Back in the day, school was demanding but balanced. It was balanced because the workload was seasonal (building up to graded papers and tests), and because there would always be a scheduled break at the end of the term. Even if the term happened to be going really badly, we had a chance to hit pause, take a step back, and take a breather before starting on the next academic season.
But ever since we started working full-time in a large firm or started our own business, there were times where we just continued working until the days started blending in to each other. There were times we started running on fumes. At the point of exhaustion, we take breaks, but often haphazardly. The mind doesn’t have a predictable resting point to look forward to. It’s psychologically difficult to stay afloat when you don’t know how long you have to tread water for.
Perhaps there are some meaningful parts of our schooling structure we could take a lesson from. I experimented with one of these: quarterly getaways. Every three months, I would go on a self-imposed vacation out of town, alone, for about a week (five to seven days).
Quarterly getaways solve a couple of problems:
- They give us a scheduled break to look forward to. I could work really hard for up to 10-12 weeks, because I knew that there was going to be a rejuvenating break at the end, the light at the end of the tunnel.
- They allow us to resume and reinforce positive habits. There are a couple of things that result in a happy fulfilled day at work: adequate sleep, some exercise, and eating proper food at regular intervals. Additionally, perhaps some quiet reflection, reading, or quality time spent with people who matter. Sometimes these things don’t get to happen because work just takes over our lives. These quarterly breaks provide a golden opportunity to get back to making these habits and routines a part of our day.
- They give us the space and capacity to remain focused on the bigger picture. Some degree of reflection about where we are going and how our work supports these life goals is important. We often don’t get the chance to do that if we’re constantly hamsters running helplessly on an endless wheel. Stopping for a week allows us to resurface from under the water.
- Of course, they allow us to rest and eat healthily. It’s important not to forgo sleep in order to see all the sights and explore all the places on our checklists. Holidays can be an amazing reset button only if we let them, and only if we place ourselves in the right structure and conditions.
Try scheduling getaways throughout the year. They need not be limited to every three months, and they need not last a week. The getaways can be flexible to adapt to your unique employment conditions – the trick is to schedule them so that we can psychologically internalize upcoming resting points and look forward to them. Your mind and soul may thank you for it.
Working Woke 