M
me_brown1110
Guest
One of those a-ha thoughts, phrased in my own mind's language and imagery, that no doubt echoes things others have said before...
My wife and I, after watching our eating carefully for a couple of months, decided to celebrate her good grades and my first paycheck at this job with a blowout meal, no boundaries. It was great. And then after, we paid the price with tight bellies, general logy feeling, moaning and groaning-- a food hangover, in other words.
It hit me at some point that I've been doing that with my current freelance gig. That is, instead of pacing myself, and setting aside time in the day to take breaks, exercise, spend time with my wife--achieving a sense of balance, in other words--i was working myself up to a session of 'binge working,' where i would start at 2 or 3 pm and go go go until 11pm or midnight. And since i need time to unwind after that, I'm not going to bed till 1 am or 2am, and then the cycle starts again when I wake up late in the morning, groggy, hungover from plastering my brain with this senselessly pressurized work pattern. And it's 2 or 3 pm when I feel ready to tackle it again. (Yes, the work comes out OK, but I'm a wreck when it's done.)
I know things could be said about getting in the zone, about occasionally having to pull an "all-nighter", about circadian rhythms (I am more the night owl than the early bird), but still -- I can see that this, for me at this time, is an unhealthy pattern of working.
So, this week, I'm back to negotiating a schedule that has me working a good 8-9 hour day to meet my deadline, and then a break for exercise, dinner, reading, and generally easing off the pressure so I can be more relaxed and fresh the next day. (And, back to the old eating plan!)
This post is absolutely apropros of nothing else going on on the board, but I thought you guys would understand if no one else would 8)
all best -- mike
My wife and I, after watching our eating carefully for a couple of months, decided to celebrate her good grades and my first paycheck at this job with a blowout meal, no boundaries. It was great. And then after, we paid the price with tight bellies, general logy feeling, moaning and groaning-- a food hangover, in other words.
It hit me at some point that I've been doing that with my current freelance gig. That is, instead of pacing myself, and setting aside time in the day to take breaks, exercise, spend time with my wife--achieving a sense of balance, in other words--i was working myself up to a session of 'binge working,' where i would start at 2 or 3 pm and go go go until 11pm or midnight. And since i need time to unwind after that, I'm not going to bed till 1 am or 2am, and then the cycle starts again when I wake up late in the morning, groggy, hungover from plastering my brain with this senselessly pressurized work pattern. And it's 2 or 3 pm when I feel ready to tackle it again. (Yes, the work comes out OK, but I'm a wreck when it's done.)
I know things could be said about getting in the zone, about occasionally having to pull an "all-nighter", about circadian rhythms (I am more the night owl than the early bird), but still -- I can see that this, for me at this time, is an unhealthy pattern of working.
So, this week, I'm back to negotiating a schedule that has me working a good 8-9 hour day to meet my deadline, and then a break for exercise, dinner, reading, and generally easing off the pressure so I can be more relaxed and fresh the next day. (And, back to the old eating plan!)
This post is absolutely apropros of nothing else going on on the board, but I thought you guys would understand if no one else would 8)
all best -- mike