“Let us, then, be up and doing,
With a heart for any fate;
Still achieving, still pursuing,
Learn to labor and to wait.”
— Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
I don’t think they had them back when Longfellow was around, but this poem always sounds like someone who downed six energy drinks and is flailing around the room like a squirrel having a seizure.
It’s good to spend time “up and doing” because the flip side is to be down and quiet, which usually doesn’t work out well, at least not for me. But when is it acceptable to step out of the race? When can we stop and say, “Nope, not today.” A recent statistic revealed that 46% of workers who earn paid time off at their jobs don’t use all their hours. Of those who use less time than they earn, the reasons include guilt that co-workers would have to pick up the slack, worry that time off would hurt their chances for advancement, and fear that time away would cause them to fall too far behind in their work.
We’re all concerned about finding the next goal, the next chapter, the next whatever it is that we will have to do. It’s good to look forward and always keep evolving and growing, but that doesn’t mean you can’t take a moment here and there and just hide out, right? That’s why they have paid time off; no one can go 100% for days on end. Not stepping away from our desks, clients, and laptops leads to physical and mental exhaustion, which will impact our performance far more than a few days away from the rat race.
Some jobs are very demanding, and there are consequences when we don’t take enough time out of a busy environment. Burnout and stress-related issues like aches and pains are all genuine possibilities, as is the risk of losing connections with friends and family. Making time away from the job for a long weekend at the beach or a camping trip should be required. Nothing in the universe can stay in perpetual motion; everything has to stop for a bit, so stepping back isn’t shirking responsibility, It’s a way to ensure we remain capable and sharp.
It’s not just about the hours; what we do in those hours also matters. Everyone has their own way of handling downtime. Maybe sitting on a beach or walking in the woods is a place to find a peaceful break. For some, it’s a favorite food, movie, or pair of ratty leggings and a T-shirt that always feels cozy.
It’s about the need for comfort. From comfort food to our comfort zones, there’s a lot of advice out there on how to take care of ourselves when we need it. While this poem is a call to action for people to live a full life, always moving forward, the last line is the most relevant for me. “Learn to labor and to wait.”
Whether working on a long-term project or researching something for my job, in between the writing, the edits, and the rewrites, nothing works out exactly on schedule, so waiting around is going to happen . I know how to work; I’ve had a job since I was 15. Waiting, however? That is a little tougher since patience will never be my strong suit. There’s no shame in relishing a little time when there’s nothing to do but wait. You don’t have to organize a junk drawer, or clean out a cabinet; you can sit around and watch old movies on YouTube for an hour or so. It won’t kill you, I promise.
Rather than muttering, “Move it up, already, let’s go” (which I’ve discovered is frowned on at the grocery store), maybe embracing a long wait or unavoidable downtime is a better way to go.
I’m going to make a point of finding comfort during my downtime, finding something to fill it that makes me feel better. I’d like to believe that this effort will result in finding more time to exercise or make healthy snacks, but let’s be honest; there will be a fair amount of murder-show binges with the good chips, the wavy ones, and perhaps a few endless games of solitaire on my phone. Not every moment of our lives has to be about “still achieving, still pursuing.” Sometimes, it can just be about “still.”