#035 - Time for a Break!

You know, when you go and leave and you take the holidays and you get that chance to step back, you really can reflect on it. And most importantly, I would hope everyone takes away from this is. It gives you a chance to reflect on your goals. Hello, and welcome to the Pie Bytes podcast, where we talk about Python career and mindset. We're your hosts. I'm Julian Sequeira. And I am Bob Baldebozz. If you're looking to improve your python, your career, and learn the mindset for success, this is the podcast for you. Let's get started. Welcome to another piwights podcast episode. This is Julian, and I'm here with Bob Elder. Boss, how are you doing, man? I'm good, man. I'm good. It's been a long week. What about you? It is Wednesday. It's a long week, but in a different sense. Yeah, I know. It's. It's just. It's your week off. Yeah, I'm on holidays. Very, very unheard of and unlike us to take. Take time off. So I'm really excited, man, that you've got this week off. And, you know, this is technically work, I suppose. So. Shame on you for taking time away from you, from your time off to record this episode. But I do appreciate it. No, good. We knew that this was the exception. And thanks for covering, man. Appreciate it. That's right. We do such a good job that I don't have to do much. No, man. So, look, I don't want to use up too much of your time. It is super valuable while you're on holidays. Every hour's worth, like, ten while you're on leave. So we won't. We won't drag this out, but it's a great point. And something I wanted to talk about tonight. It's the concept of taking a break, taking leave. And I know we all know it. We all. Everyone listening. You think it. Oh, here we go. But the truth is, it matters, and it matters not just because you need to get away, but because it does so many amazing things for you and for your success. So, a bit of a different episode today. I'm going to interview Bob. So, Bob, get prepared, man. Hard questions are coming, not coding interview questions. So that's okay. But I'm going to hit you up with a few questions to ask you about how your time off has been spent and how it's, you know, really helped. So the first thing I'm going to ask you is, why did you take the leave? I was bored of you. Right. This episode's over. No, we came to a point that a lot of people came into our program, PDM and was coaching like 20 people. And I love every minute of it. Still do. But of course there is a certain workload, you know, and we're growing the business and. Yeah, I just felt like not burnout, but, you know, getting tired a little bit and I thought it's good. Good timing now to take a week also, you know, the kids are home. It's. The summer period is very hot here, relatively hot in Spain. So. Yeah. That all contributes to seriously needing to take a break. Well, okay. Well, look, I'm going to, as I always do, I'm going to relate this to the people listening. Same thing that everyone goes through. Right. We're all in our day jobs. We all have things to do every day. We have the same routine for the most part. And it can be pretty taxing. You know, you can get burnt out. As much as you love doing what you do, it can get exhausting. So when was the last time, aside from our two weeks at Christmas last year, when was the last time you had a holiday or a break like this? Yeah, the Christmas break and then the year before when I left Oracle a few days. I don't know. I think it was played into bye bytes, so. Not really. Yeah. Pretty crazy, right? It's very hard for us to take a break. Yeah. And so you've gone. Well, you know, it's been, what, eight months since Christmas? Seven to eight months since Christmas. That's a long time, anyway, to just be working your butt off. And it is obviously a well deserved break. But the point is, it's not something that you actively think about. And a lot of us, we don't actively think about it. It's something you consciously have to force yourself to do because our daily routines and jobs are definitely designed to keep us working. Right. Keep us going. All right, so you've taken the leave. You haven't taken holidays in a long time. You're in it now. You've got the week off. What's been the most, the unexpected benefit that, you know, the thing you didn't expect to get out of this? That's a great question. So I expected to spend more time with the wife, with the kids, with the family. I expected to read a lot, which I deeply enjoy, but I didn't expect that I would actually be okay with it. Like, guilt free. Yeah. Just be able to be away. I mean, yes, we do our check ins. Sometimes you have to check email and there's this sporadic thing, but I can actually guilt free take the time and not worry about things. And partly that's because you are covering things again, but also because some things are more streamlined these days with the coaches. Yeah. With our processes. And that's a great feeling and that's a really good point and a good takeaway for everyone listening. One of the hardest things about taking leave, taking any sort of holiday is letting go and being able to let go of the day job and your responsibilities. Whether you're a manager, whether you're an individual contributor, it doesn't matter. There's