PMTvoice

In a corporate blog, there’s always the temptation to make every post a “selling” type post due to the fact that is in fact, a corporate blog.  Honestly though, it’s not a very sincere thing to do, as we’re all human, and we all need to relate to each other on a human level.  With that in mind, I wanted to post something today that didn’t necessarily have anything to do with our company or the sites that we run.  I just wanted to tell you a little bit about my weekend, and encourage you to reflect on something I believe is important.

This past weekend was Labor Day Weekend.  Most of us were able to either get some much needed work done (ironic, isn’t it?) spend time with family, have a cookout, or take a small vacation even.  My wife and son and I went up to a small lake in Michigan and joined some friends at their lake house.  We ate, the kids played a little Wii, and there was lots of play on the beach and out on the boat.  The kids loved tubing especially.  (Both the little kids, AND the big kids.)  Even though we were only up there for two days, we were all pretty tired by the time we got home last night, and we all slept hard.  It was a good type of tired.

It’s just good to relax and have fun, and spend time with friends and family.  Let’s face it, in our Western culture, we’re so driven to constantly be performing for our jobs.  We seem to be tied to our Blackberries, PDAs, and other mobile devices.  We all know it, but do we do anything about it?

As odd as this may sound, schedule yourself downtime every week! If you don’t, you will continue to be drained by the thought that you constantly have to be “doing” something, and get more and more withdrawn from the things that matter most in life: your relationships, your time to just quiet yourself and reflect, and your time to recharge yourself mentally and/or spiritually.  William Penn once said, “True silence is the rest of the mind; it is to the spirit what sleep is to the body, nourishment and refreshment.”

Should we work hard for our employers?  Yes!  Should we treasure our time with those that are important to us and treasure our time for ourselves all the more!  Yes!  Take the time you need for yourself, and the time for your employer will be all the more productive and effective.