I’m back to work after a week long trip to take my daughter to college, as you saw from my previous post. It was great to take some time off but I’m always glad to get back to work, doing what I enjoy. After time in the mountains and on the beach, I’m refreshed and ready to work again.
reflecting on the splendor of creation in Arches Natl. Park
A nice welcome home: My post on “the M-word” (on being both a writer and a marketer of what you write, currently up on the Redbud Writers Guild blog) seems to be resonating with writers (it’s getting some buzz on Twitter). The kind folks at the Englewood Review of Books included it in their “interesting bits of book news” this week. I’d love it if you posted a comment at either of these sites, or shared the link with friends: http://erb.kingdomnow.org/book-news-and-conversations-31-august-2012/
My question today is about work and vacations. If you took time off this summer, what was it like to come back to work? Did you return energized and enthused? Or did you dread going back to work? I find this an interesting question because I think how you feel about going back to work after time off tells you some important things about whether you are working in an area that uses your strengths, and fits with your calling. What do you think?
I rarely return to work energized and enthused. Normally I return to work convinced that I was meant for leisure! At this stage of my life, I’m taking some months off having left a 30+-year career, and am contemplating a new field for the next 10-15 years. Would love to find something that brings real satisfaction, one that I would enjoy returning to after a vacation. I wish I had words of wisdom to add to your post, but I’m still looking!
We didn’t take any trips this summer, but I did take a few days off recently. It wasn’t even a full week, but it was time away from work and it was very refreshing. I came back to work yesterday with a good attitude about being here and about having been away. Over the years I think I’ve learned the truth of the old saying that a change is as good as a rest.
Claire, thanks for your response. You’re at an interesting “intersection” in your journey. I’m going to be writing a post about it later today, but you might look into the Clifton Strengths Finders test. An excellent resource about this test, which looks at your personality and identifies key “themes” that are your natural strengths, is Marcus Buckingham’s book Now Discover Your Strengths.
Tim, I like that: a change is as good as a rest. I’m a big proponent of actual rest, as you know! but I think there’s some merit to what you’re saying, as always. Thanks for adding your insights…
My struggle is that with 12-hour shifts, I constantly hear, “Well, you only work 3 days a week!” Right. And am so exhausted mentally that I can’t concentrate on much more than laundry and fixing dinner on my days off. Like Claire, I am also at a crossroads after nearly 30 years in the same profession. I have had several changes in those 30 years as far as where I work and what I do, but it is still mentally (and sometimes emotionally) draining. Couple that with mothering teenagers, and I am definitely looking for rest!
We wre unable to take a long vacation this year with our daughters, but weekends here and there we tried to do something fun. Historically, I have found vacations to be a mix of fun, relaxation, and work (a mother’s work is never done!) It’s difficult to return to work because I enjoy being with my family. I used to feel “refreshed and enthused,” but there have been so many negative changes in our work environment that is no longer the case.
Shauna, you work every day of the week. Doing laundry and fixing dinner is work, as are your 12 hour shifts, as is parenting your teenagers. It does sound like you are a crossroads. What barriers do you have to overcome to move past that crossroads in a new direction?