Well, here we are….the Tuesday after Labor Day and time to get back into the grind. Kids go back to school, homework starts up again and the lives of parents are basically turned upside down over the next 9-10 months. Although I have no kids – just cats – I have friends who have a love/hate relationship with the start of school and some days one side wins over the other.

I hated summer vacation when I was a kid…don’t get me wrong, I loved being away from my teachers, but by the time the first week was over, I was ready to go back to school. Why? Because I got bored – so incredibly bored! I could only go to the pool and sleep in so much, and I wanted to be in school learning….doing something with my brain. Yes I was a nerd and am proud to be one to this day, as this mindset has followed me into adulthood. There is; however, a downside to this…I don’t know if I’m getting older or what – I’m only in my 40s – but if I am not engaged all the time, whether reading or working on a project, I get very bored and my brain tends to take a sabbatical.

If my mind isn’t constantly challenged, I find myself forgetting how to do the simplest things,  Today is a perfect example. I came into work this morning and processed my outstanding client requests for the day, checked my email, looked at my open cases to see if anything was pressing, then I looked at my watch…only 9:00 and I was caught up…I had nothing to do. Of course, since doing personal stuff (my blog, my website…) at work is a no-no – I tried to find something to do. After about a half hour, a co-worker asked me if I would bind some presentations for her. “Sure!” I said, thankful to be doing something. I took the books-to-be in the back and as I got ready to punch holes in the documents, I actually had to stop and think about how to work the freakin easy-peasy machine! What? I use this machine a few times a week – you know the kind with the plastic coil binders – and my brain had to process how to push a stupid button??

Staying busy today is the norm in the corporate world, and I’ve had jobs where I’ve been so busy there wasn’t time for a lunch or break and I had to ask permission to go to the bathroom! But my brain was challenged and working and I LOVED it! I don’t care if I’m typing a report, preparing a spreadsheet , binding books -or doing all three at the same time – at least I can feel the synapse firing and the adrenaline pumping.

In any event, it is 1:45 in the afternoon, and as I bring this post to an end, I can already feel my brain dragging out the suitcase to take a mini-vacation. Am I crazy not to want to go with it?

SB/2014