Everybody's Working on the Weekend

Firstly let me apologize for not being a good steward of my blogging.  Having had a rather "busy" summer, then the start of the school year, plus graduating Georgetown College (with my MA in Education with endorsement in Instructional Computer Technology), receiving the Deans Honor Award, planning a trip to Savannah, St. Petersburg (FL), South Africa (again), and Germany (with 30+ students).  Shew.  So here I am - just working on the weekend right?

I've been reflecting on the tune (by Loverboy in 1981) and its lyrics a bit this weekend, as, in reality, we are all so connected to everything these days, there aren't such things as weekends anymore.  Many of us tend to always have work that needs to be done on the weekend, but I'm talking about those of you who don't necessarily have to work on Saturday and Sunday.  With iPhones, BlackBerries, iPad, laptops, digital/satellite TV, and more, we are still constantly receiving and processing information, thus not actually giving us a relaxing break. 

I cannot help but think about what a weekend should be (to the normal human).  On average, people work 40 hours a week, then have two days off.  Those two days should be left for family time, time to work around the house, time for religion, time for yourself, etc.  With all of our buzzing and glowing devices, tweets and posts, calls and text messages, we truly aren't taking weekends "off" these days.  Those of us in the education world know this well. 

After teaching 5 classes a day, the last thing I want to do is continue working; therefore I sometimes save my extra work (grading, planning, etc.) for the weekend (not counting my extra duties).  Because of the current state of technology, I can work more efficiently from home (on grading, planning, etc.) than I can from my school.  I am just as connected (if not more), and can be a bit more relaxed in my own comfort zone.  I really don't mind this.

Technology, as great as it is, has a hold on weekends.  I'm not saying it's a bad thing, but I encourage everyone to take a techno break (at least for a few hours) on a weekend (whenever that may be).  Take a break from the tweeting, texting, facebooking, etc.  Technology has it's place, but we cannot forget basic peace and quiet in our lives too.  I look forward to taking my own advice (maybe) and turning off the phone, the iPad and the MacBook, and just having a bit of peace and quite.