Washing Away

Last week was a rough week. I'll skip the details, but trust me, it was rough.

A few weeks ago, I was at a Change Management Conference in Portland, Connect Change 4. Change Management is an interesting field because you are making people do things they don't want to do, which is change. As someone who helped manage and advocate for change, both in the corporate world and in the public sector, I know change is hard, whatever kind of change it is. The processes have to be right, you need buy-in, you need to make sure people know what the change is, you have to listen to find out where things are and aren't working, and this is all on top of people's moods. Sometimes change can be for the worse (think a corporate downsizing or life after an earthquake), so resiliency is a big part of change management. How can we help people bounce back after the shit hits the fan?

One of the topics at the conference was "How to Have a Good Week After a Bad Weekend." One of the speakers talked about the impact of her divorce on her work life. She tried to hide her failed marriage from her colleagues, bury herself in busyness. Anther speaker, a physical therapist, was a facing financial catastrophe, which kept him pre-occupied during work. Having been through months of physical therapy, I can't imagine having an unhappily distracted therapist cranking on my knee.

This was interesting to me because I am not in the workforce right now, so my weeks and weekends kind of blend together. They take place in the same place, for better or worse.

So what happens when I have a bad weekend at home? It blurs into the rest of my week. After this past rough weekend, Jack went to work and the kids went to school, washing away the challenges. They got back on their horses and had distractions.

I didn't. I stayed at home and metaphorically and literally cleaned up while everyone went on about their lives, escaping the mess. How can I wash away a bad weekend when my weekends don't end?