I’ve been practicing unplugging on the weekends. When you run a business, it can be hard to take time away from it, to stop working (or feeling like you should be working) for a minute and do something else. So I’ve been consciously choosing not to work, or to work in small, defined chunks, if I have to, to meet a deadline.
Unplugging for me, isn’t so much about staying off the computer and staying offline, it’s more of a mindset. A choice to not think about work obsessively very much for the weekend.
Getting out from behind the desk
Mostly it’s been great. I gone on some great bike rides (made it to the top of Mt. Scott on Saturday), walked/hiked/ran around Portland and the Gorge, laughed with friends, spent time sitting on the porch reading and watching the hummingbirds feed.
It’s Monday, do you know where your business is?
But strangely, come Monday morning, while I feel energized, I also feel disconnected, like I have to start all over figuring out where I am work-wise. It’ll sometimes take a half day or more to get back into the swing of things, like I’ve forgotten everything I knew when I got up from my desk on Friday.
This is different than the Monday morning blahs I remember from my days of having a job-job. Even when I liked my job, which I mostly did, well except for that one with the video dating service, it bummed me out to have to spend another week working for someone else. It’s been nearly 12 years, but that feeling was different than what I’m experiencing now.
Easing transitions
I’m wondering if a system, or rather a more refined system, could help with these transition times. Something that reminds me exactly where I am, and sets me up ready to dive into work on Monday morning. Or perhaps, I’m not paying close enough attention to my natural rhythms, and for me, fully unplugging for two days in a row is too long?
What about you? Do you unplug or wish you did? How do you ease the transitions? I’d love to hear how you do it, or if you struggle too. Hmmm, I bet my friend Cairene over at Third Hand Works has something to say about this.
I wrote about this in my journal last year! Crazy! I wrote all about forgetting who I was and what I did, and only on Mondays. One thing that helped me in the moment of feeling lost was making mindmaps and sticking them up on the wall. So I could look at them and remember the kinds of things I did and cared about. Like trail markers to help me find my way back.
.-= Kelly Parkinson´s last blog ..I’m on a train =-.
Mindmaps. That’s brilliant! Lists feel too constricting on Monday mornings, but pictures would be lovely. Thanks Kelly.
I’m so glad you wrote this. I never thought that maybe I don’t need to fully unplug for 2 days in a row either, AND that that’s OK. Wow.
.-= Cranky Fibro Girl´s last blog ..Because You Know I Just Wouldn’t Be Me If I Weren’t Having Conversations Like This =-.
Interesting idea isn’t it Jenny? So then I begin to wonder what that might look like…a check-in, a brief work time, a regular day, or different time off during the week? Oh, the things we think about when we don’t have to be clockpunchers!
Shannon, I’m playing with Personal Kanban for my task management (sticky notes on a white board…I know you like your sticky notes). I blogged about it here: http://www.peaceofmindorganizing.com/blog/personal-kanban-for-task-management. Might do the trick for you–it does for me. Good for you for unplugging!
This is a great post. Unplugging from business, especially when your business is online, is tough. There is always a tweak to your site, article to be written, email to be answered, client to be serviced, associate to support, and on and on and on…
Unplugging is something that I have been working on getting better at as well. I think during the launch phases of a new business, this can be really tough, but as you start to settle in, have a steady flow of income, it becomes easier to take time away and relax!
Still a work in progress for me too!
Ron
.-= teamcurtisfamily´s last blog ..When you believe it- you can achieve it! =-.
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