Pacing Yourself

I guess we don't always do what we mean to do. You can plan, and plan, but when it comes to it, it is a totally different ball game. I have always said that my job (or career, whichever you deem it to be; the former seeks only stability, the latter, progression.) is only part of my life. Yet, recent and coming changes at the office crowd my mind constantly, day and night. The mental state of a young colleague too. I am lucky: I have my personal "pet projects" to look forward to. And an older colleague had given me some timely advice: your office work is not worth losing your life over; or rather there is more to life than work. Often I have found some of my friends or colleagues lost in this "myth": that you, and only you, are indispensible in the office; how you are letting the others, who are covering your duties, down with your absence. 

This young colleague has been stressed with her own low productivity and frequent overtime at work, and contemplatiing about resigning. She has also felt it an irresponsible act to walk out at such a critical time with the coming changes and new project. I said that it is for the management to ensure smooth operation in the event of her leaving. It is as simple as that. And by hook and by crook, the rank and file workers left behind will have to step up to a certain extent, that is for sure. But it is also up to the leaders in the company, the managers, to allocate the workload.  

On a lighter side, obviously we can only be paid so much, we can't be expected to perform perfectly all the time, as we are only humans. And I am sure the company, if it holds great leaders, will have made allowances for that. And I must have said before: life is a marathon; learn to pace yourself.