Holiday anticipation and what it really means?
Are you like me, counting down the days until the next paid holiday so that you can get an extra day(s) off work. Most times I don’t have plans but I look forward to the extra day off and a 4 day work week. I know that I am not alone as I have several conversations with co-workers who are waiting in anticipation as well. What would it be like to look forward to going to work instead of looking forward to those sparingly given paid holidays? My feeling is that if you are living for the holiday, its time to start investigating what about your job makes you want to “escape” every chance you get. Is it the overwhelming workload? Overbearing manager? Lack of fair pay? The political climate? (I am talking to me as well) No matter what the reason it is your duty as the master of your career to figure out how to gain job satisfaction. The typical American works a 40 hour work week with an average 10 hour commute so 50 hours of your time is related to the work that you do daily, you deserve to make sure that most of that time is doing something that you have a passion for. When I was an administrator of a university, I would work 60-70 hours a week at times but I had a passion for what I was doing. When students graduated from the university I took pride in knowing that I contributed to them achieving their goals. At the time working 70 hours a week was so worth it and it didn’t feel so long because I was doing something that I wanted to do. Fast forward a few years with a husband and a child and the same 70 hour work weeks was impossible. My personal roles and responsibilities increased exponentially and I was overwhelmed and stressed and looking for ways to escape including the holidays and vacation time just to catch my breath. While holidays are wonderful due to the “extra time” off we should make sure that there isn’t more that we are trying to escape in our daily lives. You can do begin to this by answering the following questions;
1. On a scale of 1 to 10, how excited am I to return to work after the holiday
2. If I dread returning to work, what is the reason, is it the work itself? The people I work with? A feeling of missing time spent on something more important (family, friends, personal pursuits).
3. What can I do today to make changes? Do I need to shift my mindset or make a plan for a better position/situation?
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How do you spend your holiday(s)? please share in the comments below
