The Source

Summer for professional women can mean a lot of things: vacations, juggling kids’ uncertain schedules, end of fiscal years, end of second quarters. Depending on our particular season of life, we all seem to be in difference places during the summer. Regardless of where we find ourselves today, each of us is arriving at the halfway point of the calendar year.   

We all know those women who seem to be professional superheroes. They are those women we’re convinced have secretly been given more than the regularly-allotted twenty-four hours in a day. The Internet is full of articles about successful individuals (CEOs, entrepreneurs, etc.) and how they manage their day successfully, thus making millions of dollars. If we struggle to manage our calendars and fit everything in, what must it look like for the female running a Fortune 500 company or the woman who just opened a local small business and makes it seem so easy?    

Downtime at work may seem like a foreign concept – maybe something you read about once or saw on Office Space. It does happen occasionally, and it can even leave us confused when a lull happens in our workday, and we’re not quite sure what to do with our time. If we’re not careful, it can come and go without us using the time wisely.    

Summer is often a time when the grass on the other side starts to look even greener than normal. Our friends seem to have unlimited amount of vacation time. If you’re a working mother, it seems like other parents are spending a lot of time pool-side while you feel stuck behind a computer monitor.    

This time of year, we all start dreaming of summer vacations: checking out of work for a few days, turning off our cell phone, and returning refreshed with an improved attitude. However, it never plays out that simply in reality. The truth is, sometimes (maybe more often than not) taking a vacation and returning from vacation requires more prep and extra work than if we had just stayed in the office. It often leaves us thinking, “what’s the point?”    

We talk at length in these blog posts about burnout, stress, and checking in with yourself amid the million different things in need of your attention. We often forget to call that what it is: caring for your mental health.    

Stress is almost a given in any professional setting. We talk often about work-life balance, stress management, and professional burnout. Still we find ourselves saying, “well, that’s just part of life,” “I operate better under stress,” and other excuses, allowing ourselves to be pushed to the edge. This can have a lot of consequences, but one that doesn’t get enough discussion is the stifling of our creativity.    

I was recently discussing the topic of conversation salons with a friend, and I jokingly referred to them as “networking for people who hate networking.” I’ll admit, I’ve found myself squarely in the middle of that category before, and I’d wager to guess many of you have, too.