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The Challenge of Occupational and Recreational Boundaries

Posted by John Saddington on Jul 1, 2009

boundaries

Although this could probably take this post into a pretty light-hearted spin, it’s actually a very serious issue I’ve been dealing with lately, and especially when it comes up in a “serious” conversation with my bride.

The challenge that I’ve had consistently in life is the balance or delineation rather of where my occupation bleeds into my recreation. In fact, they are so interwoven that it’s near-impossible to spot the difference.

A lot of my hobbies, interests, and personal passions swirl around the internet and online-related media. My occupation has always been there as well.

I’ll be browsing the web doing research (which is also very pleasurable) for work but which I also do for a hobby. I’ll be developing applications for business but also be spinning in regression testing on personal dev machines in parallel that might be, in fact, the same application base. I’ll be waiting to upload something to a server for work and while that’s spinning I’ll draft something quickly for a blog post.

It’s almost scary how natural this is for me.

My wife has noticed this as well, as I’ll switch from “business” to “personal” almost seamlessly and then back again without difficulty, without hesitation.

I think a challenge all of us face, especially those who’s lives are constantly becoming more “in tune” with the internet is to explicitly lay those boundaries out and, if needed, get help and “accountability” (whatever that means for you).

You guys feel me?

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John Saddington

John is the Chief Editor @ The 8BIT Network and Senior Blog Junkie here at ChurchCrunch.He enjoys Triple-Tall Americanos, developing Wordpress Themes, and a few other Random Things.

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17 Responses to “The Challenge of Occupational and Recreational Boundaries”

  1. Daniel_Berman
    Wednesday, July 1, 2009 at 2:10 pm

    Absolutely, one of my best friend calls me the "internet hound." I tend to chase down anything that looks interesting that I get a scent for, big time challenges with boundaries quite often. Its not easy, but the biggest things are to watch how long I spend on any one subject or page, and if they are real live people in the room always be willing to answer anything they ask instantly…..or almost

    Reply
  2. Josh Wagner
    Wednesday, July 1, 2009 at 2:26 pm

    Yeah, this one is tough for me. I can spend days on the computer and the internet searching for answers, coding something, playing a game, interacting on blogs. I've found that I need to begin to set boundaries for my usage. But it is hard, because work and recreation are in the same place…

    Reply
  3. Mike
    Wednesday, July 1, 2009 at 2:29 pm

    I feel you. I'm in the same boat. The way that i use the internet in ministry makes it tough to determine when I am using it for fun or as part of my paid responsibilities. The boundaries can be fuzzy and it's tough to be held accountable for something that isn't clear. Before I entered full-time ministry, my job was over when I came home. Now everything blends together. Checking email, blogging, researching a Bible passage, entering sermon ideas, all these can be considered either part of my job, or not part of my job.

    I do know that for my family there have to be times when I am unplugged completely. Whether I'm using the internet for fun or not, because they deserve my full attention. I'd love to see more comments about how others handle this.

    Reply
  4. dewde
    Wednesday, July 1, 2009 at 3:38 pm

    I love this post.

    This is really only a problem for those of us who have the benefit of having chosen the right occupation for ourselves.

    peace|dewde

    Reply
  5. gabehoffman
    Wednesday, July 1, 2009 at 5:14 pm

    Growing up as the son of a founding pastor of a church, I know this isn't a new issue or even about technology, I'm seeing this issue as both the kid that grew up in it and the father that is now living it. I totally am right with you. I think what got me through it and makes me think that this isn't an unhealthy thing (obviously there is a balance) is that my Dad was able to take me into his world and make me feel a part of it, or at least understand it, and I think if I can do that some with my kids and what I love to do, it will keep that connection and not make it seem like I am choosing one over the other. I think the last thing you want to do is make sound like you are having to choose. Yes family comes first and you gotta read your wife's queue's on if you are out of balance, but being able to bring them along with you on your journey's, I think (and we'll see) is an important thing.
    But I a agree with dewde, the intersection of passion and occupation is the recipe for incredible creative potential.

    Reply
    • human3rror
      Wednesday, July 1, 2009 at 5:58 pm

      Gabe,

      thanks for joining in! i know that you would know this personally… PK. word.

      thanks man!

      Reply
  6. fmckinnon
    Wednesday, July 1, 2009 at 5:35 pm

    OH YEAH, I feel ya big time. I live in that constantly. It's especially a problem if/when you are ever presented with the "how much time do you spend on our work versus your hobby/agenda" question … and you start thinking about how much of your true, authentic "work" easily bleeds over into, enhances, and even prospers something you may be doing on your own … and vice versa.

    Case in point – blogging.
    I've written FredMcKinnon.Com posts on what some would consider "church time". they are usually about worship. The results I get empower and educate me more as a worship leader, yet they also develop my personal blog and brand.

    I benefit personally from this, yet my church benefits from the wisdom and increased understanding I get from the community. Not to mention, my blog is typically the #1 referrer (outside of google or facebook) to our church's web presence.

    That's just one of many, many examples. I could go on all day. In my world, you have that discussion over and over, and depth and length with your potential employers, BEFORE you say 'yes' to a job. I certainly did, and I'm glad.

    Reply
    • human3rror
      Wednesday, July 1, 2009 at 5:55 pm

      Fred…
      LOVE this.

      the discussion part is HUGE. have to talk about it… over and over and over again.

      dude. thanks for that.

      Reply
      • fmckinnon
        Wednesday, July 1, 2009 at 6:00 pm

        my very great pleasure, my friend!

        Reply
  7. Jay
    Wednesday, July 1, 2009 at 6:45 pm

    This is a great post. It's easier for me being an IT Director to mingle personal and business together, largely for the same reasons John points out. If we're doing a Gotomeeting presentation and one guy is doing his thing, I'm usually off doing something else and then shutting down apps when it's my turn to share my screen.

    With my wife becoming more geeky than ever, she uses Twitter and Facebook quite a bit to communicate with friends so it's not uncommon for us both to be online at the same time.

    What we try to do though (especially since we have kids) is take out that time to spend with each other. Wednesday is family night. From the time dinner is over until the time the kids go to bed, we just hang together doing whatever.

    The good thing is, because I have access to it most of the day, it makes it easier to turn such things off after work if I need to.

    Reply
  8. Daniel
    Wednesday, July 1, 2009 at 8:51 pm

    I deal with this a lot, I get IMs from clients all the time whenever I'm just browsing the internet. I think this is probably the worst for freelancers, who spends ALL their time on their computers but only a percentage of it working.

    Reply
    • human3rror
      Wednesday, July 1, 2009 at 10:08 pm

      yes, freelancers… like you!

      Reply
  9. Jim
    Thursday, July 2, 2009 at 4:23 pm

    uh, were you listening in to the conversation Sharon and I just had? I'm on a working vacation for 3 weeks in Cali and we've worked hard to get the schedule straight so I can work in the mornings at a coffee shop and then head back to the house to spend afternoons with the fam. However, I am taking a week off, July 13-18 while we are in Huntington Beach.

    Reply