{
  "$type": "site.standard.document",
  "description": "A busy end to the year.",
  "path": "/blog/fourth-quarter-2021",
  "publishedAt": "2020-11-24T00:00:00.000Z",
  "site": "at://did:plc:gevyqibw5p2xsonkbsbjm5vy/site.standard.publication/3mnqgth7gxo2f",
  "tags": [
    "work",
    "life",
    "career",
    "fourthq"
  ],
  "textContent": "It's been a long fourth quarter\r\n\r\nI had not been writing for quite some time. Time was at a premium. Between working, then changing jobs from Knowbility to the great team over at WebstaurantStore, to W3C participation, to writing articles and speaking at virtual conferences, it was all a lot over the past two months.\r\n\r\nPerhaps a bit too much. Or, let's face it, it was far too much.\r\n\r\nOver that span of the last month and a half, the virtual conferences took its toll. While I had a terrific time and learned so much over the four conferences in October that I was attending (which were Clarity Conference and TPAC) and the two that I prerecorded talks for (A11yTOConf and Web Directions AAA), it was a lot. A lot that was too much in a short time.\r\n\r\nThen came the burnout. that same familiar feeling I have felt over a career that has spanned over twenty years and probably a dozen times that I have burnt myself out due to an incredibly large workload.\r\n\r\nNow usually when I can feel the burnout coming on, I take a break. Whether it is a weekend, which will cure the burnout sometimes, to a week off, I do it and it is done. Then I can come back and feel rested and ready to work again. But that was not the case this time.\r\n\r\nI didn't take any time off in the transition of jobs from Knowbility to WebstaurantStore, and that may have, well okay, it was a mistake. A week off would have been great. The complacency though is something I can't sit with.\r\n\r\n The start of the pandemic\r\n\r\nI started the pandemic, having spent the majority of my time getting immersed in the W3C, side projects, and trying to find a job in the accessibility space. It was a difficult time persoanlly with things going on behind the scenes, but needless to say, I was not in a good place when the pandemic started.\r\n\r\nTo stay out of my own head and out of my own way, I decided to take on a lot more than I usually would have. I literally kicked off a new brand with the whole lobster thing, I started doing anything anyoen had suggested.\r\n\r\nA podcast, a zine, all sorts of things to fill the time in and keep myself from sitting in my own head where that is a dangerous place for a guy like me.\r\n\r\n Lots of things\r\n\r\nAs I mentioned before, I had a lot of things that were revolving around in my head that I was putting to task. Putting myself to work an immersing myself into community, writing, speaking, and anything I could do to pass the time away I thought would be good for me. Little did I know.\r\n\r\nSo as the days have gone on, I have managed to _very slowly_ get things done and finalized. I've begin the process of cutting down on the groups and subgroups I belong to in the W3C, I haven't streamed in well over a year and maty or may not get back into that.\r\n\r\nI have cut the little side projects until I can get free enough to maybe do one every now and again such as the zines.\r\n\r\nTaking too much on is something I do constantly and I think developers and tech folks have done a lot as well. I see a growing wave of people that can keep their revolving projects under wraps and constrained to a few.\r\n\r\nI download all these apps to list project ideas and remiind me of them and I siimply am just horrible at using those apps, nevermind start them up to even use them.\r\n\r\nLots of things can keep me out of my head, which is a good thing. Lots of things can be a bad thing, it tires a person out real quick. I havn't yet concluded the moral of this story, but I sure am tired.\r\n\r\n Changes\r\n\r\nChanges have been a lot over the past two years. I was looking for work for most of the year even though I had been employed up until May at a job I had held for five years, I got a new job in April that I left in October and transferred over to another position that month (October), I had two surgeries in August, I moved from Maine to Arizona, and in this timeframe, I kept attending and speaking at conferences, and learning.\r\n\r\nIt has taken its toll though. Towards the end, after the surgeries and the time taken to recover from them, I have agained all the weight back I had lost and more. I have been working nonstop without a break. Working constantly whether it was for a company I work(ed) for, W3C work, learning, reading, writing, prepping for a conference talk.\r\n\r\nI threw all of myself into 2021 because I wanted to get myself out there and do conference talks, write articles, and I have done those things. If I could change one thing, I would take more time to do these things and I would have taken a little bit of time off here and there in between so as to not burn out.\r\n\r\n Present Day\r\n\r\nThings have died down a lot, thankfully. I feel like I have time to breathe. Work, WC meetings, and some writing take up my time but other than that I am taking time for myself to rest, relax, reenergize, and get back into shape. Selfcare is super important and paramount to me making it through to the final years that I have left in the web/tech industry.\r\n\r\nLooking down the road, I don't regreat the path I took, but I don't recommend it either. Take time for yourself so that you can be there for your family, your friends, and for others.",
  "title": "Fourth Quarter 2021"
}