Monday, January 18, 2010

Top 10 Reasons to Work on a Governmental Holiday

(Things I found out from working on MLK Day)


The past two years I’ve come in to work on MLK Day. It isn’t that I don’t respect Martin Luther King Jr., it just happens that his holiday tends to fall on my deadline for the Tech Times. Besides, I’d like to think MLK, a hard worker in his own right, would not begrudge me working to meet a deadline. In fact, though many have expressed their pity for me working alone in an empty office building while everyone else sleeps in, I’ve found several advantages to working on holidays.

1. You don’t have to wear nice clothes, fix your hair or wear make-up. Who’s going to see you? (I’m wearing a wind suit over my yoga clothes and a bandana.)

2. Because you don’t have to get dressed up, technically you can sleep in past your normal morning alarm. (I got up at 7:30 a.m. and spent around 10 min. on my appearance.)

3. The whole pot of coffee at the office is yours. (I’m brewing my own Kona coffee this morning, something I’d never be able to enjoy with everyone else here.)

4. Go ahead; sing along with your music! (I’m singing with the Glee soundtrack in honor of their Golden Globe win.)

5. It’s gloriously quiet! Sometimes, even with my office door closed and my headphones on, the noise of the office can be distracting. Not on holidays!

6. No incoming e-mails! (if you don’t count out-of-office autoreplies) Everyone who would e-mail you is on holiday. This is an excellent opportunity to send them e-mails so you’ll be at the top of their list tomorrow. (whoever they are)

7. You won’t have that sinking feeling tomorrow when your coworkers realize that though they had a holiday, the same amount of weekly work must now be completed in four days. Is it really a holiday if you have to work late the rest of the week to make up for it?

8. Take lunch whenever you want. No one is here to create an office cover schedule and no one is calling anyway.

9. No meetings! You can focus on the tasks at hand without any interruptions, meetings or annoying conference calls.

10. The top reason to work on a governmental holiday is that you can take the time off later while all your coworkers are working! (and it doesn’t affect your vacation time) I’m taking off next Monday when my fiancé is in town.