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Personal Time
I’m sitting down to write this month’s Walk & Talk with a bit of disappointment and a bit of nonchalance. The disappointment hails from my UW Huskies’ 76-74 loss in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, a game in which they staged a quality comeback, but couldn’t manage to get over the hump for the win.
The nonchalance occurs from the fact that I’m in Jamaica on a week’s vacation…so really, things aren’t that bad, mon. Let’s face it, when the beach is 10 yards away and the temperature is 50 degrees warmer than home…as they say here, everything is “Irie” (meaning “all is ok”).
You may be wondering where I’m going with this and simply put, this month’s column is all about taking care of yourself. We work in an industry that is a constant grind, one game to the next, one season to another, with projects overlapping the entire way. It’s easy to get wrapped up in the constant nature of work. So easy that we often forget, or simply neglect, to look out for number one.
Now I must admit that there is some irony in the fact that I’m writing this while on vacation. When I described the column topic to my wife, she shot me a quizzical look and said “So you’re telling me that you’re writing about the importance of carving out personal time from work, yet you’re doing that while on vacation…hmmm.” And I didn’t really have a good reply, other than I don’t exactly consider Walk & Talk to be work, more of a hobby.
Early on in my sports career, I received some valuable advice from a mentor of mine. During my first week working for the Sonics, one of the Vice Presidents invited me into his office for an orientation meeting, something he did with all of the new employees hired under his umbrella. We talked about many of the normal things…Why do you want to work in sports? Where do you want your career to go? How can I help you attain those goals?
Towards the end of our meeting, he gave me some advice that I’ll never forget. He said to me, “Pat, I expect a lot out of the staff members that work here, it’s a challenging and demanding business that requires a lot of hard work and long hours. But the most important thing is to ensure you keep a balance with your professional and personal life. You need to make time for family and friends or else you’ll burn yourself out.”
That advice was right on! To be honest, it took me a number of years to fully appreciate the truth behind that statement…I was moving up the career ladder fast and I thought if I slowed down, I might get stuck. But for a variety of reasons and circumstances, I came to fully appreciate the meaning behind his lesson and now ensure that I keep the balance needed for a happy life. That’s one of the biggest reasons I founded Pat Walker Productions, to create a situation where I could enjoy my work and continue to be in an industry that I loved…but in a manner that maintained a balance where I could dictate the pace on my own terms.
Despite what you may think, especially those of you that are fresh out of school or in the midst of an internship, it’s essential to keep doing the things you like that make you who you are…even when you’re trying to climb the corporate ladder.
The definition of personal enjoyment means something different to all of us. For me, that includes my weekly soccer game…a game of cards…a backyard BBQ with friends…walking my dog…or a week on the beach. For others, it could mean skydiving, clubbing in Cancun or shopping in the city. Whatever it is that makes you relax and enjoy yourself, set some time aside and make it happen. I know it’s often easier said than done, given all of the games and events…not to mention potential playoff schedules. Whether it’s a month, a week or a day, give yourself the break you deserve. In the end, you’ll thank yourself for that.
So now, it’s time to wrap this up and get back to my vacation. After all, my glass is empty and I need another Red Stripe beer…
Pat Walker
Patrick Walker is the President of Pat Walker Productions, a Seattle-based event production group. Pat shares over a decade of expertise in Game Entertainment and Operations in a monthly column called Walk & Talk and blog posts on Gameops.com.
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