Back on Track

Last week was supposed to be a laid back week for me.  I moved to a new apt the week prior so I just wanted to take some time to settle into the new living situation.

Obviously with our server issues that didn’t happen.  The stress/frustration caught up with me and – despite the site move going relatively well – I was on the edge of being burnt out.  Obviously it was a cumulative thing that accrued over the past 2+ years and didn’t just start last week.  I was trying to look at the summer and my move as a chance to regain a little balance and have some more fun outside of work, but last week almost sent me over the edge.  I wanted to be spending my nights playing basketball, having drinks with friends, watching the NBA/NHL playoffs, and catching up on sleep…not doing something I’ve never done before under extreme pressure and with a lack of sleep.

I took Friday completely off and spent the day hiking by myself at Thacher Park.  I’d say I hiked a good portion of the 12 miles of trails.   It rained a bit, but I enjoyed chilling out in the cave next to the waterfall on the Indian Ladder trail for a while.  That’s kind of “my spot” where I go to take stock on shit and regain balance.  Ironically, despite being almost 30 minutes from the warehouse, you can get a crystal clear view of the industrial park because of the elevation.  Other than that though, the thought of work didn’t cross my mind and I was temporarily refreshed.

George and I then went out for dinner/drinks at the chic Avenue A in Albany on Saturday night, which again gave my mind some time away from “server server server”.

Sunday I looked at my to-do list from last week and realized I did 0% of it.  I slowly started chipping away at a reasonable plan to get it all done this week while still working “normal” hours.  Today I got my work done in a reasonable six hours or so (more to come on this – I’m fairly certain that I can work less and accomplish more. I’m planning on placing a work restriction on myself to show that…and give me the dual benefit of retaining my sanity).

Oh, the best part – we nearly made up all of the lost revenue by having a MONSTER weekend and beginning of the week thus far.   From Friday night until Monday morning orders were off the hook – we ended up shipping out 60 orders this morning, easily a record for us.   Average order value was well over $100, so needless to say we’re feeling pretty good about things.  Monday is also the only day where we all work together in the warehouse, so it’s nice to get a little of that energy you get from feeding off the synergy we have as a team.

As usual, never a dull moment.