The Similkameen News Leader
Editorial
April 07, 2009
YOU HAD TO BE THERE
I'd be the first to admit I'm a workaholic.
On average I spend 55 to 60 hours a week doing work-related activities. Add the odd evening meeting, special event or general photo-op and the hours increase.
I take one holiday a year and it's usually four or five days at Christmas. Most other holidays or
'stats' I'm in the office. Sometimes those are the only days I can get a lot of work done with minimal distraction or interruption.
I'm in the office typically at 8:00 AM weekdays. I don't normally leave for the day until 5:30 or 6:00 PM. Saturdays or Sundays I go in when I want and stay as long as I have to. I never and I repeat, never lock the office when I'm there. As far as I'm concerned, if I'm in the office then we are open for business. That's actually been a good policy for me with a little extra business coming our way on Saturdays and the odd Sunday.
I've kept this schedule for well over five years and I guess you can say it's basically my routine.
A day off for me, unless I scheduled it far in advance, is often an awkward event. That's not always the case, but I find it difficult to just sit and do nothing although I can easily do that following a full day at the office.
So when last Thursday happened, I did not see it coming nor was I prepared.
For some reason I had little motivation a very rare condition for me.
I wrestled with it for part of the day. I examined the previous hours looking for a clue. I knew I had a good supper the night before. There was a quiet evening spent watching videos with my wife. I had a good night's sleep. I woke up and felt pretty good. I enjoyed my usual breakfast of toast and some fair trade coffee with Brenda before I walked to work.
All the events leading up to the 'crash' was as normal as any other regular weekday for me. Nothing stood out. I could not pin it on anything.
That started to bother me. I mentioned in on Facebook and Twitter. I could not figure out why I was feeling blah. I was running on a full tank. All parts were working. Some were obviously working better than others, though.
It wasn't until late in the afternoon when I decided that these things happen and it's okay to have an off day once in a while. After all, I'm not perfect.
Then my day turned around and everything went back to normal. It was strange, but not too strange. I think I just had to cut myself some slack.
I see a lot of people during the course of a normal day and some of them need to cut themselves some slack. Relax a bit. Take it easy for a while. Smell the coffee.
Like I did the other day. And once I allowed myself to do so, I started to enjoy it without guilt.
Because sometimes it's good to have just one of those days.
