I’m struggling to disconnect from work. I’ve been working on an interesting problem for the last couple of weeks (compacting change data capture events from sharded MySQL servers into BigQuery). It’s an interesting technical problem. There are lots of optimization opportunities and novel patterns I can introduce.
I’m on vacation for the next two weeks but since starting my trip my mind keeps returning to the problem. I’ve even solved a few issues and come up with new patterns to try while daydreaming as we travel. Obviously I haven’t implemented any changes, I deliberately didn’t bring my work laptop with me. I emailed those solutions to my work email address so they get out of my head but that hasn’t helped. I just visualized more optimizations while hiking today.
There is no expectations from my leadership to work while on vacation.
How do others disconnect from work when I enjoy the problem solving aspects of my work?
I don’t. I often work a few hours at weekends, but the pattern is different. I’ll tinker for 10 minutes then go do some laundry or play with my son or go for a walk, then tinker again when I’m next passing by. I’m actually pretty productive most weekends despite not spending much time at a computer which makes me wonder if I’m doing it wrong during the week.
If you’re genuinely enjoying the work, there’s no harm in doing it. Just be sure that you’re not using work as a way to avoid other commitments, or letting down your loved ones because you’re not present.