And it's Frustration Friday. The target of my rather verbose venting – getting away from your perfect job.
It's bloody freaking HARD to get away from work at times. I, who do a quintessential geeky job (project management for video game middleware) have what borders on an ideal position – doing what I like in an area I like with people I like.
The problem is taking a break from it.
A lot of geeky jobs are like this as they're heavily involves in technology, information, communication, and things that impact people. This is great since you do cool things and make a difference. It is crazy-making in that, in those moments you need to step away, it's hard.
I check news to stay informed. Of course as some of my hobbies and my career intersect, a simple voyage to a news site related to my hobbies can suddenly turn into a reminder of work, or even finding something that requires me to DO more work. One innocent visit to Kotaku, or Slashdot, or even Memeorandum can send me back into work-mode.
My hobbies involve anime, playing video games, helping with conventions, and soforth. So of course my hobbies constantly remind me of my job (and vice versa). No chance to get away there, as I pass by a cosplayer who reminds me to check in at work on a software launch.
Of course, there's friends and family. Who just LOVE to ask what you're doing, drawing on your knowledge of similar interests. So you can't get away from that either.
I haven't found a solution – if I HAD I'd be posting that as opposed to a rant – so I just lump it and accept that I need to figure out some kind of balance in all of this. I don't want to TOTALLY get away from what I do as I love it. I just wish that between my own habits and those of people I know I could find a way to keep some distance when I need it.
So of course I post this to a blog – a high tech creation that reminds me of the various blogs I need to read and the impact of social media . . .
– Steven Savage