What Does It Mean to “Take Time Off”?

Christmas vacation! Yay! That phrase has different connotations for everyone, but most people are thinking of taking a bit of time off work, eating special foods, seeing more of family and friends, and doing a few fun things. (For us, that means seeing at least half a dozen movies in two weeks!)

This is one of the only times of the year that my husband and I get to have both quality and quantity time together. We try to make the most of it – especially this year when we are re-exploring Sydney during the holidays. I crossed these two weeks off my of writing schedule – I’m taking time off – but what exactly does that mean?

First, not every writer believes in taking time off. If you’re the kind of writer who does best to write a little every day, including weekends and holidays, that’s great. But if you’ve been wondering why you seem to be running out of steam even if you’re fairly happy with what you’re writing, consider that you might need a little time off.

I used to think that taking time off on Sunday meant not going to work if I had a job, not writing (since that is also my job), and doing something fun if it came up. When I spend most of my free time Sunday doing laundry, getting groceries, and paying bills, I don’t think of it as working. But come Monday morning, I’m as tired as if I hadn’t had a day off. Keep going like this for weeks, and I find that my energy decreases, the time it takes me to complete a task (like writing a chapter) increases, and my joy level drops. These are some of the symptoms of impending burnout.

When I noticed this pattern during the course of the past year, I began to get a little alarmed. What did I need to change to have a fairly constant level of energy and joy?

The answer – real, honest time off. Off from doing “stuff that needs to be done.”

This week and next week I want to get so relaxed and rested that when January 4th comes around and my husband and I go back to work, I’ll be feeling like I can hardly wait! I thought about what gives me energy, and right now anything that has to do with my grad school research gets me really excited. So for the next two weeks I’m going to read and journal on those topics.

As an example, last week we went to see WICKED with friends. I loved it! I started reading the book a couple days ago and I’m thrilled to see that it’s quite different from the play. Then yesterday I read an article about Gregory Maguire, the author. Many of his thoughts about story are so much like mine that I couldn’t sleep last night! So during my vacation, I’m going to think and journal and read about things that get me crazy excited.

I’m also going to go to a lot of movies with John (including AVATAR at least one or two more times since John worked on it ). We’re going to have a Guitar Hero party at our place. And we’re going to join the hundreds of thousands of people down at Sydney Harbour watching New Year’s Eve fireworks.

I’m not going to write if I don’t want to. I’m not going to work on the 2010 budget if I don’t want to. I’m not going to put away the Christmas decorations no matter how much John may want me to. And I’m going to try really hard to “read” my feelings so I can gauge whether I’m successful at resting. If I spend all my time running around, I’ll probably be as tired as if I spent all my time writing (like during NaNo). I need to be intentional about feeling “rested.” That is part of how I’ll be excited to start work again a week from Monday.

That’s what time off means to me – the feeling of rest in my head and my heart. My husband can feel rested after spending two weeks of running around and getting physically tired, or going to the beach, or playing his computer and Xbox games, but too much of that gives me the opposite feeling. I need time alone, peace and quiet, reading and journaling.

What do you need? Do you know? This is a good time of year to find out. Then you can get 2010 off to an energy-filled start, an energy that will last all year.

Merry Christmas! God bless you with some restful time off.