Mitigating Burnout, Vacation in Canada, 2015 Edition

In a previous blog post I talked about the fact that I was getting burned out. Much has happened since that time, some good, some bad. The best part that has happened to date, is that my management chain listened to my voice, and three separate levels of management actually encouraged me to take a vacation. So about 10 days ago, I booked a ticket to Canada to relax, see my friends, and unplug. Well, at least a little.

Much of this would not have been possible without my manager’s help (thank you Rishi!), nor the help of his management. If I go back to the previous post, and rate my current RQ level, I’d have to say that I’m somewhere between RQ-3 and RQ-4, and firmly headed in the direction of RQ-4.

So what exactly have I been doing during my down time? Mostly nothing. Certainly I’ve been catching up with old friends (yeah, we’re now officially “old”), and dealing with a few personal errands here and there. But otherwise, I’ve basically been doing nothing. Paying attention to my sleep patterns, and making sure that I’m completely rested, as well as making sure that absolutely nothing I’m doing is stressing me. Sure, I’ve checked some email from work here and there, and the first few days were rough (“Things ok?” was a common message sent to my manager), but yeah, actually not stressing is a new thing.

Along with the relaxation perscription, I’ve also went on a small trip. A while back, I bought myself a new car (ok, ok, “toy”), and it has been very nice to drive and enjoy the local countryside.