When Unplugged Feels Disconnected

I’ve been practicing unplugging on the weekends. When you run a business, it can be hard to take time away from it, to stop working (or feeling like you should be working) for a minute and do something else. So I’ve been consciously choosing not to work, or to work in small, defined chunks, if I have to, to meet a deadline.

Unplugging for me, isn’t so much about staying off the computer and staying offline, it’s more of a mindset. A choice to not think about work obsessively very much for the weekend.

Getting out from behind the desk

Mostly it’s been great. I gone on some great bike rides (made it to the top of Mt. Scott on Saturday), walked/hiked/ran around Portland and the Gorge, laughed with friends, spent time sitting on the porch reading and watching the hummingbirds feed.

It’s Monday, do you know where your business is?

But strangely, come Monday morning, while I feel energized, I also feel disconnected, like I have to start all over figuring out where I am work-wise. It’ll sometimes take a half day or more to get back into the swing of things, like I’ve forgotten everything I knew when I got up from my desk on Friday.

This is different than the Monday morning blahs I remember from my days of having a job-job. Even when I liked my job, which I mostly did, well except for that one with the video dating service, it bummed me out to have to spend another week working for someone else. It’s been nearly 12 years, but that feeling was different than what I’m experiencing now.

Easing transitions

I’m wondering if a system, or rather a more refined system, could help with these transition times. Something that reminds me exactly where I am, and sets me up ready to dive into work on Monday morning. Or perhaps, I’m not paying close enough attention to my natural rhythms, and for me, fully unplugging for two days in a row is too long?

What about you? Do you unplug or wish you did? How do you ease the transitions? I’d love to hear how you do it, or if you struggle too. Hmmm, I bet my friend Cairene over at Third Hand Works has something to say about this.

7 comments to When Unplugged Feels Disconnected

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