My Mood:
I am really enjoying being with my family for the holidays. It has been a long year and I have not been home much so it is nice to just be able to sit around the fire with them and chat. However, it took me a couple days before I finally stopped answering my work emails and decided to simply disregard the ever nagging notification icon.
Nearly all of my co-workers’ families are local to the DC/Maryland/Virginia area. Thus, they have the opportunity to see brothers, sisters, and parents anytime they desire. I, on the other hand, do not have any family in the area and nearly all of my friends leave to go home for the holidays. Therefore, remaining in the area is basically a non-starter for me as being alone on Christmas does not have any appeal. As I waited for my family at the airport, I knew that I did not want to spend my time with my family fretting over work so I needed to break my work e-mail habit immediately.
Now the concept of an “e-mail habit” might sound odd to some people, but I spent five years working in a law firm. There is no “off” button when you work in a law firm – you are always “on” and after a period of time, it can create a near permanent feeling of being unsettled at your very core. Even though I no longer work in that environment, the feeling of being “off” still feels foreign to me. Thus, I knew I had to find a way to turn completely “off” and really relax with my family.
I decided that I needed to make my work e-mail habit feel like the burden it really was on my life. So, the first thing I did was start by leaving the phone in a room separate from the room I occupied. I took my tablet with me so I could check email or surf the web. Then, every time I felt the urge to go look for my phone and check my work email, I instead walked over to my mom, brother or father and asked them a question. The question was purely meant to get them talking about their day or an interesting topic that I knew we shared in common. As I listened intently to their response, noticing their mannerisms, their expressions and their hand movements, the concept of work would quickly slip away as my mind delved deeper into the thoughts of my family members. Soon, as opposed to asking myself “what is the status of that project? or Did so -and-so respond to my email?” I started thinking to myself “oh, I need to tell mom about this funny article I read.”
One of my goals for the new year is going to be learning to unplug more. To be present more and to not put so much time and energy into work when I am not at work. I need to spend more time learning to keep things in perspective and how to relax with my family.
My Style:
Drum roll please, I have another look for you from the cool H&M x Kenzo collaboration. Don’t you love when you get two dressed for the price of one? Well, this dress definitely delivers. I liked the pattern to start with, but when I learned it was reversible and had pockets, well let’s just say that I had to have it. It is one of the new workhorses of my ever growing warddrobe.
