0 The idea of planning nothing

I have been hearing these conversations quite often nowadays.
"I have an overall plan for the next 20 years and till retirement. As long as things go according to that I will not try to change my job or worry too much. What matters is that things fit in the context of my plan."

There is also a eleventh-grader who supposedly believes that his life will be head in a particular direction. He has decided to get into the IITs and then do an MBA immediately. His plan is simple. Slog for 6 months for the IT-JEE, manage to get a top slot admission seat, relax for the firt 3 years, and again slog 6 months in the fourth year to appear for CAT. Your MBA seat is guarenteed. Then you get into IIM-A (B, C) enjoy your time, slog again for the internship of 2 months and get into the same organisation with a PPO (Pre-placement offer).. Hah and life is set.. So the funda is he slogs for 1 1/2 years out of 7 years.. a very good ratio to set your life right.

When I was in school, I was totally confused about what course to take up after school - the only parental guidance (order?) was it has to be professional - translates into engineering/medical. I chose engineering because I dint like dissecting animals- so that is the pathway to my decision.

Courtesy: Dilbert

Have I lost because I have not been clear? Sometimes I wonder whether Al & Me should sit together and put a plan for ourselves. But I feel suffocated when I have to tell someone that in another year we are planning to go abroad, stay there for 4 years and come back with a pot of money.

Aren't Plans also Constraints?

For me most them seem to control my days. And I fell that somethings are just beyond your control - when and why they will happen. I like to deal with it as it comes rather than say they will not occur becuase my Boxed plan protects me from them.

What do I plan for?

We plan for some trips.. and defn fix on date when we have to travel on train/plane.. otherwise the dates are quite flexible.. which route we take, where we stop on the way for a break, the road on which we take diversion and end up reching else where - all are impulse decisions. There is a archaic joy associated with these sudden decisions.

The monthly finance quotient: How much goes for investment, savings, spending. Even here the spending components are not too rigid.. There are friends who keep track of even 20 rs spent for water/food everyday. That kind of accounts will leave me crazy

We have planned not to have a child for another year. This is important decision too - unless both are mentally/financially prepared I see no point in having the child.

But when you see this list, you will realise all of these are short-term events - max another 1 -2 years. As of now, I am experiencing life according to its wishes - it is more exciting, unpredictable and not disappointing.

3 I vouch for a Wednesday off

Here is the Friday most of us look forward to. To relax, eat, sleep, meet, or do nothing. Just be at home and bask in laziness. Five days at a stretch seem to be extended like a rubber-band about to break - that too for a thing we do primarily so as to enjoy the remaining two days.

Before I get into the ideas about work is worship, make your passion your work and blah blah.. lets look at one question.
Provided we have money and superb appreciation for doing whatever we chose to do, wont we be doing just that in an enjoyable manner? (can be painting, social work, watching movies, not making any visible contribution, IT programming, having a sun bath next to your cat - any of these being passions).
Wow Sam, you are just looking great in the sun. what a perfect thing to do!
I watch movies and paint all the time.. nice.It is my passion. (and I dont bother about the exhibiting the painitings or selling or writing reviews.. things I need to do for money)

Given that we have to do work that is outside the enjoyable part, the ratio seems unfair - 5:2. Why can't it be the reverse- 2:5? Ok, that seems tilted too far given the present rate. But the best balanced rate would be 4:3. Now when should we have this extra day off - which should be that passion day? Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday or Friday - assuming we already are gifted with Sat and Sunday.

Each Monday would make it a 3-day weekend.. It would be great for travel, extended vacations and having Sunday nights out. But Tuesday morning blues would be terrible after three whole days of leisure.

Friday also gets the same reasons but lets not declare a pseudo-leisure day a holiday and miss out on an extra day. 50% of employees are already on the week-end mood and there are a lot of conversations like this on Friday morning ' Happy weekend Ladies', 'We are leaving to Coorg.. am already in the holiday mood', 'Its a Friday..lets go out for an extended lunch at the restaurant'. You can deduce that this day is marked as a celebration for the birth of the weekend. Lets not target this beautiful day.

That leaves us with Tuesday to Thursday. Tuesdays and Thursdays would offer similar benefits. But they will not give any time for the human brain to settle and take a break from our passions. And companies (to be fair to organizations who agree for 4 work days pattern) would find it unjustified. Because, employees will prefer to fall sick or have personal work on Mondays and Fridays so as to have a 4 day weekend.

Balance is our Wednesday. It is the mid-week and a perfect day to take your mid-break and refresh for the remaining 2 work days. We are being empathetic to employees and the employers here. It might even make the other 4 days highly productive similar to a power nap.

What do you think - which day makes most sense for the day off? Vote for your favorite day.

Which day is best for the extra day off?

2 Work that becomes "I"

Years back when I was still a child, I remember dad being a little rude on the phone when there was a call from the office on the weekends. I tried telling him that it might just be a 5 to 10 minutes work and he can definitely spare that much time. Luckily for him, he had set rigid boundaries - must be out of experience. After reaching home, no one was allowed to interrupt his personal life specifically during weekends.He had been an exceptional employee, proud of his work and respected by his co-workers. He has helped foreign multi nationals setup their base in India - nothing simple.

Forward to today, I run around with my laptop and phone assuring connectivity to one and all, anytime and everywhere. I must be an important person doing some high-quality work that makes a difference and my absence is so critical that a doggy sniff always follows me - this way of thinking makes life so much better! I speak while eating, walking, watching TV, and when tying to go to sleep - sometimes get up in the middle of the night to attend a call.

When you ask for a vacation or leave, you are made to feel guilty even though you are eligible for it - you should have informed us earlier; there is too much work pending; the appraisal is round the corner; With the new term of 'networking', all meetings and conferences can be masked under this title. "Oh,, you got to attend this party.. Its a huge networking opportunity since Mr. Blah and Mrs. Blah are coming". Does not matter if its late into the night or the travel distance is two hours. Its business baby.

For newly married couples who bring back work home, the sense of togetherness is difficult to build. You cannot say no to your boss who wants to meet on Saturday at Cuppa to discuss a presentation. Leaving at 6 from office is looked down upon. Working half-day on Saturday usually means being there till 6 - after all that is 12 hours - learn your maths right sir. And then there are bosses who probably don't want to go back home. For whatever reasons - either they are divorcees, don't get along with their partners, or simply workaholics! The comments about such bosses and their personal lives are rude. But that is exactly what happens when they intrude into their junior's personal space.

And for a women with kids, the entire upbringing of the child becomes her responsibility. The husband leaves early, come back late - where is the time to drop kids at school, pick them up, cook anything or spend some time with the spouse. In our society, this is a totally acceptable scenario too. The wife cribs, the husband gets money, kids go to school, go on a vacation two times an year - everything appears great from outside except there is no bonding.

In some countries there are strict labor laws. Work does not last more than 8 to 8 1/2 hours. You come on dot time and expected to leave on dot time. Staying back late is considered a bad aspect of your capability to complete a task on time. A company is liable to pay for the extra work done during these extra hours. Personal time is valued. After all, you work so that your personal life is smooth. Not the other way round. You work because you want the required finance to fund education, to buy a house or to go on a vacation. Mainly the money translates into a good time with family and friends.

Work becomes meaningless when all you do is only work.

What do you do to ensure that your personal time is guaranteed?
How do set the boundaries between the work and family space?
How often do you hang out with office colleagues and how do you avoid?