The value of taking breaks

Here is a horrifyingly pixelated version of a picture of Alicia and I at St. Mary’s Glacier. For those of you who, like me, were not entirely sure which part was the glacier, try this.

While my family and friends have been telling me for years that taking breaks is a good idea and that I should do it more often, I still haven’t gotten the hang of it completely. I still occasionally freak out and feel the need to spend several hours checking my e-mail and responding to requests that seem incredibly urgent at the time. I inevitably finish said session feeling drained and like I probably could have waited, but may never catch up. This last weekend was different, however. I barely cracked my computer, after spending Friday doing work (while Alicia was at work). In addition to getting a ton of work done on Friday (because I didn’t want to have to do it later), I think I enjoyed my weekend more than I have in a long time.

So, lesson learned. At least I hope so. To those of you close to me, hold me to this. From now on, when I plan to take breaks, I will really take breaks. I will not check my e-mail; I will not work on projects offline; I will not “just finish this one thing.” And, as I did after last weekend, I will return to my life refreshed and infinitely more productive than I had thought possible.

As an aside, while I was not doing work over the weekend I had an amazing time in Denver visiting Alicia. We hiked up and around St. Mary’s glacier. Saw our first ever (and definitely not last!) Dogs in Drag parade, which was amazing. My favorite didn’t win, probably because not everyone harbors such intense resentment of chihuahuas as I do. We also saw Waitress, which I would highly recommend. Overall it was an amazing weekend.