always things that we do and it can be very and that we own and it can be very hard to take that time off. So in your case, Bob, you know, you had taken care of things, you'd wrapped up things, you'd moved all the meetings in advance, set expectations with your stakeholders and rescheduled everything. So. And that's a huge thing not a lot of people think to do sometimes. And furthermore, you had someone that you could trust to take over. And I say trust loosely, but having that sense of confidence that you can walk away and things aren't going to fall over is important. So, you know, for everyone else listening, I think before you go on a trip, before you plan the trip, make sure that you are able to switch off 100%. Make sure that you give yourself that luxury of being able to switch off, because otherwise, if you don't, and you always feel, oh, you know, I should check in, I should see how things are going. You're going to be on email. If you bring your work laptop or VPN token, whatever it is with you on your holiday, you've done it wrong. It's plain and simple. Right. So, um. No, so that's great. So that was an unexpected thing. I mean, even for me, that was unexpected because you, you have disappeared and it's fantastic. You know, I was saying this before that we started recording for everyone listening, I'm used to talking with you every night of the week and it's only been three bloody days into this, into this long, grueling holiday of yours, and it's just not the same. And so you really have switched off and I've got to give you credit for that because it is a hard thing for us to do. It's difficult. Yeah. And I remember previous breaks. I think I learned from that, that I was constantly checking and still working, in a sense, and then you come back and, like you're not really rested and then what was the whole point of the break? Especially if you're not taking that many days a year. Right? So yeah, it's a discipline. Oh, and you know, I'm not, I'm not a saint here. My last holiday, I took my pie bytes laptop and did a mindset call from the beach at like six in the morning. So that was not, I mean, it was nice, it was fun, it was change, but it was not, you know, I would rather have slept, that's for sure. So, yeah, we. It's something we work on over time. All right, so next question. Next question for you. This is weird, quizzing. You like this? You have done a lot of stuff. Yeah. As you're saying, you've been doing a lot of reading, a lot of unwinding, a lot of relax, relaxation time. I'm leading you into the answer here. So, you know, here you go. You're welcome. How is that impacting your ability to come back next week to work? Yeah, the reading is always good. It's not that new. We have been doing quite well, is taking weekends off and we're quite religious about that. And so I feel we have this refresh thing every week going on, but now a bit more. So the good thing is like, you get to refocus. And I think we already shared some ideas that could actually change direction when I'm back. So, yeah, talking about the ladder leaning against the right wall kind of thing. Right. So, yeah, I think overall just, they can. And then that's with everything. Right. With the fitness and other things we often discuss, sometimes you have to take a step backwards to take multiple steps forward. Right. So in that sense, that's really the case. Yeah, yeah, no, I agree. You know, you definitely, before you left, you were feeling a little burnt out, a bit tired, you know, and the difference in. Again, I think we've mentioned this on the podcast before, that we record audio messages to each other every day through WhatsApp, you know, just to keep us updated because the time zones, all that stuff, hearing the change in your messages and the tone in the past couple of days, you know, you're excited to come back from the sounds of it and to dig your teeth and sink your teeth into it, even though you can't right now. Yeah. Itchy fingers. Yes, but I have to wait five more days. Yeah, yeah. Good. I don't want to hear from you in five for five days. Uh, no, and that's, again, a good lesson for everyone. I'm just going to keep doing this, linking back. Uh, when you do take that break, it is the same concept with. With coding, right. When you are coding, you're stuck in a problem. You walk away for a bit, and it comes clear after a while, right, that that's a common thing people know. But when you take a break, like a week off of not just coding, but off the job of whatever it is that you do day to day, and you don't even have to leave the house, you know, I'm not talking. A lot of us are still in quarantine. Whatever. But I'm saying if you just walk away from that standard routine and you do something completely different. So you could fill that time with playing guitar, you could fill that time with going different kind of walk, exercise, bike ride, whatever with the kids, whatever it happens to be, change it up so it feels like you're on a holiday, feels that you're doing. Like you're doing something different. And you will start thinking your best ideas, you'll start having the greatest inspiration, and you'll be itching to come back and say, oh, you know, that would be amazing. Obviously, don't