Much like a nasty kidney stone, my work-related milestone passed (with resounding success).
As you may have noticed, my posting schedule has recovered and actual RPG related postings have started creeping back in the content. (Sprinkled with non gaming stuff… chances are this will stay like that).
I’m much better. After 3 full weeks of work-day exercise, increased cuddling with my beautiful wife, playing with the kids more and reduced self-imposed pressure, I was able to weather the stress related to my job and the blog.
I’m now getting quite adept at Dance Dance revolution. Acing songs at the Basic levels and starting to learn the patterns of some at difficult. I use the gym one to warm up for my weight training and I use the one at home to exercise during the weekend (30 minutes a day).
I’ve also started branching out in blog reading and I started reading some writing focused blogs such as Bob Younce’s The Writing Journey (of The DM Blog).
Bob made me discover another writing/buisness-building blog called Men with Pens co-written by fellow Quebecer James Chartrand. (Salut James!)
Today, Harry, James’ co-writer, posted an excellent post related to what I was dealing with (and still am to a lesser degree) called Why Web Workers should Indulge in Guilty Pleasures.
What he says about not letting our job define us is spot on and he’s right that giving yourself some slack is necessary to maintain your performance to the best level possible for your client/colleagues.
This reminds me of an idea I had when I used to be a Pharmaceutical Quality Compliance Supervisor. I was living a high level of stress back then that led to a full blown burnout.
Anyway, I once commented to my teammates that while drug manufacturing regulations have clear requirements for doing preventive maintenance on equipment (to prevent breakdown during manufacturing ) there was no such thing for employees.
I then joked that if I could implement a human preventive maintenance program, complete with day offs, subsidized massages and workout, I’d probably be either fired on the spot or be named the most brilliant manager in buisness magazines.
I may very well do that one day…
Have a great weekend all!
There are quite a few companies out there that actually DO some of that human preventative maintenance. The top 25 best companies to work for are excellent examples of employee-employer relations. Things like game rooms, on-site gyms, walking/bike trails, and bistro quality cafeterias make it easier to deal with stressful jobs. Oddly enough, one of the things that makes me feel less stressed at a job is a relaxed dress code. Glad to see you are feeling better!
A human preventative maintenance program? You mean like japan does with required exercising and naps on site? Or like western europe does with their HR monitored workloads? You should definitely spearhead those efforts in Canada, then the states can begin to follow suit.
You’re absolutely right that workplaces in North America value the human cogs less than material cogs. With that strive to succeed, we tend to ignore the burnout factors. Some places work to balance it, but the result is a slower workflow (which, globally, I prefer to see everyone take things slower for more quality) and less instantaneous advancement in a field.
Of course not. In the American business model, machines are a capital investment, while humans are resources, which are consumable…
Jason: I really need to hunt those down if I ever start looking for a new job…
John: I was thinking the Japanese one (without the social control) but the Euro one is also a good idea.
Did you know that in Sweden, People stop working at 14h00 on Friday (I mean they are still at work, but they clean out thier desk and prepare their weekends).
Plus in meetings (Swedes are apparently fond of them), people get up and leave at day’s end to go pick up their kids at day care regardless of the fact that the meeting may not be over. (I got that from an article a friend of mine who works in Sweden sent me)
That I can subscribe to!
While I have no intention of violating the golden rule of blogging (i.e. assume your boss is reading this) I would much rather avoid late day meetings… especially on Friday where no actions can actually be done until the next week.
EPL: But that’s so stupid… people drive productivity! Sigh…
@CDM: Thanks for the linkage!
Balance in all things is very important and something that many people overlook. In some respects, working in a regular 9-5 job allows you the chance to have more balance than working from home. It’s harder to balance your free time with the job because it’s there staring you in the face 24/7.
In the past couple of years I’ve had to give up my gaming fix in order to focus on the business. This too shall be remedied – soon.
Thanks for stopping by MwP, and stay tuned for further developments, we’ve got a hell of a project in the works that I think a lot of people are going to enjoy.
Glad you’re feeling less frazzled now, CDM! Long may it continue.
@Harry: Thanks for showing up! Neat Blig you have you have been added to my RSS feed.
@Grey: I’m Alive and Kicking!
Well.. As for Sweden, while it is true that people will leave their job to pick up their kids from school whatever is happening, and that they tend to go home early on Friday, they don’t actually leave work at 14:00 :).
Again I work there for a big Swedish company so the rules may be different in other places.
Culturally, it is assumed that if you have children (young) then you should be home when they are sick, that you should go pick them up and bring them to school, etc. Not doing so surprises people.
Hey Baboune! Glad to see you drop by!
The article you gave me said that at around 14h00 on Friday, they stopped actually doing stuff and were transitioning in Weekend mode… But then again that might be exclusively where the person who wrote the article was working.
🙂