Mind DeClutter: The Snipe Winter Circuit

I have a confession to make: I was out of the office last week.

No, I wasn’t sick. I was sailing.

Yes, I worked a few hours each evening. But that was really just to keep up with email, answer urgent questions, and put in enough time to (hopefully) allow me to go sailing again in a few months.

And it was fun.

 There are definitely a few things that fell behind in my absence. Longer term projects simmering away need more brain power than I had available after normal business hours. And that’s great, because it means I do make a difference when I’m around.

But feeling needed is not the best reason to get away. It’s not even the second best reason. The second best reason is that it makes me realize everything at work will keep revolving without me for a week, or even longer, thanks to the rest of the boats.com editorial team.

And the first best reason? I’ll let attorney Amy Benner, who was also on her first escape from a real job last week, cover that one:

“One might think that taking time out from working in order to get myself and my gear to Clearwater, then exerting the energy and suffering required by sailing six monster races in big breeze over three days, would have certainly worn me out for work. But now that I’ve returned to the office, I feel energized and my mind has been cleared of excess clutter.”

Read the rest of Amy’s report from the Snipe Midwinters

Just like Amy, I too came back to my desk energized and excited to be back at work.

Going away is hard to do, unless there’s a good reason: family reunion, bucket list destination. Fortunately, I have the Snipe. The Winter Circuit, strategically scheduled for mid-March, is the perfect late winter escape—from weather, work, and winter doldrums. And it’s a reunion of the Snipe family, a small but surprisingly close knit fraternity from around the world.

Oh—the results? Well, frankly, the two events didn’t go as well as we’d hoped. Thanks to the rust that had collected on our brains over the winter, and a few equipment issues, we could only scrape into the top ten on the last day of the second regatta.

But in the long term, that doesn’t even matter. The rust is gone, my mind is clear, and I’m ready for another solid push… if only to build up the hours I need to take off for the next event.

Photo courtesy John Payne Photography