Archive for November, 2006

• 11.26.06 "Yet another entry about balance…" is posted in Reflections, Work & Career

One of my goals for next year is to enjoy life outside of work more. I don’t know if that’ll take the form of working less/smarter, reading more/lighter, or what…but this weekend I’ve been continually reminded of balance and big decisions. On Thanksgiving, I read Nicole Krauss’ The History of Love–which, amongst other topics, questioned how the big decisions in our earlier years will affect us throughout our lives–but how we can act on them. Last night I saw Click with my family; it’s a cute story essentially about work-life balance. And then browsing a bookstore in Central Square tonight Chris and I came across Stephan Rechtschaffen’s Timeshifting, a novel about our perception of time. One quote that caught my attention:

The time management taught at business seminars is essentially designed to make you more materially productive… Once one project is finished–if you’ve allocated your time wisely–you’ll have time for the next…. But this simply turns up the speed on the treadmill of our lives–and, to the applause of those around us, we run faster. The reward for those who “manage” time well is usually just more to do.

I remember when I first began getting clients and I thought that by offering them ways to save time they’d be able to work less, maybe even spend more time with their families. But that assumption was naive–very rarely do people work less just because they can work smarter. I certainly haven’t. (more…)

• 11.14.06 "Must…not…social…network" is posted in Reflections

I don’t know that it’s much of a barrier, but I just added friendster/facebook/myspace to my hosts file–which basically means that those websites won’t work from my desktop.  I wonder how long I’ll leave this in place, or whether I’ll just go to my laptop to get around it.  Oh well, the clock is ticking…

Why block these sites?  Well, in addition to the fact that they’re addictive, do they really make me happy…or are they just a popularity contest not worthy of competition?  That’s my food for thought for the evening.

• 11.9.06 "The reality of work" is posted in Reflections

It’s always fascinated me that my friends and loved ones spend 40 (or more) hours every week in a place that I know nothing about. They have a life full of responsibilities, relationships, good times and bad, that exists in a place where I know so little. Perhaps their work is how they define themselves…or perhaps it’s how they can pay the rent, but it’s a world nonetheless and theirs is not one that I know particularly well.

There are of course a few people whoI hear about what happens with them at work, and they hear about my experiences. Maybe it’s because they started the job when we were talking a lot, maybe it’s work that relates to our conversations: whatever. And for them I do find it important to finish the stories that I’ve started and follow up on what’s going on. But still, it’s not the reality of it all.

Something I’ve often questioned is how much you should or shouldn’t share your work-world with your significant others–how much should be kept separate. Inevitably for me, work becomes a part of conversation and an inescapable part of my day-to-day. But even with those who know me best, my work–which is such a big part of my reality–is still a reality that’s not familiar to them…or at least it doesn’t feel like I’ve done a good job imparting a vicarious lesson and letting them see through my eyes.

I wonder why that is–why no matter what the connection work just seems like a different world? Is it because I’m frequently in a different position than most of my peers? Is it because something that’s real and personal is only personal or even real to those that it affects?

This is all just curious to me as I find that so much of my work reality and that of those around me is such an important part of our lives…and yet so unknown. I wonder whether that’s intentional, societal, or something that ought to be different…