Living on the Fumes
July 31, 2008
Vacations end. That's why they are vacations. The trick is to bring some vacation home with you. I always plan to remember how unimportant some of the issues at work seemed while I was away. In the past, I have succeeded in living on the fumes for up to two days. I want more.
I decided I needed some rules to guide me. Here they are:
• I will settle in each day before I check my email. I will attend to the projects on my desk, before those on my desktop. I will not reply immediately to each incoming message. (I will turn off the beep that announces them.)
• I will take a lunch hour. No more salads at my desk.
• I will close my eyes and take ten deep breaths twice a day.
• I will consider the big picture when confronted with problems.
• I will imagine myself somewhere I feel peaceful, and see how important the problems appear from there.
• I will place a photo from my vacation on the bulletin board above my desk to remind me of that place
• I will schedule my next vacation.
I have now finished my fourth day back at work, setting a new record of stress-less-ness.
I'm on a roll. And I haven't even got the picture up yet.