As we in the U.S. approach our annual Thanksgiving Day celebrations I am reminded once again of the importance of setting priorities for work-life balance. This came to my attention as I found myself “filling-up” on “things” (business related) that I could do during the time that my clients won’t be “…disturbing me…” about problems, new ideas and requirements or any such items. YUCK!
I know that I am not alone in this custom development, IT consulting or independent developer arena in my ability to find more areas to fill up a holiday weekend than there are hours to fill up! I’ve seen it over and over again how easily a potential change-of-pace weekend turns into just another few days — filled with events that frustrate and leave me feeling that I “lost” my weekend! (Which of course I DID!). It is even more disturbing to realize just how often the problem has been caused 100% by me!
While it is true that (sometimes) there can be “real” requirements to work on a holiday weekend, such as when a long weekend is the “only” time that such things as a major database re-structure or hardware upgrade can be accomplished. Let’s face it, IT is a demanding (as well as rewarding) career, and sometimes that does require some “odd” hours.
My hope for this post is that someone out “there” who reads this will have a better holiday weekend because I posted. To all — best wishes for your Thanksgiving weekend, and if Thanksgiving is not a part of your tradition I wish you a weekend of freedom from the stress and strain of your IT involvement, whatever that might be. May your weekend be truly recreational for both body and soul.