Time Off

First, I started reading this cool new blog, via AVR's site, that I enjoy: Guanabee. Great writing. Great commentary.

Then, the countown to At The Beach L.A. is upon us. Hope you're coming!

Anyway, like many writers, I keep a day job. It's a fun one too. Helping to shape the young minds of the seekers of knowledge and truth at a university. I love it.

I love it so much that sometimes I go in before dawn or stay after sunset to make sure that all that needs to get done gets done. I still manage to have a life. I still manage to get writing time in. And I have great colleagues and students who make "work" seem like family time (though I know my family, my base, my roots are my family in Detroit, Chicago, and Indianapolis.)

But the one thing that I tend to neglect is taking real time off. Over the years, I've built up close to a couple months of vacation time. Haven't tended to use it, giving in to the excuse -- if I take the time off, all the original work, plus all that I missed on vacation will be there to catch up on... and catch up is worse than staying on top of it all.

This summer, I've decided to change that. In April, I put in my requests for time off for all the dates I want off for the rest of the year. I guess you could say I decided to be proactive about my wellness.

And it's cool. This week I'm off. But I'm using it as a "writer's holiday." Using the time I would use at the day job to write, plan for the fall release of my new book, and do all the things that real Desperate Housewive types get to do -- visit coffeeshops and bookstores, wake up without the help of an alarm clock, take my time at the gym, see a matinee if I want, do a solo lunch with a book as my companion.

Hope you're able to be proactive with your time off requests. It's important to do. Besides, the work will always be there... and no one at our funerals will laud us for the extra hours we put in on the job.
fs