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Some thoughts on weekends, work, and trade unions (which brought us & #39;the weekend& #39;!)... obvious caveat we don& #39;t all have the same work patterns, some weekend work is contractual, etc - but as a principle we are supposed, in theory, to have a break each week. We should take it. /1
I& #39;m a case in point of finding it hard to observe my own advice. My current union role involves me being bought out of a lot of my & #39;day job& #39; at the moment (less buyout next month, but then up to almost 100% from June, when I become President) so union work shd be my & #39;day job& #39;/2
Most union reps & officers don& #39;t have it so lucky - some do get facilities time (& #39;buyout& #39;) - so (like me) they& #39;re on the same wages, with some time released for union work. Facilities time is rarely (probably never) enough. Many have none, all union work is in their spare time /3
When, facilities or not, you& #39;re used to working round the clock on union stuff, whether casework, consultation, campaigning, negotiation, research, whatever it is: it& #39;s very difficult to switch it off. I often have such good intentions to rest, then read an email/messages/news /4
I& #39;m not sure what the answer is, not least because I would be energised about those things regardless of any union position / not, and all of this stuff is very much related to activists and risks of burnout (plenty of that around after the latest GE...). /5
I know it is particularly difficult sometimes for academics whose research and/or teaching is connected to activism and activist communities they& #39;re part of, to work out how to & #39;take a break& #39; - how can you when your head is whirring around all over the place? /6
So, I have ended up in a silly place where I& #39;ve managed to internalise:
- guilt about not working even when should be resting
- guilt about not resting / being visibly tired in case it makes anyone else feel pressure to always work/be activisting
Neither of these is helpful /7
- guilt about not working even when should be resting
- guilt about not resting / being visibly tired in case it makes anyone else feel pressure to always work/be activisting
Neither of these is helpful /7
Eg: 2 conversations already had today (in theory resting) about NEC next wk. I don& #39;t want *anyone* to feel bad for being in touch, I know it& #39;s ok+reasonable not to reply right away. But I want to discuss, don& #39;t always have time in the week. This is often how workload overspills/8
