This is not to say that I don't work during the May 15-August 15 hiatus. I do (although obviously my blog was not part of that workload)! I teach a fun course at one of our satellite campuses, which entails 4-5 weekends away from home. I also try to produce at least one paper, either to present at a conference or to submit to a journal. But I relish the less structured time and especially enjoy the time I can spend with family and do projects around the home.
Around this time in the summer, though, my entropy becomes overwhelming to me, in the sense that I have less energy for work and feel more random. (Boy, do I get spacey!) It is time to embrace a routine, institute self-discipline, and build my enthalpy.
So I approach the academic year with a renewed sense of drive, purpose and commitment.
Wouldn't it be wonderful if businesses could leverage their cycles like that? Some do, e.g., closing for a week or two during the slower summer months. One company I worked for had half-days on Fridays during the summer. I do not think throughput suffered as a result.
When I was in corporate sales, business cycles were more of a mixed blessing. At the beginning of the fiscal year, my quota was reset -- and my attainment went back to zero. That did not mean that my energy and enthusiasm were restored, though.
Recently, I read an article in the Harvard Business Review (Perlow and Porter, October 2009) about the benefit of enforced time off. The context was the consulting business and the point was that consultants had better staying power when they could anticipate and permit themselves some "down time."
Wouldn't we all benefit from that?
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