Home › Forums › Stay Dirty Lounge › ETCG1 Video Discussions › The Importance of Time Off
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jeffrey.
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January 23, 2013 at 4:14 pm #495088
Time off, it’s not just for mental health anymore.
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January 23, 2013 at 4:26 pm #495090
For me I try to take a week or more off during the summer to really kick back and hang out with friends, Goto the Airshow (big fan of flight and everything about it) and enjoy my time away from work. Still looking for a automotive job a beginner tech can do that does not require any real experiance. I also like to hit up metal concerts that my bro’s invite me to. went to a few of them last year and they are some of the high lights of 2012 for me. Well besides getting my license and watching ETCG video’s.
January 23, 2013 at 5:11 pm #495094Work smarter, not harder. Getting that in my head is a constant battle but pays off when I focus on it. I’ve seen it over and over again. I’ve busted my tail just to lose money but then, I’ve turned around and cleaned up with no more effort than an email and a good idea.
It makes me realize thought is energy. A machine can crank out the labor but the gain is going to whomever is pushing the buttons.
Not that the goal is cruising by without ever hitting a lick but distinguishing which licks really count.
Think about it. You might be busting your butt and still sometimes can barely make ends meet, while someone else is kickin’ it in the Bahamas because they came up with ‘pet rocks’!
I guess what I’m saying is what’s mission critical is learning to focus your energies in the right places. That’s going to take putting your mind to work on such things during the daily grind instead of daydreaming about your high school football days and how you can’t wait for the weekend. Life is your creation.January 23, 2013 at 7:43 pm #495110When I was in the Army, you earned 30 days of paid leave every year or 2.5 days per month. In addition, there are mandated four day weekends every month. I’ve been out for years and going to college which puts a lot of time investment required everyday in order to complete assignments. Now I’m not complaining, but I’m mentally working harder harder with less time off than I every did. In order to fulfill that mental release I like to go to my Mom’s house, where I have a garage filled with woodworking tools, etc., and spend time working on stuff for me. I would say I’m about due again to take some time to myself because I’ve been working the past two years on my Dad’s new house instead of taking time to myself.
January 23, 2013 at 10:04 pm #495139The older I get the more I want time off. For the longest time
I worked before work,after work,week ends and any time I was needed.
Now I don’t want any over time or side work.Could I use the money sure.
Heres the thing.The more money you make the more you spend.Then your right
back on that hamster wheel going no where fast.So now I want my weekends to
do nothing or if I want to do something great. Everyday life starts to feel
Like Ground hogs day the movie.Staying home is good.But you do need to take
the family away just to get out of the house and break that normal routine.
Can be just be day trips or a full blown Florida vacation.The point is you
can stay home any time. Just this last two to three years.We have actually
started taking vacations.We never could do that before.Now I look forward
to it.For me anytime I’m not at work is a Great thing. 🙂
Just remember we can never get time back.January 23, 2013 at 10:21 pm #495141It’s true that it’s not what you make it’s what you spend and in the end time is all that’s really important.
January 24, 2013 at 9:33 am #495348I just like to step away from work and not even think of it and just relax and focus on otherr things myself. But I notice when Im burned out when Im just down and tired all the time and I dont see too amny positive things at work.
January 25, 2013 at 6:56 pm #495526Hi all, long time lurker, first time poster 🙂
I’d like to add another aspect to this conversation, being the thought of not wanting time off atall.
Bear with me.
Without going into too much detail about all the nitty grittys of my life, I currently find time off to be the problem to the point that I spend all the time I have at home wanting to be at work.
Why you ask?.. money of course.
During my teens and early twenties I had an easy financial life living at home, getting whatever I want and not having a care in the world. loans here, credit there, catalogues etc.
Long story short I ran up alot of debt that has now come back to bite me, hard.
Finances are tight at the moment to the point of buying food based on two criteria:
1) the inital cost of buying it and
2) the cost (in electric/gas) to prepare/cook itI recently took my bike off the road to spare the expense of keeping it and and now contending with an MOT (MOT is a yearly safety inspection in the UK) for the car.
With this in mind, consider the fact that as I sit typing this, I have a fan heater running which keeps me acutely aware that its chewing up the electric bill and I’ll soon turn it off to save a few pennies.
I will also not go anywhere in the car because every trip in the car somewhere uses fuel that could otherwise be a trip back and forth work. I am more concerned with the fuel guage than I am anywhere I may be going.
Anyway, my point being, that given the way the finances are, I am sitting at home spending, not making money and am not being “personally productive”
when you are in a bad way for money, your mind set changes from living freely to existing and paying bills.
All the time I am at work I am not only earning some money to help pay the bills, I am also not spending money on electric and any other activities non work related, therefore “personal productivity” is in effect and I am at my happiest.
Where I work I am about to be hit hard by a huge workload that could potentially be daunting to others, except I dont see it as a huge workload, I see it as a means to pay bills, reduce my debts and make progress toward financial freedom.
My mind works in reverse to what is suggested in the video, its not the “working life” I need a break from, working is the solution to the financial crippling that I need the break from. To achieve that I need to work more and not have holidays.
I am even tempted to forfeit my holiday entitlements to keep working to help improve my finances.
I am determined that this year I will solve my financial woes and bring about a time in my life where I am not defined by “how much cost” but rather by “yeh, why not”.
But until then, I am worn down and burnt out by the ratrace of existing to pay bills, rather than burnt out by work.
I have been asked before now, how do I cope with this situation.
I’d answer that by looking at my bucket list, or my “things I would be doing if moneys wasnt an issue” list and remembering, given time and work, I will be able to do those things soon.
Focus on the light down the tunnel, not the mud you are stuck in now.
Happy days
Dave
January 30, 2013 at 10:13 am #497052its funny how it can work, i always used to think i needed a vacation from all this krap. then when you get the time off and lay around all the time like people seem to want to do on vacation, it seems to be such a drag to go back to “the real world”. i have found that if you take care of all the things you have let pile up for who knows how long, you do feel better and rejuvinated and have a much better attitude about going back to work, as apose to just wanting to sit around and do nothing some more. just my two cents.
February 2, 2013 at 4:31 am #498010It seems like that in Finland things are much better.
I have 4 weeks of paid vacation at summer. 1 week at the winter and 12.5 days when I want (if my boss is ok with that). And we also get more money when we are enjoying our vacations. Vacation money is about half of monthly salary. So let’s say that I earn 2500 euros per month then I’d get round 3750 euros when I have my summer vacation.
But I must say that I’m not working in auto repairs but I think that most of them are using the same system. 8 hours per day, 5 days of week.
February 2, 2013 at 4:56 am #498017You people in Finland and your surrounding countries seem to always be doing amazing things socially and politically that actually work! We’re told by politicians and the 1% such things are just pipe dreams, like solar n’ such, while you guys pull it off. My sincere respects.
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