I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t leave my work mobile alone. It sat quietly charging in the corner of the study until late this afternoon when I happened to busy myself with sorting out the various contents of my backpack from camping.
Whileextricatingthe Garmin GPS from a side pocket of my backpack, the little mobile phone in the corner of the room vibrated. For a few moments I considered ignoring it. Curiosity got the better of me.
Of course now I know what is coming on Monday, and am naturally exploding the possibilities of a problem on a client site. Given the tiniest piece of information - that there is a problem - I’m imagining a disaster of Titanic proportions. I can’t help it - it’s the way I am - the way I work.
It’s the same reason while away with work in Jersey that I worked until 1am on a demonstration that would only be looked at for half an hour the following morning. Perhaps fear of failure, perhaps a ridiculous quest for recognition.
I can take some kind of mental defence from the fact that no other communication has been attempted with me beyond the meeting request. No late emails from perplexed or annoyed colleagues.
Arrgghh… I just did it AGAIN!
The phone buzzed alongside me on the desk, and I picked it up again - checked it again. This time a marketing email from a database vendor.
How do you do it? How do you switch off? How do you stop worrying?
Perhaps the fact that I worry means that I care, and that’s a good thing, isn’t it?