Summer Hours

It’s very common in the corporate world to enjoy “summer hours or summer Fridays.” This often consists of working longer hours 4 days of the week so one can take off on Fridays, or designated Fridays, or occasional Friday afternoons between Memorial Day and Labor Day. It’s particularly common in the NY advertising and media world, but in Washington, I was fortunate to work in a few firms that also allowed summer Fridays, as long as one’s work was caught up or being covered by someone else. Needless to say, I didn’t take advantage of nearly as many Friday afternoons away from the office as I would have liked. After all, who is ever completely caught up at work, particularly in the advertising world?!

But now I don’t have the pull of Friday afternoon commitments, deadlines, meetings (yes, we often had 5:00 Friday meetings in my former life) or client needs.  Even so, it’s been hard at times to remember that I don’t have to “work” all day every day. Now, “work” for me is different since it involves looking for a job, networking, writing, home chores, and deciding what I need to do with the rest of my life. In other words, my work is the pressure I put on myself to accomplish certain things each day. The great thing is that I only have to answer to myself if I don’t do something I should; and I’m a pretty flexible boss.

So, I’ve made a top priority this summer to create my own version of summer hours – spending all day or most of each Friday doing things that I enjoy.  I’ve spent beautiful afternoons kayaking at Black Hills Park. I’ve met friends for long lunches where no one had to rush back to work. I’ve visited Mount Vernon, the estate where George Washington lived. It’s a wonderful time to explore the vast array of parks and historic sites in our area and to feel a sense of being in the moment. I don’t have to check my iPhone or Blackberry for client messages or colleague questions. No one is calling with “issues.” I can truly appreciate the slower pace and not worry about rushing off to the next “to-do” pulling at my time.

So now I’m off to Great Falls Park in Virginia for an afternoon of hiking with my friend Katherine. It’s a beautiful National Park overlooking the falls and rapids of the Potomac River, with great hiking trails and an interesting history. Enjoying each moment and the beautiful natural setting. Now this is truly summer hours!

Update: this was a short hike today as the deluge of rain hit not long into our hike (I guess the thunder was a dead giveaway that a storm was approaching).  However it was still a beautiful place and the photo above shows the falls from one of the overlooks in the park (Virginia side). As you can see, it's a rather grey and overcast day! We got utterly soaked and decided it would be best to continue on a nicer day. 

So, I'm content to spend a dry afternoon at home with my dear friend Earl Grey, send out a couple of resumes and read a book I've been wanting to get to, The Geography of Bliss, by Eric Weiner.