Tag: work-life balance

Working Style

I have a new colleague who was transferred to Chicago from our Montreal office. She is on a different team, but I helped her with some projects in the past, and she was ecstatic to see me in the cafeteria on her second day on the job.

Since this first day, she has asked me all things about Chicago, including where to move from her temporary housing, what to see, where to be, and so on. I told her she could come to our beach sometime, and since the forecast for the weekend was hopelessly cold and rainy, I suggested she follow me after work on Thursday. She did, and she loved Loyola Beach (she said it’s her favorite in Chicago so far, which I agree with (and she is also surprised that beaches are free).

She shares many observations with me about our office and how people work there. One thing she mentioned was about people being “too focused on work”, eating lunch at their desks, and in general being “heads down.” She mentioned that at the Montreal office, she would catch up with everyone first thing in the morning before diving into work.

I told her that I do not think it’s normal, and I do not approve of this eating lunch at your desk thing. Later, I thought it wasn’t normal in the US either, and I remember chatting with co-workers at all my jobs, except during my short tenure in trading, and that even in consulting we didn’t count eight hours as “eight hours head down.” And to be honest, I do not think it’s humanly possible to produce a quality outcome with more than seven hours “netto” working time, except in some extreme circumstances. What is true is that, as I mentioned multiple times, the work is very intense, more than anywhere I worked before, and eight hours of work drains me entirely.

I told my new colleague that she can always check with me and come down to my floor for lunch if everyone else eats at their desks 🙂

Life Moments

I felt very bad about never attending Customer Appreciation events at my wealth management company, so when they announced an event at the venue within a ten-minute walk from my office, I felt compelled to RSVP yes.

Except for a couple of amazing shots of Chicago at sunset, it was 100% wasted time, even though I spoke with my portfolio manager and some people in his network.

***

Thursday escort was a complete crisis again. I was a team lead for the early morning shift, and there were just three of us (and one texted that she was running late). That’s already a challenge when there are six antis out, because the moment the second car with a patient stops, you do not have enough bodies to protect patients.

Having nurses being dropped off with the accompaniment of “stop murdering babies,” and wondering why they have to cross the front line every morning…

And then getting a message in the middle of the workday about a new nasty group of antis. And domestic violence. And “horrible people.” And guns. And cops. And “if you can come, come”. Putting the vest back on in the elevator. Running down, and running two blocks south. Cops. Crying woman. Leaving forty minutes later since it looked like they all left, only to receive a message five minutes later that they were still around…

***

My new coworker, whom I texted yesterday with a suggestion to go to the beach after work, responded while I was in the middle of the aforementioned crisis, so I didn’t even see her messages among the others. She accepted my crazy idea, even though she was working from home, and we decided on the meeting time. She came to Jarvis; we stopped at my house so that I could change, and we could grab the beach chairs, and then we walked to Loyola Beach.

She loved it! She said that was the best beach in Chicago she had visited so far! She loved how calm things are here (and you know I love it as well!). We spent an hour and a half at the beach; I never stay at the beach that long on workdays. And then I walked her to the bus stop and made sure she got on, and she said that when her family will be visiting, she will bring them that beach, for sure!

TIME Magazine: We are taking hobbies too far!

You might not believe me, but I am genuinely puzzled when I am asked about my “hobbies”. Is volunteering a hobby? I don’t think so. Biking, nature walks, going to the museums and concerts, even baking Christmas cookies – I can’t really think about these activities as “hobbies”.

That being said, I find this Time Magazine article interesting 🙂

Full text below.

Continue reading “TIME Magazine: We are taking hobbies too far!” →

Volunteering And Being On Time

On Friday, I had an early morning escorting shift. When I need to be at the clinic at 7 AM, the 6:30 AM train is the fastest option: I can leave the house at 6:15 AM and be there on time. There is literally nothing faster.

When I left the house, I even had a thought that maybe-possibly I should hop on the Red Line, since the train was approaching the station when I walked by. However, I told myself that minutes matter, and I want to be actually on time – today, I was a team lead for the early morning shift.

Long story short: when I arrived at the station, I saw that the train was cancelled, and the next train, I knew, was in 30 minutes! Yes, it was Friday, but there are people who actually work on Friday! By the time I realized what was going on and went down to the street level, it was already 6:35, and I knew there would be no way to get to the clinic on time.

I ordered Uber while twenty people nearby were doing the same. Fortunately, it arrived in less than 5 minutes, and fortunately, the traffic was light. I texted everyone that I would be about 7 minutes late, and then I thought that if I wouldn’t have to go to escort, I wouldn’t even get Uber, but would walk to the L-train station. And I thought that the Uber driver would never believe I was so worried to be late to volunteering activity rather than to work.

And finally, I thought that the was majority of my volunteering activities are more time sensitive than my work. It happens so often that I realize I need to send certain emails “today”, no matter what, and spend time checking my language, like I would never do at work:)

Summer!

I think I already had at least three announcements that summer is finally here, but it was still “not exactly”, because the lake was cold, and the temperatures were not getting to their summer level, and during the heat wave, I was away:).

The latter one does not imply that I wanted to be here during the heat wave:), but only after I came back, and was finally able to go to the beach after work, I could feel Chicago summer in full; the way I love it. Chicago summer at its best is the reason I never want to be away, at least in July and August.

On Tuesday, I finally went to the beach after work, and it felt super nice. And yesterday, I took a late break at work (I do not care what it is called, and why I am taking a break shortly before most people leave home; it’s just the time when I actually can take it!)

