1.12k
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Let Downtime Be Downtime
I came across the below article on another site and it struck a chord with me. How often do we as women feel that in order to be successful in our career, we must be plugged in and available 24/7?
I know I did and at what cost? Missed opportunity with my family, sleepless nights, stress beyond belief. This writer has the right idea - be there in the moment and enjoy the little things that mean so much.
~~~~~~~~~
By Steve Crider
I logged onto my laptop last night (Sunday) at 6 PM to quickly knock out some emails and small tasks. As I opened Outlook, my recurring meeting reminder popped up.
DATE/TIME: Sunday, July 28, 2019 8 AM to 10 PM
TITLE: What are you doing? Is this an emergency? Eat lunch and dinner with your family. Play with your daughter. Prepare for the week personally. Be PRESENT. If you HAVE to do work tonight, I'll be here when everyone's asleep. I promise.
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Started this about two months ago.
It works.
Anonymous
08/07/19 at 2:17PM UTC
This is amazing. I remember going to Cuba and not being able to check my emails/messages while I was down there. It was stressful for the first few days, but afterwards it was a huge relief!
Lalua
13
08/06/19 at 2:39PM UTC
Everyone needs time and a chance to totally disconnect from work. It is not just good for you but for your employer. Working 24/7 does not guarantee you a job but can have a huge impact on your health. So take care of you because nobody else will
Anonymous
08/06/19 at 1:48PM UTC
It's a little hard to tell upper management that you can't recover their Oracle/SQL Server/MySQL/Postgres/DB2 database or their Windows/UNIX/Linux server because it didn't happen between 9 AM and 5 PM. Or you can't apply a patch or run a SQL Script during a Quarter-End Close for a Financials System. Data centers are 24/7, 365, and if you don't do it, someone in another part of the world WILL.
In IT, nights, weekends and holiday work is part of the job - if you can put in good monitoring scripts and have procedures in place, it can cut down on the calls and emails, but I will still check nights and weekends - seeing messages about a disk filesystem approaching 100% utilization has saved me more than once...
Dawn S. CrossGoals should scare a little & excite a lot
1.12k
08/07/19 at 12:09AM UTC (Edited)
I totally get there are exceptions and that at times you have to be available, but this should be the exception, not the rule.
If it is the rule, there may be an underlying issue.
I felt I needed to be available to “prove my worth”, but it still got me a lay-off notice after 15 years with a company I gave everything too. The downside (other than the lay-off) was missed evenings and weekends and vacations and birthdays with my family. I was the fool for thinking I mattered.
Ann G
70
08/06/19 at 1:36PM UTC
Love this too! Left my phone at a friends' house last Friday night. She had gone away for the weekend, so I didn't get it back til Sunday. It was GLORIOUS!
LoganAspiration Accelerator, Coach and Trainer
269
08/04/19 at 6:59PM UTC
I love this, Dawn, thank you so much for sharing!
JB09718
332
08/03/19 at 4:11PM UTC
I was constantly plugged in 24/7 and always available, including weekends and holidays. There were definitely those “just five more minutes” moments that turned into an hour, etc. I can definitely relate to this!
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