After the first free weekend in, oh, six weeks
I feel nearly human again. Of course, the weekend has been somewhat stressful. After returning Friday late from a meeting with our esteemed customer I got a good night's sleep and then had to pack fast to start my trip to my parents. They will start their four-week-vacation in Africa this week. So this was my last chance to visit for quite a while. Alas, somewhere the autumn half-term has started, the highway was packed. Still, I arrived and spent my time well by talking with my parents and my brother and generally taking my mind as far away from any thoughts about projects as I could manage. Sunday afternoon I had to return.I'm missing a free day for myself, but this was still better than everything these last weeks. I even slept without dreaming about nightmarish coding problems.
On the other hand, my hard won morning rhythm (get up at 7am, having an hour for myself before I'm off to work) has vaporized. It will be hard to get it back, especially now when the mornings are grey and the sunrises late. Nonetheless, I will try to reestablish this pattern. I have more from one hour feeling rested than several hours in the evening after a day's work.