June is finally here and you know what that means: summer vacation!
As Pink Floyd so famously sang, “No more pencils, no more books! No more teachers dirty looks!”
I remember that euphoric feeling as the last bell rang for the year or in college when I finished my last final exam. It was awesome knowing I had at least two months of relaxation without school responsibilities.
Too bad that all ends when we start our careers and enter the “real world”.
No more summer vacations. If we’re lucky, we can bookend the summer with long weekends at Memorial Day and Labor Day. Depending on how the calendar falls we may get a third long weekend at Fourth of July.
Hardly the freedom-fest summers of our youth.
It’s been ages since I was in school yet for some reason at this time of year I still find myself wanting to slow down from work and take a step back. With the sun finally shining I guess I’m ready to come out of hibernation.
Or more appropriately, I’m ready to get up from my desk, longing for a respite from the busy go-go-go lifestyle that has taken over.
Yes, I want to run away from it all. Even if only for a little while.
My mind plays tricks on me, suddenly forgetting all the things on my to-do list. Knowing that we have a couple of trips planned, Vacation Brain tries to push Work Brain out of the way weeks before it’s time to leave.
I play all sorts of games to remain focused on career, networking, finding my next opportunity and the like, yet it seems in vain. There are simply too many distractions.
The swimming pool is calling me to come outside. Friends in the teaching profession have free time to play. Family wants to come to visit. Tons of summer festivals and events. Biking, hiking, and BBQ’s, oh my!
Even the news is conspiring against me, telling me summer is a terrible time to look for a new job, that hiring tends to decrease over the summer as managers take vacations and a slew of other reasons. My mind says this sounds reasonable.
Vacation Brain says, “Go ahead and give in; don’t do any work for the next couple of months”.
Work Brain knows I’m responsible and forces me back to reality saying “You know better.” Sometimes I really hate being responsible.
Work Brain is right. We should not give in to the temptation to relax our standards just because it’s summer and vacation is right around the corner.
Especially anyone who is looking for a new job. Don’t lose your momentum! Let others drop out of the job search race if they want; that gives you the edge. Besides, you never know when there might be a new opportunity and you could be the first to see it.
Should you enjoy summer and plan a vacation? Of course! It’s always good to take a short break to rejuvenate. Just make sure you have a plan for staying on top of your job search strategy rather than dropping out completely.
Like Tami, I was terminated once (By my best friend, BTW – he is now on the board of the agency I lead, so I got him back – ha!), but you don’t have to be unemployed to learn something from this book. 
