You know you're ready for a break when...

Reflections on the Memorial Day holiday

Like most home-based business owners, yours truly enjoys work and feeling productive. Yet there are certain warning signs when working too much changes your personality a tad (okay, maybe more) and you must take a break. Hence the headline for this week’s My Home Office Hack:

I know I’m ready for a break when…

For me, it’s when I start correcting people for wishing me a happy Memorial Day.

What’s wrong with that?

For our non-US readers (and there are quite a few), the US recognizes the last Monday of May as a way to remember members of the military who perished in service of our country.

Now, people will celebrate this day in a number of different ways. Some will go to the cemetery to visit their loved ones. Some might participate in a Memorial Day ceremony in their hometown. Others may binge watch Band of Brothers, The Pacific and other series and films that pay homage to those who died in the service of our country.

For a lot of people, it’s a day off and will be treated as such. Weekend getaways and cookouts are two of the favorite activities. Certainly nothing wrong with that. These are the types of freedoms that those who fought in service of our country would want us to enjoy and, more importantly, appreciate and have gratitude.

Yet there’s something about wishing people a happy day on a day meant to recognize our fallen soldiers that just doesn’t sit right with me.

But that’s my issue.

So, when I actually start to correct people on it, I know it’s time for me to take a break and do some reflecting.

That’s what I’m doing today.

How about you?

What happens in your world that tells you it’s time to take a break? Please leave your comment below.

It’s 8am I must be lonely

Okay, that’s a really bad paraphrase of a great 1990s song, 3am.

Yet 8am also happens to be when we issue My Home Office Hacks every Monday. It’s also the name of a great newsletter, 8am, that comes out everyday at, you guessed it, 8am. Here’s a little more.

Join 8AM - the bite-sized newsletter for creators and entrepreneurs. You'll get one quick success story, growth hack, or healthy gem delivered each day. It takes just 20 seconds to read.

Have you tried this app: Merlin Bird ID app from Cornell Labs

Merlin enables you to record the ambient background wherever you are and detect bird calls and the, OMG, identify the birds.

Check out this article in My HOH from last year around this time.

Inspiring quote of the week

“You exist only in what you do.”--Federico Fellini