Don't Push Me 'Cause I'm Close to the Edge!
I'm about to lose my head!
Today has been nuts. Unbelievably nuts.
I went outside to try and clear my head and I could swear my brain was ringing from information overload. As I sat silently on the steps, I noticed there were two or three songs playing along in there all at the same time. The lyrics and melodies were all blending together into one Whilcotown tune.
Additionaly, I could hear the churning of four top-priority work issues multi-tasking away in the background. But it was that old-time, knocking-engine kind of churning. Is that an oil leak I hear in there?
How does one manage without losing it?
How does one achieve that John Green level of inner-peace?
posted by TinyElvis @ 2:22 PM
4 comments
4 Comments:
Perhaps you could benefit from the sage advice of one of your favortie bands, Minibar (if not your girlfriend):
If I was a friend of mine
I would surely be concerned
I'd recommend I take some time
Away from me
I think I need a holiday from myself
I need some time away from being me
I'm worried about my health
And I seem to be bad company
I need time
To be careless with my mouth
Not worry what I think about
'Cos it's all fine
I need the dawn
I never get to bed before
I don't sleep naked anymore
And I can't lie in
Imagine
I think I need a holiday from myself
I need some time away from being me
I'm worried about my health
And I seem to be bad company
I could take a package deal
A SAGA tour of ancient Rhodes
A weekend break in Galashiels
Or circumnavigate the globe
I think I need
Two weeks in a caravan
To get away from who I am
And where I've been
So book me up
An all expenses pleasure cruise
Away from thinking about you
All the time
It's a bad sign
I think I need a holiday from myself
I need some time away from being me
I'm worried about my health
And I seem to be bad company
I need to kick back in the sun
I need to masquerade as someone else
I need to get myself some fun
I think I need a holiday from myself
p.s. John Green takes vacations.
If I still worked for "the Man", I would not be busting my ass as much. I decided years ago to never miss a meal or a good night's sleep while working for someone else.
Now that it's for myself, it's a 24 hour per day job. Not really, but you have to look at in that way in order to be successful.
You cannot work part-time and expect full-time success.
TinyE, I can appreciate what you are saying here; however, I would argue that Doug's experiences apply more than you think they do. Whether it be an 80 hour week or a 120 hour week or working for "the man" or yourself, the point being made is a good one: working too many hours is not good for you (or your business). It impacts -- as you have indicated -- your ability to concentrate and, therefore, be effective. Moreover, it can leave a bad taste in your mouth, making what could otherwise be a good situation (working for yourself) a very bad one, one in which you are tired, depleted, or just bitter.
I do not mean to suggest that you are any of these things. What I am saying, however, is that working more hours does not always equate to more productivity; there is a such a thing as working too many hours that you actual render yourself unproductive. I believe that there is research out there to support this. Put me up to the challenge and I'll find it for you.
If sacrificing yourself, your sanity, your livelihood seems like the only viable option in this case, I can't do much to change your way of thinking. But there's a Catch 22 and it begs attention: you are your business. You can run yourself into the ground to benefit it, but in the end, if you are lost (you being a key part of its intellectual property) than your business won't be left with much, will it?
In short, it seems that it would be in your best interest -- for you and your business -- to take better care of yourself by balancing things you have to do (business) with things you want to do (pleasure). (Right now you aren't doing much of the latter.) If you can't cut back, at the very least use your free time -- the very little you do have -- to do something that you really enjoy.
What I'd like for you take out of this message the most is this: you can't do it all. No one can, not even with an 80+ hour work week. We have to do the most with the hours we have. Is overworking doing that for you? I think all it is doing for you right now is giving you a four-day (and still going) headache and headaches -- as you know -- don't write good code. Heck, they don't even write good support email.
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