Work Life Nirvana

One of these numbers is very real.

I worked for years on a project that released a new version of software every several months. Releases were huge productions so it was definitely all-hands-on-deck every time. Well, if you have enough releases on Thanksgiving and winter holiday weeks, 40 hours saved turns to 60, which turns to 80…

In hindsight, I really wish I allowed myself to take more time off. This behavior of letting PTO expire every January seemed normal on the account I worked on. I’ve actually been a part of conversations with other managers where we would joke about who let the most PTO expire as if we were competing for some medal. And after the laughs were had, we all stuck our noses back into our laptops and went straight back to work in silence. I’m sure some of us were feeling like fools, some of us trying to ignore our woes.

I work in industry now and my new job is much different. This past year, I got to use all my PTO. Unfortunately, I exhausted nearly all of it within the walls of a hospital as I was getting treated for my cancer.

Now that I’m better, I hope to use up all of my PTO again this year. But this time, I plan to spend it having fun with my family.

It was 125. I let 125 hours expire one year.

Ramen