When you come to the office at 6:30 AM (no, I didn’t work, I had a virtual training session)
And then take a break at 3:30 PM, and walk the Riverwalk, and hear the music from the fun boats and from all the cafes you pass
Continue reading “Summer!” →

Valo Co-working

Each time I work from Valo in Helsinki, I like it even more (if it is possible :)). I’ve mentioned a couple of times that my only challenge with working there is the uncertainty about exactly when a room will be assigned to me on any given day. The standard reservation time is from 9 AM to 5 PM, and I rarely start working before that, but until my room is assigned, my key button doesn’t open the gym door, and I love using the opportunity to work out before work.

On Monday, I saw that the room had already been assigned at 6 AM, so I happily departed for Valo. When I saw Jarko at his usual place at the “catpatin deck”, he greeted me and said that he saw that I had reserved the rooms for three days, and he made sure that for all three days the rooms would be assigned starting from early morning, so that I would have time to go to the gym and have breakfast. I can’t even describe how touched I was!

There are very few people working at the beginning of July, and the entire staff at their main cafe is on vacation for six weeks. Lunch is being served in a smaller cafe, and breakfast time is extended until 11 AM, because most people are staying in the hotel rather than co-working 🙂

***

Boris’s birthday was last Friday. Several years ago, he discovered that he and Helsinki share the same birthday, and since then, he refuses to be anywhere but Helsinki on that day. He had sent me several pictures, including those from the reception at City Hall. The Mayor’s office announced that the first 1,000 visitors will receive a piece of rhubarb pie and coffee. Boris was there at the reception start time, and he said that he hadn’t seen anybody left without it 🙂

But that’s not about the rhubarb pie. What I wanted to say is that I can’t even remotely express how thankful I am for everything Boris has done over these two and a half weeks. We had close to none one-on-one time, and almost until the very last day, all our one-on-one time was doing “one more thing” for the conference.

Boris made the room host kits (one of a million things which we had to do since we were running independently this year). He helped to finalize the badges format, and after multiple unsuccessful attempts, he set up printing at home, so that we could print the “last-minutes” and a whole bunch of blank badges. He came up with the volunteer sign-up design, for which I absolutely didn’t have extra mental cycles. Most importantly, he was just there for me. Listening. Hugging. Saying “we are on a roll” and “looks like it is happening.”

I am so fortunate that “we have it all.” So grateful that I never had to choose. So grateful that the most important person in my life knows that “work-life balance doesn’t exist.”

***

I am in the after-stage of the “post-conference syndrome”: I feel simultaneously that “nothing like this will ever happen again” and “who told you it was good?” I am afraid that people just do not have the heart to tell me that it was “not so good.” I hope that this shall pass 🙂

The View

This week was a return “back to normal”, which was so intense that it was probably the “high end” normal. On Thursday, I was debating between two options: to attend the Open House for the Metropolitan Family (where I resigned from the community board a year ago) or to attend the ACM-hosted AI presentation at the Metropolitan Club.

I felt guilty about ignoring both groups, and was trying to measure my guilt. Finally, I decided that I would donate to the Metropolitan Family, and I will go to the ACM thing. They promised cocktails and light bites and DJ before the presentation, and I thought that’s something I deserve after several intense weeks. Also, I knew that our president would appreciate one more person from the board.

It ended up being a mistake, and the only good thing was the view (I never been to the Metropolitan club before, and it is locate on the 67 th floor of Sear’s Tower)

All the rest was mediocre at the most. And to be completely honest, I was so tired, that the best thing for me would be to go home right after work!

… And Now I Need To Catch Up With Life

Yesterday, I was still meeting with the conference participants, but now I am done, and my French friend who stayed with me during the conference left yesterday afternoon.

Boris and I had 24 hours to ourselves, without any urgent tasks, without answering emails or Telegram messages, without printing additional badges or directional arrows, without replying to sponsors or updating volunteers’ schedules.

We went for a very long bike ride (almost 40 miles) and had a huge breakfast at Lea’s, so I joked that by 9:30 AM, we both burned and consumed all the calories for today :).

There is still a lot of work to close the books for the conference, including all sorts of feedback collection.

I finally feel sleepy. I thought I would sleep for nine hours after the conference, but it’s only today that I feel like going to bed early. Also, I was pushing aside so many “normal” things that I do not know where to start with getting back on track!

Flying Back And What’s Next

I took a red-eye flight from Vancouver on Thursday night. It was not because I wanted to save one hotel night for my company, but because it was the only way to get home before Boris’ arrival on Friday afternoon.tio It’s not fun to depart at midnight, but even more so when I realized that there was no One World Lounge in that part of the airport. Same as in Montreal, they have domestic departures. international departures and US departures, which are none of the above :).

On top of that, the flight was delayed for over an hour, so by the time we finally departed, it was already 3 AM in Chicago, and we landed at about 7 AM local time, so I spent the whole day sleep walking, and still had to do some work at work, because I was out for four days

When I went to see my mom in the middle of the day, she didn’t have any pity for me, and just said “well sometimes, I can’t sleep at night”🤷🏻‍♀️. Somehow, I managed to do some work, ordered some food, went to Jewel Osco to buy the rest. unpacked, and even did a workout (because sitting in the airport for five hours doesn’t help the motion deprivation), and I also baked a creamcheese-rhubarb pie, and as always these days, sent a whole bunch of cconference- related ommunications, and all of this before Boris arrived.

And what’s next? Next is a final pre-conference stretch, which I will hopefully survive!