Sunday, December 30, 2012

New Goal, First Step


Just in case I haven't made this clear through mild bitching all over my blog lately, I've been pretty busy. Like crazy busy. Like if I was Homer Simpson, I'd be making the face in the picture... But I do feel like I'm getting better at handling stress. I don't know. Some days are better than others for sure.

One of my current goals in terms of stress reduction is to schedule more time off from work. My schedule fluctuates a lot, which is necessary to the type of work I do. For MFT, I go to a lot of shows, and I'm a musician, so I'm used to being up late. My SmallBox work has also grown more demanding, and I don't expect it to slow down (Think Kit has kept me especially busy with daily activity - only one day left!). I'm in the office a lot more, working with others, attending meetings, juggling a full schedule. It's interesting that I finally have a job where time off is acceptable and even expected, but I haven't managed to give myself many breaks at all.

So yeah, a new goal for me is to actually make plans to turn the computer off, to tell my coworkers and colleagues that I'm not working, make one of those irritating instant e-mail reply thingies, and do something totally relaxing/productive while I can. My wife and I have lots of work to do on our house. It's been forever since I've taken time off work and just recorded music. It's been years since I've been on tour with a band (although I'm still not convinced I'm ready to live that way again, even for a couple weeks). I love to read books, but I give myself less time than ever to read. There are tons of little things I could be doing!

All of this tells me that I have to get serious about "me time" when I can. Work is great, but it's still work, and that's not the same as pleasure. I realize most of these feelings come from all the daily maintenance involved in Think Kit and MFT admin duties, but life will always keep me overwhelmed and anxious if I let it. It's up to me to take deliberate steps toward reducing stress and enjoying my private time.

So what's the first step? January 1st, 2013, the day after Think Kit ends, I'm taking the full day to myself. Everyone and everything else can wait, and due to that being a holiday, no one will really even care. But I will. And it's gonna be nice - hopefully the first of many hard-earned scheduled breaks from work in the coming year.

***

This post is part of Think Kit by SmallBox 
Today’s prompt: What's one step you can take to support a goal you have for 2013?

No comments:

Post a Comment