Here I am, bemoaning the fact that I am once again hard at work, writing this column on a Sunday morning. I think what’s most disturbing about this is that I’ve seen this movie before. Many times.
In fact, it’s clearly a recurring theme, to that point that, back in May of 2012, I’d written a column on this very topic… working on the weekend. In it, I wrote, “(The Trophy Wife and I are both trying to find ways to enable us to regain our weekends and, dammit, we’re gonna make it happen.” Okay…so what happened?
In that time, we’ve gained a new dog. In that he’s a Labrador, he will remain a puppy forever… one with boundless enthusiasm. He needs to run and play and burn off some of that energy that neither my wife nor I have, so we force ourselves to get him to the dogpark every weekend. Umm…we force ourselves to consider taking him to the dog park every weekend. Okay… so we went yesterday for about an hour; I think we’re all surprised that we remembered the route there.
After that, we each had a desk full of work that needed to be addressed. While it’s unlikely that the work that either of us still had to do was still in piles from when I last wrote about this, I won’t swear to that, either. We each had what to do on the new www.MikeSchenker.com website, and I had some content to write for some upcoming seminars I’ll be leading. What she did with the rest of her day, I’ll let her address in her own column. Once she has the time.
I know it’s not just us.
One of my closest friends (yes, I have some) is constantly complaining about her lack of free time. She’d recently told me how much she was looking forward to the coming weekend so that she could get to some of the work she’d missed getting to during the week. To me, that’s a complete contradiction: looking forward to the weekend… in order to do more work.
Scratch that. It’s not a contradiction. It’s a crime.
Technology is a wonderful-awful thing. It’s enabled us to connect for business and social reasons with friends and colleagues from around the globe, as well given us the ability to work from home in order to not have to commute during bad weather or when a child is ill and we need to stay home. On the other hand, it has also given us the ability to work from home 24/7, which means that we can always do one more thing on a project at any hour… as soon as the inspiration or dread strikes us.
Several years ago I accepted a job with a company without being given a detailed explanation about what the actual requirements might be. It was what appeared to be a great opportunity, so we shook on it and I got to work… only to find out that the travel required for the job would be 100 percent. Read that again. One. Hundred. Percent. Don’t you think that’s the kind of information that should have been discussed during the hiring process?
Once this sank in, I asked when was I supposed to do any planning? Any follow-up? Oh, and do laundry? I was told: that’s what your evenings are for. Is this maybe for three out of four weeks a month?
Suffice to say, I left them in short order. Giving me a tablet and fancy technology didn’t make up for them taking away any free time to breathe… maybe see my family, even. Yes, that matters to me.
There needs to be a balance between our work life and free time. And by “free,” I mean “free.” Free to go back to the dog park. Free to take a nap in the sun. Free to make plans to have no plans.
I’ll be sure to put this on next weekend’s agenda.
Mike Schenker, MAS, is a promotional industry veteran, a member of the Specialty Advertising Association of Greater New York (SAAGNY) Hall of Fame, and a proud recipient of the Promotional Products Association International (PPAI) Distinguished Service award. His website MikeSchenker.com gives insight into his coaching and educational sessions, as well as his leadership and mentoring offerings. He can be reached at mike@mikeschenker.com.