Have you ever thought of those things that were just true… I mean, you said what you were actually doing but now, they are not actually true?
We still say “hang up the phone”, but we really just push a button or a place finger on a screen, and touch END. We disconnect. Does anyone under the age of 30 actually remember the corded phone at home? (No, not at work…we still have them there or at least some of you do. I don’t) In 5 or 10 more years will they still exist or will everyone have their own phone – personal AND work – with a headset or worse, an implant that allows them to be hands free, to work and multi-task all the time?
We call them “red-lined” documents, a term is still used in Microsoft, but even schools don’t use a red pen because that would be “too harsh” for the student. (They use green or purple now, we don’t want to insult the kids or make them feel bad about their work.)
Don’t even get me started on “Black Friday” – the idea that the business investment losses were going from red to black in the accounting or bookkeeping ledger on one particular day of the year. (My argument is that if you are not “breaking even” all the time – each month at the very least – there is something wrong with the business model, no matter what they call the holiday.)
Maybe the weekends are actually the end of the work week. If you work a “normal” 9 to 5 job, Monday to Friday (or even if you have flex time and work 7-3 or even 8-6, four days a week.) However, if you have your own business, or even if you don’t… you might actually work every day the week – or maybe you just “think”about work all the time, which is pretty much the same thing. Too many businesses, organizations and positions demand connectivity all the time. Between Social Media, cell phones and texting, (don’t forget clients & customers) the idea of immediate response is the new norm. We are working. All. The. Time. No end to the week.
Or, are we?
Hopefully, you are able to find a flexible environment, one in which you balance work and life – rather than the Google mind-set which goes against the future needs of our culture…a concept they call “work-life integration” – allowing you to live at Google offices if needed (I exaggerate a little, but I imagine that it is actually true and not just a supposition of the truth.) If you are not able to balance the work and the life… TRY. Look for a new thing, a new future for you. One where you are able to be true to yourself, because that is what really matters. So, hang up the phone and go spend some time with your kids, your spouse or your friends. Go. Now. There is no time like the present…even if that was 5 minutes ago.
~ Dawn aka Hat Girl