do it. Don't come back. Just take a note. You should have a pen, a paper or your phone or an audio message to your business partner, but do it and then come back, you know, hell for leather. Just run, hit the ground and go for it. So I think that's one of my biggest. While I'm excited to take my leave when it comes up. Yeah, one of these days. All right, moving on. I'm going to quit yapping away on that one. And I got one more question for you before we wrap it up. So you have done a lot of reading. You've spent a lot of time on the beach, and I hate you for it. You have done an insane amount of steps with your walking every day. It's awesome to hear. But again, I hate you for it. And what. What I want to know is you've had a lot of time for self reflection, right? I'm only halfway through. Yeah, you're only halfway through. Still another few days of self reflection. You may not even come back. Um, so if you. You were stressed and everything before, not, not. I won't say you were stressed because you weren't really that stressed, but you were definitely flat out before you left on the sleeve. Have you come to any realizations? Has this gap, has this break allowed you to, I guess, reflect on things, on how you were doing things, what you were doing with your time? And are there any changes you're going to make when you come back? Yes. Yes. The good thing of taking a break. And that's why I recommend it to everybody, is that you go to that. It's almost like getting on an airplane. You go above the clouds and you get that high level, thirty k feet view and you just see things in a different perspective more holistically. Right. So for example, notice like, hey, we still have a book to launch physically, which we are going to do with 300 tips. We probably should finish that project and a couple of more things. I think I came to a clearer picture how to balance my time and priorities and things. So. Yeah, because that's the insidious part. Right. You go week after week after week and you just fall into these habits. You might have a time like, well, I do slack only in the afternoon, and all of a sudden you're doing slack throughout the whole days. And those interrupts, as we've spoken before, are quite costly. Right. It affects your deep work and it's just good to take a step back and then, yeah, get a more holistic view of your, your methods and come back and probably go back to some of these productivity things we have been talking about, you know. Yeah. And the next thing you know, it's July and you're wondering whether the first half of 2021 went. Yeah, no, I get you, man. And it's, it's true, you know, when you go and leave and you take the holidays and you get that chance to step back, you really can reflect on it. And most importantly, I would hope everyone takes away from this is, it gives you a chance to reflect on your goals, you know, and with our day jobs, things, things are hectic these days. Things are pretty crazy and the demand is of everyone's time is quite high. Everyone's expected to perform under the craziest of circumstances right now. And everyone wants to because this would be a really scary time to lose your job and, you know, all that stuff. So with that in mind, we can get sucked into that rabbit hole of, I just have to do my day to day. I have to really perform. I have to do this, I have to do that. And before you know it, again, seven months have passed and you're no closer to your goals than you were at the start of the year. And you think, what did I just do with the past seven months? So I think a holiday is a really great way of resetting. And that's, again, I can't wait. Next time I'm on holiday, that'll be my chance to, to reset and really think, what am I doing with my time? And again, it's hard to do when you're in the standard routine when you're doing the day to day job because you almost can't step back to do that, to have that reflection. And I want to say a single day is not long enough because that single day, you're going to be recovering, you're going to be thinking, I'm back at work tomorrow. But when you're not back at work for one to two weeks, you have plenty of time to unwind in completely different frame of mind. So. But again, I do notice it with us. If you respect the weekends and we log off on Friday, after two days, the diffuse mode does kick in and then you have a little bit of that effect. So. Yeah, no, you're right, you're right. We different in that respect sometimes in that by going completely dark over the weekend, no pie bites, no, no tech, nothing. Just time with the family and reading, unwinding, you know, that's our mini holiday. Right. But as things ramp up, it definitely can seep into the weekends. And again, that's true of every job. So. Awesome, man. Well, look, thanks. I appreciate it. I appreciate you sharing that. And I'm sure everyone's happy to hear that you're enjoying your time off and feeling a little bit inspired to. You know what? I'm going to go to work. I'm going to ask for a day off, for a week off. There's my call to action. If you're listening to this, see how much annual leave you have gone. Talk to your boss, say, I need to take a week. I'm just going to take a week off and just do nothing and enjoy