One of my strongest memories from my early work years is when I was an intern-of-sorts at IBM. It was my first day of work, and we were working on improvements in the Lempel-Ziv compression algorithm (very cool). Five o’clock rolled around and I was packing up my stuff: reading materials, notes, pads & pens, etc. Then suddenly I realized: my work day was over. I didn’t actually have to bring anything home! I could just leave, and start again tomorrow.
I’m embarrassed to admit that may have been one of the last jobs where I truly stuck to a regular work schedule like that. The jobs I’ve held since then have been mostly excellent: generally enjoyable, intellectually stimulating, and goal-oriented rather than hours-oriented. But sometimes those same attributes makes it harder to leave off work when I should.
Which, I suppose, is now. Today is Thanksgiving, and I’m about to head over to the in-laws for the big meal. Soft Crow is closed, and will be tomorrow. Here’s hoping you and yours have a good time off; we’ll see you Monday.