Why Can’t We Just Relax?
It’s 1:30 am, I’m supposed to be on “vacation,” but I think I just figured out a problem for a website I’m working on, so my brain is in overdrive and I can’t sleep. Might as well write my blog post for work! This follows a weekend of checking emails and discussions with a web programmer for an upcoming deadline. And this is vacation! But I love it all.
It’s taken me awhile, but I have finally figured out my problem. I have a hard timing RELAXING. There, I said it. Where, oh where did this come from? I guess from my (OCD) perfectionist syndrome. If I am relaxing, I’m thinking about what I have to do when I get done relaxing! One Sunday recently, I was invited to an impromptu pool party to be held later in the evening. I actually felt my blood pressure rising thinking about all I wouldn’t be able to get done because I had to go to this pool party. Someone asked, “Why wouldn’t you able to come?” I actually said, “I have to finish cleaning up the house and do the laundry before I go back to work tomorrow.” Am I crazy? It’s a pool party, summer will be over in a couple of weeks, and I’m worried about the laundry?
I recently read an article in Women’s Health about taking back your weekend. It mentioned that when we are always “on,” we never have that time to recover and renew ourselves. “Most people aren’t prepared to function with free time,” says Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Ph.D., codirector of the Quality of Life Research Center in California. “We end up being overwhelmed with a sense that we need to fill each minute with quality stuff. We often end up wasting our days by not doing anything interesting, rather than planning things that produce happiness.” I know I am guilty of cramming in all the extra chores in on the weekend, or making up some time for work. This article mentioned to choose three things you want to accomplish in a weekend, and spend the rest of the time doing anything you wanted to that came up. What’s this? No long list of must-dos? Okay. Deep breaths. I can do this. So I chose: 1) clean the bathrooms 2) do the laundry and 3) exercise. It felt pretty good actually. When I finished my list, I was surprisingly relaxed. I felt like I could spend some time with my kids, squeeze some work in, go to a spontaneous late-night movie, and flip through a magazine, all without feeling guilty. My list had been checked off, and it didn’t contain twenty things to stress over.
Why do we expect so much of ourselves ALL the time? Sometimes we just need to do nothing—turn that phone off, take that walk with the kids (before the bathroom gets clean), and remember to RELAX. We only get one life to live. Will we remember a whirlwind of cleaning and deadlines, or will we remember catching the lightning bugs at dusk, or how nice our skin feels after a late-night swim? It’s so important to enjoy our life and not let it be consumed by all we have to accomplish. We need that pause to fuel our creativity. It balances us out and gives us the boost to give the big projects our all when it is most important. I recently took a spontaneous trip to Ikea (a designer’s dream) by myself for the day to get away from things. I did take a couple of work calls, but I was surrounded by bright colors and cool things that just might become the inspiration on an upcoming brochure or web design. Relaxation with a purpose! (Here I go multitasking again!)
As for taking that much-needed vacation and that break away from everything, one recent study found that after three days of vacation, subjects’ physical complaints, their quality of sleep and mood had improved as compared to before vacation. These gains were still present several weeks later, especially in those who had more relaxation and overall satisfaction during their time off.
There was a time without laptops and mobile internet that we could better distinguish between our work and home lives. Today, our work and personal lives likely intersect. We’re always connected and have emails in our pocket that we feel we must instantly respond to. Is it that important that we always answer requests so quickly? We’re not all doctors on call waiting to deliver a baby. I’m sure we would be a little less scattered and probably a great deal more productive in the long run if we set aside time for play and time for work without having them overlapping so much.
I’m so blessed to work at a company that believes in the balance of work and life. We work hard and do everything we can to meet the needs of our clients. But kids will have doctor appointments we’ll have to go to. Friends will visit with whom we need to spend time. And floating down the river may make that problem seem a little less stressful. Our LIFE makes us the people with whom other people want to WORK. When we take time to unplug (and turn off our phones packed with email, texts, and the internet), we get our batteries recharged, which of course lowers stress levels and keeps us all healthier. And at work.
My new goal is to simplify, relax, and enjoy life more. I’m sure the laundry (and emails) will still be waiting when I get done.
Amanda King is the senior designer at M Creative and a mother of two.
… fill in the blank. For my parents, it was 4¢; for me, the stamps on my wedding invitations were 22¢; and my daughters have never known when it was less than 30¢. Recently, the post office requested a first-rate price increase to 46¢ starting January 2011. Although nonprofit rates are not expected to change as much as first class and standard, it’s probably a good time to remind ourselves of the things we can do when producing a direct mail piece that will give us the best rates and avoid costly errors.
The post office likes things neat, tidy, and machinable, so keeping your mailpieces standard will net you the best rates. Here are some things to keep in mind:
Aspect ratio—is defined as the dimension of a mailpiece expressed as a ratio of height to length. If the length of a mail piece divided by its height is less than 1.3 or more than 2.5, the piece is nonstandard and will cost you more to mail. For example, a 6” x 4” card is ok (6 divided by 4 is 1.5), but a 5” x 4” card is not (5 divided by 4 is 1.25). So break out your ruler the next time you’re mailing out a Save the Date postcard — the postage could be as high as 47.7¢ per piece on a nonprofit mailpiece if the aspect ratio is incorrect.
Machinable letters—are between 5 and 11-1/2 inches long, 3-1/2 and 6-1/8 inches high, and .007 and 1/4 inch thick. Nonprofit rates for letter-sized mail currently range from 13.2¢ to 16.9¢ based on the weight of the mailer and how tight the mailing list presorts. This rate is considerably lower than the rate for a flat (below), so when you’re designing your Annual Fund direct mail piece, explore making it a little smaller. You could save big.
Flats—are defined as a mailpiece that is between 6 and 15 inches in length, 6 and 12 inches in height, and no more than 3/4 inches in thickness. Nonprofit rates for a flat currently range from 20.5¢ to 23¢ based on the weight of the mailer and how tight the mailing list presorts. Flat size pieces must be prepared so that when the bound edge is on the right, the address is in the top half of the piece. If you’re mailing a 9 x 12 envelope, all four sides are sealed and therefore considered to be bound edges, so the address can be located in any of the four quadrants, but not in the center of the envelope. If it’s in the center, the post office will call you to come pick up the mailing and correct it, or it will charge you a higher rate—two scenarios you want to avoid.
Even though postage will most likely continue to increase over time, that’s no reason to forgo direct mail altogether. According to Appleton Coated papers “Print With Purpose” report, a full 80% of people read or skim direct mail, and 70% have renewed a relationship with a company as a result of receiving direct mail. So don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater. Just mail smart!
Special thanks to PostMark for contributing to this post. For postage rates, postal guidelines and other helpful information, visit Postmark.ws.
Lisa Kirkman is M Creative’s production manager and an expert in all things paper.
