Last weekend was spent how it has been spent for the last 7 years, in the Lake District with my mates ticking off The Wainwright Fells. I’ve bagged 68/214 to date, I love it and by Jove I need it after the busy summers we have here at JFW Ltd. We call it second Christmas as we look forward to it so much.
I guess we are quite a diverse bunch of lad’s, we have a project manager, an Author, a Scenes Of Crime Officer (always some interesting stories), a carpenter and myself, business owner.
The chat generally turns to work and what’s been going on in our lives, what we are struggling with, what’s going well and what’s not.
One topic of conversation is “work-life balance”, this issue is frequently discussed these days, a term I personally dislike. I believe life should always come before work. While work is necessary for life, the constant communication in today’s world often blurs the boundaries between the two, which I find inappropriate. It prevents us from truly disconnecting. It takes me about five days to unwind (to be honest, I usually fall ill because I’ve been going hell for leather for so long and when I finally get to relax, I catch a bug). What exacerbates this situation is getting that message or phone call, (despite having read my out-of-office email response,) with queries that my team can handle perfectly well in my absence. If there was ever a TRUE emergency then my team can contact me, but 99% of the time my team are better equipped than I to deal with it. (I must emphasize that this does not apply to everyone; most people respect that holiday time is personal time, no exceptions).
I totally understand why it’s done, I really do, whatever they need to ask/sort is important to them, but I’m not sure it is understood how it really effects the person who is on holiday, the person trying to recollect their thoughts, rebuild their resilience to go again when they get back. It may be a little question but its gets work back on the mind when it really shouldn’t be.
Anyway enough of my rant, we had a fantastic weekend, we lucked out on the weather and dodged a lot of the rain, we summitted a couple of the highest peaks in The Lakes and some smaller ones, enjoyed some good food and drink and best of all, great laughs, it was even better to get back to see my wife and daughter who had changed so much in 5 days!!!
While I was away the team back at base cracked on with the next phase of work, bookcases and drink stations for Berkeley Lodge care home, this will be phase 4 of 6, some bespoke corner bookcases, a refreshments unit and various items for Ben’s Cookies. I can’t stress enough how great the lads are when I’m away, I do my best to emphasise that I trust their decisions and will back them with whatever is decided, but most importantly they understand that I need the time to recharge.
I’d be interested to hear your thoughts on the above, do I have a point or am I just grumpy?? Please comment on whatever platform you’re being directed from.
Have a great weekend everyone, I hope you’re all chilling and recharging in your own way!
Adam
