As you can see here, I haven’t updated the blog in more than 4 weeks now. Apologies to those who came here to find something new and saw the same article for such long time

All this time I worked. Had some client sites to finish (still have), worked on some of the sites in the network, wrote some articles in my other blogs. I would like to say I took a long break, but it wasn’t the case. Still I thought about this the only day I really ignored ALL work and had fun.

Yes, I wasted one day and now I feel I accomplished so much just by not working.

It’s weird I know: how can I say I had a 24 hour break from all my web related work and still I feel I gained so much?

Some years ago I trained in Karate. It wasn’t something serious since I was on a fulltime job at a radio station, 24 year old female. So no competition for me. Still I trained like a maniac, because I loved each minute. 4 “classes” a week, each 2-3 hour long. I was in the best shape of my life and the technique got better each day.

And then .. I reached a plateau.

I trained so much I wasn’t good anymore, my muscles were sore (even if I was in that awesome shape), I kinda disliked this and that, would go through the Kihon sessions with no passion etc. I was overburnt and sick of all, even if I still loved all the training. And then I took some time off.

It was the winter vacation, we all went to a moutain resort or stayed at home. No Karate for 3 weeks. In the first days I felt like an addict who’s not getting his dose, but after a week it was all better. My blisters healed, my muscles weren’t as tense as before, I got my passion back.

We met again in the dojo and I was a new person. My technique was perfect, I was full of energy and the class was amazing. I missed it so much, I was rested and had my full strength again.

Getting back to our jobs as web developers, we do get this exhaustion, even if we don’t see it. And most of the time this “muscle soreness” hits us exactly when we should work more and better. The moment projects pile up and clients are tough with the deadlines, we break down. How could we take a day off when we know there is so much to work?

Simple. Just do it. Wake up that morning (weekend is better, since clients are also resting) and just go to get some tan, go to visit your city, meet with friends etc. Just IGNORE anything web related, don’t even open the computer if possible. As much as you think the world will come to an end, don’t worry, nothing will get destroyed, no one will die just because you took a day off.

This is what I did this saturday. Got a friend to come to the pool with me, we spent 5 hours in the sun, swimming and chatting like women do. Then I got back, took my car again, another closer friend and we hit the town. Drank some soda, chatted some more and then  met my boyfriend. I refused to touch my laptop, so I finished the night with some TV (Discovery Channel).

The next day I woke up with a HUGE “need” to work. I turned on my computer and checked to see if the world was still as we know it. All was OK. My network was there, the 4 reseller accounts were OK, the payment from some of the advertising companies was issued. I was fresh now and started working.

At the end of the day I realized I haven’t lost anything with my one day break. I worked better since I wasn’t that tired and covered easily for the 24 hours of inactivity.

When was the last time you took a break?

Filed under: Web development by ramona