Every week leads into every month and suddenly the year is gone. It is hard to believe we have officially hit August already. We are all guilty of getting into a routine. Most weeks of the year we develop habits of what needs to be completed each day. Each of our daily duties have a different focus, but the end result is always a completed publication. One way or another it always goes to press.
But then there are those nasty holidays that always seem to mess up our routine. Most of us are probably really good at Monday holidays. In fact, we probably have a routine already in place for those. But then one of those other days of the week comes into play and we have to work around it. Friday holidays are far and few between, but how nice to leave the office on a Thursday for a three-day weekend.
Monday then rolls around and that holiday has messed up everything. Do we take in late ads? We are still waiting on a name confirmation from that great holiday photo taken over the weekend, but are due to press in an hour. And, amongst all of that, fielding phone calls because due to the holiday their paper wasn’t delivered.
Often times I have wondered if holidays are worth it. Is it worth the stress beforehand in order to prepare to have the office closed? Early deadlines mean less time to sell for that issue.
One day off for a holiday — OK we can do that. But then how do we fit a vacation into the mix?
Leaving the office for more than a day at a time requires planning and coordination. I tend to back-track my steps for the week to make sure that on the days I am off everything is getting taken care of. Is the office being opened for the delivery driver? Is there gas in the vehicles? And most importantly … can I walk out without having to worry about it? I am not sure the last one will ever happen, but I fully trust my team to make sure they grab the server if the building is on fire.
Recently, I took an extended family vacation — five whole days. Crazy enough … someone was watching from above because my reception was horrible. I wasn’t getting emails into my phone. My Zoom workplace wasn’t blowing up. At first, I thought “man, things are great.” I started enjoying my surroundings. Then a simple text with a request for something out of my email came in. It hit me … wait I should have had that email by now. I couldn’t get anything to pull up. I have been very hesitant to hook up into any public wi-fi after I got hacked one time. But in this instance, we were in a restaurant and I did. Then the gut feeling hit with over 240 emails flying in. I took it all in stride and made a couple calls that needed to be made and took care of what needed to be done.
Was that a horrible feeling that I had emails that weren’t responded to right away? Of course, however, did anything happen that was life threating … absolutely not.
The last night I was on vacation, I watched the sunset and reflected on the week with my family. I loved seeing the smiles on their faces while they were taking in all the moments and memories. I had been provided time to ground myself and reflect on my why. We all need that time for ourselves. My mom has always said to me, “If you don’t take care of yourself, you can’t take care of others.”
Holidays will come and go. Vacation days will either be taken or lost. The choice is yours.
Figure out what makes you glow within in order to be better. Sparks might fly in order to improve your publication and more importantly you. I am a solid believer everyone is better for taking the time for themselves.
Lisa
But then there are those nasty holidays that always seem to mess up our routine. Most of us are probably really good at Monday holidays. In fact, we probably have a routine already in place for those. But then one of those other days of the week comes into play and we have to work around it. Friday holidays are far and few between, but how nice to leave the office on a Thursday for a three-day weekend.
Monday then rolls around and that holiday has messed up everything. Do we take in late ads? We are still waiting on a name confirmation from that great holiday photo taken over the weekend, but are due to press in an hour. And, amongst all of that, fielding phone calls because due to the holiday their paper wasn’t delivered.
Often times I have wondered if holidays are worth it. Is it worth the stress beforehand in order to prepare to have the office closed? Early deadlines mean less time to sell for that issue.
One day off for a holiday — OK we can do that. But then how do we fit a vacation into the mix?
Leaving the office for more than a day at a time requires planning and coordination. I tend to back-track my steps for the week to make sure that on the days I am off everything is getting taken care of. Is the office being opened for the delivery driver? Is there gas in the vehicles? And most importantly … can I walk out without having to worry about it? I am not sure the last one will ever happen, but I fully trust my team to make sure they grab the server if the building is on fire.
Recently, I took an extended family vacation — five whole days. Crazy enough … someone was watching from above because my reception was horrible. I wasn’t getting emails into my phone. My Zoom workplace wasn’t blowing up. At first, I thought “man, things are great.” I started enjoying my surroundings. Then a simple text with a request for something out of my email came in. It hit me … wait I should have had that email by now. I couldn’t get anything to pull up. I have been very hesitant to hook up into any public wi-fi after I got hacked one time. But in this instance, we were in a restaurant and I did. Then the gut feeling hit with over 240 emails flying in. I took it all in stride and made a couple calls that needed to be made and took care of what needed to be done.
Was that a horrible feeling that I had emails that weren’t responded to right away? Of course, however, did anything happen that was life threating … absolutely not.
The last night I was on vacation, I watched the sunset and reflected on the week with my family. I loved seeing the smiles on their faces while they were taking in all the moments and memories. I had been provided time to ground myself and reflect on my why. We all need that time for ourselves. My mom has always said to me, “If you don’t take care of yourself, you can’t take care of others.”
Holidays will come and go. Vacation days will either be taken or lost. The choice is yours.
Figure out what makes you glow within in order to be better. Sparks might fly in order to improve your publication and more importantly you. I am a solid believer everyone is better for taking the time for themselves.
Lisa