System iNetwork

January 26, 2009

How much of your spare time do you spend on work-related activities?

I asked this question in System iNetwork's LinkedIn group and got some interesting and thoughtful responses. Here are some snippets from some of them. You can read them all, as well as post your own response, by joining our LinkedIn group. Access is completely free, but you do have to have a LinkedIn profile (which is also free).

"I do some limited professional activites in my spare time of which the majority would be trying to learn a new skill. I do this because this industry is constantly changing and if we do not embrace an attitude of continually trying to learn then our skillset will become outdated and we will become outdated."

"i spend most of my spare time sleeping ... or i would be very sleep deprived just like Scott Klement...no offense but i believe sleep is more important than burning the candle at both ends!"

"I started a cooking group in Orange County and now we seem to be talking about work and the economy and where to get the next consulting assignment."

"Spare time, what a concept! I think it could be put in terms of what one does outside of the work environment. I often (mornings, evenings, weekends) check clients' systems to make sure things are ok. I catch up on emails, newsletters, articles - so some time is spent on profession-related items. There is always more to learn and do."

"Well, since I am a Sysadmin I find myself doing Sysadmin stuff anytime something breaks which inconveniently doesn't seem to have any regard for my personal schedule (when is IBM going to add that function that you can tell the system the times that problems are not allowed)."

"I'm self-employed so most of my time (other than when sleeping) is spent in activities related to the 'job' - there's very little 'spare time' to spare!"

"For contractors to survive, any 'spare time' must be devoted to marketing and sales of their services."

Chime in with your own thoughts about this question, or post a new discussion question yourself. Here are some of the other discussion topics that have been posted in the group:

How do you prefer to read your business-related magazines: in print or online? What do you like about each medium?

Are i-blogs dead?

Is PHP the language of the future for the i?

To what lengths would you go to try to keep your job?

What webfacing solutions do you recommend for the i system?

--Linda Harty, executive editor & security/networking/connectivity editor

Posted by lharty at January 26, 2009 1:11 PM