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scitech library question linked to my 12 Things and 6 Things and makes a point that I didn’t in my writing…
When all of “it” comes at us at such a relentless, never-ending pace, we need to find downtime for processing, without feeling guilty that we will miss something, an important post on one of the 225 blogs we monitor daily. The downtime consideration is perhaps the one thing Michael might consider including in his lists. Without downtime, burnout sneaks up and bites us hard. Oh, and of course, some consideration must be given to our lives away from work. Simply put, we need time to stare at the wall, the sun, the tube, the movie screen, the musician or the actor we are watching perform, read our books, and listen to our CDs. Or go for a bike ride or a walk.
I agree wholeheartedly. I should have included “unplugging” — which I am a champion of — here and here.
Please library folk… don’t live and breathe all the stuff I write about here. UNPLUG. Last fall I was working intensly on SLIS 6700 for UNT, blogging, working, writing and getting ready for two conferences: one in the UK and IL out in Monterey. By late November I was having an MRI because of neck pain… guess what? I had herniated a disc in my neck. NOT FUN. The cause: too much LAPTOP.
Now, I unplug. I take breaks. And I’m doing workouts 4 days a week — plugging in only to my iPod.
I also think we need to be carerful to pick and choose our interests. I have realized I can’t do everything I want to do in libraryland… Choose a handful of your favorite feeds/blogs/news sources… and RELAX!
Here’s a post from the OLD tame the Web… it still holds true:
February 9, 2004
Career Development: Seeking Joy & Carpe Diem
Via the Seattle PI:
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/159825_gist09.html
Still forming my thoughts on this one but it came out of the blue into my aggregator and I gotta tell you, it really hits home. I’ve been looking at the big picture for a few months now. Talking with valued colleagues and pondering the
future.
Marilyn Gist writes:
Some describe the past two decades as years of rampant commercialism, materialism, and even greed in our country. The stock market rose in a seemingly endless climb, and we believed technology’s promise of economic prosperity and improved quality of life. As consumers, we grabbed for the good life as much as we could. Today, we are seeing an important shift. Many have begun asking, “Is this all there is?” We also suspect technology is a mixed blessing. It increases our options and our efficiency, sometimes fueling economic growth. However, technology also intensifies our pace of life so much that we now lack that irreplaceable resource: time. Without time, our quality of life suffers. We feel more stress. We struggle to balance family and work demands. We feel less connected to community, and we have limited opportunity for leisure activities and personal development. Yes, we have been successful, but many of us feel unsatisfied.
Technology is a mixed blessing! I love what I do…love the gadgets and stuff i get to mess with to help people learn and do their jobs better. Librarians have long discussed “technostress” in their work lives…. “infostress” too. I guess what I’m saying is I’m all about the untethered, techno-library type…I’m one myself….but I hope that person also balances out the rest of their life: love, family, spirit, health, joy.
Gist states: Many of us think achievements at work are significant because we work very hard and stay very busy. Sometimes work achievements are significant, but work is a domain in which we can often confuse “success” and “busy-ness” with significance.
Frances Mayes wrote about being busy in Bella Tuscany .
“I’m so busy…” Mayes comments.
“Maybe living life is so important that we shouldn’t be busy. At least not busy with that buzz buzz sound. Ed tells his students to figure out how many weekends they have left, given the good fortune of normal life expectancy. Even to the young it’s a shock to see there are only 2800 more. That’s it. Done for. Carpe Diem, Si, Si. Grab the Days.”
WOW! I’m glad I found this today…
(*Spider Lake Sunrise, August 2004 – while unplugged in Michigan!)