One problem with being good at keeping up with the work:
You get very good at keeping up with the work.
The workflow runs. The queue moves. You solve today's problems with the system you built yesterday.
What becomes harder to see is whether the system itself still makes sense.
Distance changes the question from:
"How do I keep up?"
to:
"Why am I doing it this way?"
That question may be worth more than another hour spent clearing the queue.
Photo by Jonathan Borba on Unsplash
A few days away taught me something remarkably unsurprising:
The work was still there when I got back.
Tickets waited. Problems waited. Projects waited.
But for a few days, I didn't.
I stopped thinking about work completely. Not because it didn't matter, but because apparently the world could keep turning without my attention for a while.
There's value in discovering that occasionally.
Sometimes stepping away isn't lost productivity.
It's maintenance.
Image by Kanenori from Pixabay
Some days remind me that the old carpenter's advice applies just as well to IT:
Measure twice. Cut once.
Today's work wasn't about solving more tickets. It was about asking better questions before touching the keyboard.
The most difficult problems are rarely the technical ones. They're the ones that arrive incomplete, vague, or wrapped in assumptions.
A few extra minutes spent understanding the problem often saves hours spent solving the wrong one.
Sometimes progress begins with a better question, not a faster answer.
There comes a point most evenings when the coffee finally catches up with me.
One more line.
One more fix.
One more idea.
Years ago, that usually meant a 3 A.M. mistake disguised as determination.
These days I've learned a better rhythm.
When I feel myself pushing too far, I open my task list and move two or three things to tomorrow. No guilt. No arbitrary deadlines. Just permission to continue the work after some sleep.
Discipline isn't squeezing every last drop out of today.
Sometimes it's knowing exactly when to trust tomorrow.
