my daily thoughts, I received a flurry of out of the office messages. Apparently many were away from work for spring break. It is good for the soul, the mind, and the body to be away from work or, as the Europeans say, "Go on holiday". Americans work more than any other major industrialized country. In general, we have less time off than people in these same countries. I even recently read in a business article that many people do not take vacation time because they are afraid of being out of the loop with what's going on in the office. It seems like people must be in constant contact with work. They can't seem to unplug or detach themselves from work. When they do take time off they are constantly calling in or logging on to make sure they are not missing anything. How sad! Work is important for all kinds of reasons and on all kinds of levels, and most of us have to work, but its importance is greatly blown out of proportion in the great drama of our lives. No one on their death bed ever said, "I wish I had spent more time at the office". If you are a person who is obsessed with working, get over it and get a life. I can promise you that Human Resources will never call me and tell me that I need to use some of my vacation time! Work is important but so is a balanced life. Its fine to be successful in life but don't measure your success only by your title or salary. Do things and participate in activities outside of work. Create memories for yourself. They are the cushion that you will sit upon in your old age. Someday when I am an older man than I am now, I will be having lunch with my friends and saying, "Remember that awesome Eric Clapton concert we saw back in 2007"? I will never say, "Remember those awesome staff meetings we had back at Humana. I really miss those charts and graphs"! My mantra is "When I am at work, I'm at work. When I am at home, I am at home".

1 comment:

Bryan said...

Amen!