Why Working Hard AND Partying Harder Just Won't Cut It Anymore
Cosmo.ph's Managing Ed learns the value of rest and sleep--the hard, super hassle way.
Posted on October 26, 2009 06:00 pm
Posted on October 26, 2009 06:00 pm
As I write this, I’m in bed with colds, cough, and fever (yes, sick and still managing to blog for Cosmo—when you love your job, the fine line between work and pleasure often blurs). Which is possibly why I’m in my “sick bed” again for the fourth or fifth time in the last four or five months. This, simply put, means I’ve been getting sick at least once a month for the last four or five months—whereas I used to get sick only once a year!
There’s always a downside when you love your job so much—you never know when to stop doing it. I’d clock in 14, sometimes 16 hours per day—and even work during weekends or upon going home—and not mind at all. My friends and family would hiss and complain at my being a workaholic upon reading this, as they always do when I decline a get-together or ask to go home before anyone else since I needed to go online and work some more. Really, I’m the last person you’d consider a model for work-life balance. But I try.
We party (or at least, cover parties) for work. Here I am (rightmost) with the Cosmo.ph team (Cheekie, Pranz, Bunnie, Happy, and Mel) at Bigfish's Paul Van Dyk gig last October 13.
My idea of maintaining balance in my work-dominated life is to work hard and party harder. So after a tiring work-week, my idea of de-stressing is going out on Friday night, Saturday night, and sometimes even Sunday and Monday (if it’s a long weekend—whether to go out of town or just go on a movie marathon). To make up for times when they couldn’t reach me at work, I’d round up different groups of friends to drink ‘til we drop, have dinner, talk non-stop over coffee, catch a movie or two—and end up crawling home in the wee hours. Over the last few months, I’ve managed to broaden my circle and find more people to spend such times with, and so this routine of being out all weekend continued.
Until this week. After going on too many parties last week (both for work and otherwise), I woke up last Wednesday with a sore throat that grew to become that full-blown dreaded trio: cough, colds, and fever. Still, I went on several events that day, didn’t miss our shoot with Xian Lim last Thursday for the world, and still went to work last Friday. And only now I’m realizing I should slow down and rest more, and for goodness’ sake, SLEEP.
It seems no one was surprised to learn I got sick…except for me. Everyone who learned I got sick said the same thing: “You need to learn to rest. Sleep! Get well soon.” Only now did I realize that alarming frequency at which I get sick—all because I refused to listen to what everyone has been telling me: I NEED TO REST.
So I vow to try. While work is something I really can’t let go of, I’ll try to set a limit for myself. I’ll begin with, well, not working past midnight. And I’ll stay in more. Since I was forced to do that this weekend, I found that I really missed the luxury I used to enjoy in very distant past—that of curling up with a good book or magazine, watching DVDs, eating in front of the TV, and best of all, sleeping long hours. While I still sniffle as I write this, I know that if I continue to value rest and ME-time this way, I know that, hopefully, I’ll breeze through November and December without getting the flu.
My last resolution? To lessen the drinking parties. After all, I get to drink and party for work already, when we cover all these events (like this week: we’ll be at Ascend tomorrow and at Bigfish’s Cream Halloween Ball on Friday). That should be enough reason to just lay-low during the weekend and make up for lost sleep—something I can’t do at work, no matter how much I love it.
There’s always a downside when you love your job so much—you never know when to stop doing it. I’d clock in 14, sometimes 16 hours per day—and even work during weekends or upon going home—and not mind at all. My friends and family would hiss and complain at my being a workaholic upon reading this, as they always do when I decline a get-together or ask to go home before anyone else since I needed to go online and work some more. Really, I’m the last person you’d consider a model for work-life balance. But I try.
We party (or at least, cover parties) for work. Here I am (rightmost) with the Cosmo.ph team (Cheekie, Pranz, Bunnie, Happy, and Mel) at Bigfish's Paul Van Dyk gig last October 13.
My idea of maintaining balance in my work-dominated life is to work hard and party harder. So after a tiring work-week, my idea of de-stressing is going out on Friday night, Saturday night, and sometimes even Sunday and Monday (if it’s a long weekend—whether to go out of town or just go on a movie marathon). To make up for times when they couldn’t reach me at work, I’d round up different groups of friends to drink ‘til we drop, have dinner, talk non-stop over coffee, catch a movie or two—and end up crawling home in the wee hours. Over the last few months, I’ve managed to broaden my circle and find more people to spend such times with, and so this routine of being out all weekend continued.
Until this week. After going on too many parties last week (both for work and otherwise), I woke up last Wednesday with a sore throat that grew to become that full-blown dreaded trio: cough, colds, and fever. Still, I went on several events that day, didn’t miss our shoot with Xian Lim last Thursday for the world, and still went to work last Friday. And only now I’m realizing I should slow down and rest more, and for goodness’ sake, SLEEP.
It seems no one was surprised to learn I got sick…except for me. Everyone who learned I got sick said the same thing: “You need to learn to rest. Sleep! Get well soon.” Only now did I realize that alarming frequency at which I get sick—all because I refused to listen to what everyone has been telling me: I NEED TO REST.
So I vow to try. While work is something I really can’t let go of, I’ll try to set a limit for myself. I’ll begin with, well, not working past midnight. And I’ll stay in more. Since I was forced to do that this weekend, I found that I really missed the luxury I used to enjoy in very distant past—that of curling up with a good book or magazine, watching DVDs, eating in front of the TV, and best of all, sleeping long hours. While I still sniffle as I write this, I know that if I continue to value rest and ME-time this way, I know that, hopefully, I’ll breeze through November and December without getting the flu.
My last resolution? To lessen the drinking parties. After all, I get to drink and party for work already, when we cover all these events (like this week: we’ll be at Ascend tomorrow and at Bigfish’s Cream Halloween Ball on Friday). That should be enough reason to just lay-low during the weekend and make up for lost sleep—something I can’t do at work, no matter how much I love it.
Tags: work,bigfish,Cosmo Team,sleep,colds,parties,rest,fever,ME-time,getting sick,flu,cough,work-life balance,work hard party harder
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