Quiet Weekends

As I’m typing out this blog post (in Obsidian, if you want to know), I’m sitting quietly in my living room, listening to the occasional sounds of vehicles passing by, and sipping on my final mug of coffee for the day. It’s Saturday, and while that has meant a day off from work for years, and often a day to relax, I’ve increasingly turned it into a day where my only interaction with others is virtually, and even that is limited.

My current approach started a little over two years ago, when my career took a turn from being largely an individual contributor who spent most days developing code, to a position in which a large portion of my time involves communication of some form, whether that’s via Slack, email, or verbal communications (meetings and video calls). It’s something I’ve slowly adapted to, and have honestly come to enjoy, but it does require some re-calibration of my personal life.

The more of my time that I spend in communication with others for work, the more I find that spending the weekend engaged in much more limited conversation is required for me to feel rejuvenated, which should come as no surprise for those familiar with introverted personalities. It is not uncommon for me to effectively not talk verbally to anyone for nearly 48 hours straight, and only do some light texting with friends and family.

Weekends have also become a time when I try to capture any outstanding ideas related to work or my personal life that have been bouncing around my head, but I’ve neglected to write down, either in a note or in my task manager. It’s a time for an occasional game, or perhaps a creative endeavor. Last week, for instance, I spent part of a day reorganizing my website, which had no tangible benefits, but I found it cathartic. This afternoon I spent some time investigating possible new themes for my website, though I’m opting to stick with Coder for the time being.

I’m not sure that there is an ultimate point to this post. Instead, I think I just wanted to get some of my thoughts out, and in a manner that differs from the rest of my week. And after all, the point of of having a blog is to use it in any way I see fit, right? :-)