yourself and reflect on where you're at. Reflect on your goals, write them down, go listen to our other 30 odd episode episodes and get some inspiration. Yeah, no, it's. Yeah, thanks, man. I appreciate that. And it's surprisingly good. And if you look at other folks and leaders, I think, was it Bill Gates, that he goes on a reading week or something? So they do have their tactics to switch off and come back with new ideas. I think it's super important. Yeah. And going off the grid is important to stay away from the social media and all that stuff, especially these days. Right. With the slacks and the social media. So what's the word? Cacophony of noise, you know, and a lot of good things. Right. We use these tools and we love them, but, yeah, definitely adds to your stress levels and amount of interrupts. Yeah, I'm with you on that. I find if I'm like, on the weekend. If I'm taking the day and we're just rambling on here, everyone, we apologize. No, we don't. When I'm sitting there on the weekend trying to unwind, if I happen to pull out the phone and hop on Facebook, I don't feel relaxed at all. Not at all. So, yeah, I'm with you. Totally. But also, yes. Not to get into an episode about distraction, because I think we already have one, but it's kind of true. What's interesting with the reading? Well, we love reading, and we said in a previous episode that it's not only about reading, it's about information intake. But, yeah, in our case, the reading, it's a muscle. Right. I think previous breaks, I was way more on Twitter, Facebook and all that, and I actually couldn't read a book. It couldn't hold that attention. And now it just feels great to be able to have long stretches of concentrated study. And I think, yeah, maybe that's another takeaway. Like, don't go on social. Yeah. Don't just take the leave. Make sure you use it wisely. That's it. Yeah. Social apps don't make you happy. Yeah. Agreed. All right. So actually, on that note, you. Good reminder, man. What are you reading? Well, what's. You're reading, like, 20 things. What's one thing you want to mention that you're reading? The one thing. Laws of human nature. I think I mentioned that before, but that's a huge book. So that was easy to put down. But I'm going through that fascinating stuff. And Daniel Goleman, emotional intelligence, which you will like a lot of mindset, you know. And another one, well, I just finished that AI book Mirvela recommended. I still have to read that. Was it heavy? It's pretty heavy. Well, not that heavy. And that's surprising because it does explain a lot of concepts like reinforcement learning and all that. So it could be a bit heavy, but it's very accessible. And, yeah, it was also gave a good perspective. Like, yeah, the AI is coming and it can be scary, but also it will take some time. It was great insight in that book. Nice, interesting in the topic. That's definitely a recommended book. Cool. What are you reading? It's funny you mentioned that Daniel Goldman book because I'm actually reading search inside yourself by Chaid Meng Tan. The guy from Google. Yes, the Google one about essentially mindfulness meditation, ei, all emotional stuff. So emotional intelligence. And he actually had, I think it was Daniel Goldmouth. I'm pretty sure it was him. Yeah. Helping him as his. Yeah, had him like as a bit of a consultant or supporter on the book. I can't remember the word. I'm trying to get here. But yeah, it's. It's amazing. And the funny thing is I actually tried to read this. Oh, man. I want to say like eight years ago, seven years ago, it was a while ago and I couldn't get through it, but now I can't put it down. I'm actually listening to the audiobook, I should say so. I've been listening to it everywhere. Doing the dishes, in the shower, just everywhere I possibly can escape the kids and actually focus. It's incredible. It's a completely different experience to. Last time that I listened to, tried to read it, maybe just because it's the audiobook, but really inspiring to get in there and focus on the emotional intelligence side and focus on yourself and meditation. So we will talk about this a little more in another podcast because there are a few things that I've taken out of this book that we need to talk about. So I'll stop it continued. Yeah, looking forward to that one. Stay tuned. All right, done. Let's wrap it up, man. Thank you so much for taking time out of your annual leave. Oh, my pleasure. And coming to join me, keeping me company, give me a warm hug of conversation. And everyone, thanks for listening to us ramble for a little bit. This is slightly different. We just wanted to have a chat and record as we talked about the value of taking leave and unwinding, recharging the batteries. And I hope you can do the same. Yup, highly recommend it. Thanks for listening and you're back next week. Beautiful. See you next time. Thanks, man. We hope you enjoyed this episode. To hear more from us, go to Pibyte France, that is Pibit es France, and receive a free gift just for being a friend of the show. And to join our thriving slack community of python programmers, go to Pibytes community, that's pibit es forward slash community. We hope to see you there and catch you in the next episode.