The early worm gets eaten by the bird
August 17th, 2008Today is the start of my third week of freedom, and I woke up again before 7:00a. Why so early? I think it’s because I feel like the “pipeline” is still full.
I will license the following metaphor to the first management guru to write in: As an employee, you are an avalanche victim — you are buried in snow (work), and your job is to dig your way out. Part of what you are paid for is to prioritize correctly — there’s always more to do than one person can accomplish. You need to pick the correct direction (up, or at least upward), the right tools, and the right technique to make progress while the snow continues to accumulate above you. If you dig deeper, or dig upward but try to make the hole bigger than necessary, or if you use your hands when you have tools, you won’t make enough progress. You don’t have to shovel all the snow, just enough to get up to the surface. (OK, maybe this metaphor needs some work.) Anyway, I wake up every morning ready to dig, even though the things I still have to arrange before I leave should take less than a week. All the pressure of work waiting to be done is more or less imaginary.
My friends who have taken sabbaticals have not been encouraging: they say it takes four months to stop feeling like that.