After a grandparent of mine died near the end of last year, I decided to take a step back from work for a good period (6m-1y, though we’ll see what I can take and how I can rejoin the workforce). And I’ve found that it’s been really, really useful, actually.
I’m somebody who normally works and sleeps and spaces out, and who doesn’t have a ton of time or ability to plan things between those states. Between working through grief and figuring out how to actually focus on the things I want to focus on, it feels almost like I’ve been … enabled to work in a more … conscientous way.
It’s interesting, not working and also not rushing to fill my days with things. You learn to be able to slow down, which I’ve never really been able to do. And you learn to … know how to both slow down and speed up, when necessary. Because going at full speed all the time inevitably leads to a crash.
I actually hadn’t touched anything coding really until now - I was tempted to do Advent of Code, and did two days, but ended up stopping because I just need to … rediscover the joy of the process. If you love the process, you can love the work. If you hate the process, it’s all lost. And sometimes … you need to rediscover how to enjoy the process.