“Perfectly balanced as all things should be” has never described my life EVER. In high school I was the principal’s daughter who had to do well in school and do well in her many extracurricular activities so she could get into a decent college. When I got into college I was doing school full time, started on my college soccer team, and worked a few days a week at a biology lab to get outside credits towards my General Biology Bachelors of Science. Now I work a full time job as a QA Automation Engineer, I am a part-time student at OSU working towards a post baccalaureate degree in Computer Science (graduating in March 2022), and I am engaged and trying to plan a 2022 wedding and planning a huge home remodel.
Obviously over the past few years I have had a lot on my plate to juggle. I have not always done so successfully, but as I near the end of my degree I find myself thinking of how I would have done stuff better. Hindsight is always 20/20. I finally have a job that wants me to take time off for my mental health, and encourages me to learn and better myself, however the idea of taking time off almost makes me ill.
My fiancé and I won a stay in Maui with our friends, I am actually writing this post while listening to the ocean crash on the resorts private beach. It was a charity auction that we had the winning bid. It started off as a funny joke, none of us thinking we would win the trip. When we did win, I didn’t feel excitement, I felt dread. How was I going to tell my co-workers that I was going to be gone for an entire week? How was I going to tell my teammates for this class that I was not going to be able to devote 100 percent of my time to project planning?
While I was stressing and freaking out about how I had let everyone down, I remembered that my fiancé and I had never gone on a big trip together because of my school and work schedule and I hadn’t gone on a trip for my own enjoyment in over 5 years. It was at that moment that I knew that I needed to change the way I thought about taking some time to enjoy life. With this new attitude I started to plan. When the groups for school were formed I was very upfront with my team members about what I would be able to get done this week. I informed them about my travel schedule, and what days I would be unavailable. I did reassure them that I would be checking teams and working on the project plan in my down time (on the beach). My work was more of the same story. They accepted my time off request and hoped I had a good trip. I really had nothing to be nervous about.
Moral of this story is that you need to take time for you to recharge. You can not keep working and working, giving and giving without something being affected. In my case, my work was being affected and I was starting to get burnt out in all aspects of my life. My hope is that when I return next week, I will be relaxed, well rested, and a better co-worker and teammate.