Old habits die hard. As a grad student, I never took Thanksgiving off. No classes meant more time for lab, not turkey. At Christmas, I took between five and eight days off, but only because travel was at least 12 hours one way. Throw in a few long weekends and a summer nine day, and you've got about three or four weeks of sporadic vacation time a year.
Not bad, right? Well, the problem was that I never truly unplugged. Even out of cell phone range, I would still locate an internet cafe, plug in a few Euros, and answer work emails. Christmas at home meant I could catch up on literature or do preliminary research for a grant.
Yet even though I made vacation time semi-productive, I always felt guilty for taking time off. I knew that it was important to take a break, to recharge; indeed, I frequently found myself pleading with younger students to take some well-deserved time off. Still, from the moment I wheeled by bags to my car to the second my plane returned to LargeUtown, I was guilty for leaving the lab. We had a saying in the group: "Every day you take off is a day added on to your time in grad school."
So this week is a milestone of sorts for me. All of my colleagues took this week off. We mostly follow the academic schedule. Sure, the little breaks from class are great opportunities to get caught up on grading or research, but Thanksgiving, Christmas, spring break? You are considered odd NOT to take the chance to travel. So the milestone? I'm sitting here, typing, far away from TempCollege Village, and I have no guilt for being away from the office. My pile of grading will be finished by next week. I'll finish my lectures in the next couple of days. Today, I will do some Christmas shopping, pick up some coffee, and maybe even read a book.
Although it had become second nature for me to feel guilty away from work, perhaps this is one bad habit I can actually break this year!
