I am snowed under with work these days. Since January 2, when I returned to work I have been doing the work of three people, as two of my colleagues resigned just before Christmas. I am in acting position to cover one of them, continuing doing my own job, as well as picking up urgent matters from the other colleague’s job. It leaves me little time to do much else, however, Last year I had also promised to do a short series of lectures on video for a free online course, and these past two weeks this has been another imposition on my time. Add to that some editing work I am doing on a dictionary – my days (and nights) are full!
I have been getting about 4 hours sleep a night, which even for me is not quite enough. The weekend is welcomed with great expectancy every week, and I can use the blessed two days to catch up. I am not grumbling, don’t get me wrong, being kept busy stimulates and enlivens me. However, what is not good is that I don’t have as much time as I would like to have in order to unwind and spend some time in relaxation and doing some of the things that take my mind off work. As much as one enjoys one’s job, there is always the need for tuning off work and enjoying one’s personal interests and hobbies and leisure activities.
Keeping up my daily blog posts has been difficult, but at least that commitment is a safety valve that lets off some steam and allows my mind to wander in areas that are not related to my work. However, I am not spending much time at all surfing the web, or visiting the blogs that I enjoy reading. I have neglected keeping up with friends, face to face as well as online… Even family is complaining that I am not as accessible as I used to be in the past.
I hope that we replace the two colleagues who have departed the office, very soon! This will allow some semblance of sanity to come back into my life and hopefully I can go back to my very busy lifestyle from my current hectic one!
Nicholas
ReplyDeleteLook after yourself, sir. It isn't healthy for you physically, and it isn't great for family life. Worse still, inadequate sleep each night builds up to a large sleep debt that interferes with your ability to function at your best. Even a normally safe driver increases his risks.
So select one person's job (yours or an absent colleague's) and have your contribution well documented by your organisation. Exploiting yourself is no more moral than being exploited by the organisation you work for.