Wednesday, July 09, 2008

Kevin O'Keefe Takes a Vacation! And Why I Won't Be

Stop the presses! Lawyer blog evangelist Kevin O'Keefe is taking a vacation! ... Hey Kevin, I thought you said that wasn't allowed? :) And that was a rhetorical question, of course. Kevin can save his comments or blogging for a couple weeks.

I do think the gang at Lexblog should have a cat's away challenge, and see who can do the best 'Fake Kevin' blog post. In the same vein as the Fake Steve Jobs - smeared with sarcasm, and with just enough truth to poke fun at the boss.

On a more serious note ...

The altering of vacations is a wake-up call for most business owners, myself included. I say altering, because the two week-er is still a tough one to schedule. That doesn't mean down time isn't possible, but it often has to be taken in shorter blocks. My current strategy has been to extended a weekend; or to take the laptop with me, and to get my 'piece of mind' back by logging in periodically each day. But a complete shut-down style vacation? I still don't have that one figured out.

I think most business owners, lawyers included, consider the lack of vacations a worthy trade-off for doing something they love. But that doesn't mean it isn't a challenge. Even if you fully accept the idea that there is no work-life balance, and that life is more about finding the right blend -- everyone, at some point, needs an extended period of down-time.

Personally, I won't be taking a vacation this summer; for a number of reasons... First, Stem is closing in on its first year of operation, and honestly, I'm still pretty energized. The novelty hasn't worn off, and for now, figure I'd better use it to my advantage. I also have my first employee starting shortly, and am hoping this person will not only help easy my workload, but integrate into operations to the point where a semi digital-free vacation will be a future possibility.

I'm not discounting the value of a vacation, but like many things in life, think it requires planning. I'm also open to suggestions... If you have a personal strategy for vacations you'd like to share, please chime in.

3 Comments:

Blogger Unknown said...

Funny, my post coming out this Friday is about a 'blogging' vacation and a mini-vacation I'm taking and why you absolutely have to.

And that's what I wrote about in The Complete Lawyer this July/August edition as well.

Timely, Steve.

1:17 PM  
Blogger Steve Matthews said...

I almost had the post finished when your article came up in my feed reader. Why I routed the link in. :)

Thanks Susan!

1:22 PM  
Blogger Connie Crosby said...

I think it is important to figure out your next vacation while you still don't feel you need it. By the time I desperately need a vacation I'm usually too far gone to make any good decisions about it. Keep on track by taking time off regularly.

Working from home and networking a lot, it is hard for me to know where work ends and personal time begins. I think it is important to disconnect from everything periodically.

3:43 PM  

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