Balancing Work and Pleasure

With all the business that we conduct via email, the web, blogs, and other online mechanisms, it is often very difficult to unplug. Even at home, the computer can call out for you inviting you to check email, read a blog, fire up your aggregator. Before you know it, that casual glance at the computer turns into full-blown work. And your’re working when you told yourself, your boss, and your spouse you wouldn’t. It’s easy to get sucked into this constant drive to keep going. And before you know it, you are either totally consumed or burned out. Michael atTame The Web provides some good advice in balancing work and fun:

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!

Some good food for thought. While I have to work the reference desk both days this weekend, you can bet I’ll be picking a tune on my guitar, playing with my son, or sharing good conversation with my wife when I’m at home. I hope everyone has a wonderful, relaxing, unplugged weekend.

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