Ho-hum, Ulla will stay in Helsinki for one more week to see through the Beautiful Day exhibition opening and find a tenant for our Helsinki home
5 months, 3 weeks ago in Mission, San Francisco, USA.
15 comments so far
(She says I need a strategy for not killing myself with G-work
meanwhile. Fresh new startups ain't the only places that build
their culture around 'people who love their work' -to reference
JC)
Recommendation: Hobbies. With commitments attached.
A regular 'date' with someone (or a bunch of someones) with whom
you share an interest is a commitment you'll be reluctant to
break... a commitment to yourself is something you'll be much
happier to let slide...
@malach I thought moving
to California would make me take up the hobbies I love, but which
the hellishness of startup life caused me to neglect (namely
skateboarding, yoga, and soccer). But you're right, without those
communities of friends it won't happen. Good weather helps but it
isn't enough :)
I'm guessing the Big G would have enough people to start up a
social soccer league, or something of the sort?
"I can't work late tonight, I've got a game" is good mental push
in the right direction, knowing that if you don't show, you're
letting 21 (or so) other people down...
You're in Mountain View. There are groups devoted to just about
every hobby. Join the right internal mailing lists and you won't be
short of people to regularly play football, do yoga or skateboard
with. The trick is to stick it in your calendar like any other
meeting. That way other people will respect the fact that time slot
is already booked.
The hobby people should be people you do NOT work with =) No
matter how awesome the workmates are, the point is to get away from
them so you get something else in your life to
balance work.
The problem with the oft-mentioned 'work-life balance' idea, is
that it's about contention.
Instead of work and life contending for resources (time and
attention), consider Work and life Integration, where you merge
them, allow/encourage them to overlap and mesh on the edges.
Life is messy - forcing it into hard edges little boxes that
it's never going to fit into is a cause of stress.
anyway, if you like work, suddenly start working less can be
hard. one solution is to take a slice of that working time and put
it to voluntary work or some 'unpaid' manual labor like gardening.
in finland one of the most common 'hobbies' of the baby-boomer
execs is tending to the land and woods they own. slacking isn't
their thing.
@jyri: I think I've spotted
suits playing soccer on the grass near the SF port twice
already... this in the middle of a working day. You should find out
who they are and join them. No excuses.
@malach It probably just
shouldn't ONLY be the people you work with. If you've got friends
outside work to also sometimes play with, it lets you play free of
potential office politics. Sometimes games with coworkers have
annoying extra undercurrents of competition and currying favor with
the right people.
15 comments so far
(She says I need a strategy for not killing myself with G-work meanwhile. Fresh new startups ain't the only places that build their culture around 'people who love their work' -to reference JC)
5 months, 3 weeks ago by jyri.
Recommendation: Hobbies. With commitments attached.
A regular 'date' with someone (or a bunch of someones) with whom you share an interest is a commitment you'll be reluctant to break... a commitment to yourself is something you'll be much happier to let slide...
5 months, 3 weeks ago by malach.
@malach I thought moving to California would make me take up the hobbies I love, but which the hellishness of startup life caused me to neglect (namely skateboarding, yoga, and soccer). But you're right, without those communities of friends it won't happen. Good weather helps but it isn't enough :)
5 months, 3 weeks ago by jyri.
I'm guessing the Big G would have enough people to start up a social soccer league, or something of the sort?
"I can't work late tonight, I've got a game" is good mental push in the right direction, knowing that if you don't show, you're letting 21 (or so) other people down...
5 months, 3 weeks ago by malach.
i hear pub quizzes are majorly addictive:-) Start a team.
5 months, 3 weeks ago by tolonen.
Looking at my roster of Bay Area friends, non-workahlolics are definitely a minority :)
5 months, 3 weeks ago by jyri.
if you lead us, we will follow! maybe non-workaholism will be the new addiction!
5 months, 3 weeks ago by arwen.
Maybe y'all can start working on non-workaholism:-)
5 months, 3 weeks ago by tolonen.
You're in Mountain View. There are groups devoted to just about every hobby. Join the right internal mailing lists and you won't be short of people to regularly play football, do yoga or skateboard with. The trick is to stick it in your calendar like any other meeting. That way other people will respect the fact that time slot is already booked.
5 months, 3 weeks ago by adewale.
The hobby people should be people you do NOT work with =) No matter how awesome the workmates are, the point is to get away from them so you get something else in your life to balance work.
5 months, 3 weeks ago by tigert.
Why should it be people you don't work with?
The problem with the oft-mentioned 'work-life balance' idea, is that it's about contention.
Instead of work and life contending for resources (time and attention), consider Work and life Integration, where you merge them, allow/encourage them to overlap and mesh on the edges.
Life is messy - forcing it into hard edges little boxes that it's never going to fit into is a cause of stress.
5 months, 3 weeks ago by malach.
you should jaiku more.. :)
5 months, 3 weeks ago by viilee.
anyway, if you like work, suddenly start working less can be hard. one solution is to take a slice of that working time and put it to voluntary work or some 'unpaid' manual labor like gardening. in finland one of the most common 'hobbies' of the baby-boomer execs is tending to the land and woods they own. slacking isn't their thing.
5 months, 3 weeks ago by viilee.
@jyri: I think I've spotted suits playing soccer on the grass near the SF port twice already... this in the middle of a working day. You should find out who they are and join them. No excuses.
5 months, 3 weeks ago by tommi.
@malach It probably just shouldn't ONLY be the people you work with. If you've got friends outside work to also sometimes play with, it lets you play free of potential office politics. Sometimes games with coworkers have annoying extra undercurrents of competition and currying favor with the right people.
5 months, 2 weeks ago by spongefile.