Trends pop up like wildflowers in the spring.  One of the latest to blossom during this downturn is camps, cafes, and parties at which unemployed people gather to sow seeds for the future.  Some of them even host a happy hour + cash bar!  (Hey, drinking is one activity that also booms during bust times…)

Churches, community centers, and even restaurants provide the space for folks to network and mingle.  And often, a speaker or career counselor offers advice and consolation.  The cost?  Usually free.  Nice! 

Good stuff, these gatherings.  After all, when you’re jobless and anxious, you need ideas and support.  And the most likely candidates for sincerely supplying those essentials are people stuck in the same swamp.  Compassion loves company. 

How much do people cling to their jobs (that they often say they don’t like)?  So much so that three out of four will go there when they feel sick.  Call me crazy; call me foolish:  But that’s just wrong.  Have we no respect for the health of our friends and colleagues? 

That finding pales in comparison to what execs believe:  Only 17% think their workers show up ill.  Gross. 

A guy could rant on and on about this dizzying info.  But for better or worse, I’m suddenly feeling too nauseous! 

75  Percent of professionals who say they very frequently or somewhat frequently go to work when they feel sick.

17  When executives were asked how often they think empoloyees come to work when they feel sick, percentage who said very frequently.   

Think everyone who’s anyone is blogging, tweeting, and FBing for the whole world to see?  Think again.  Fast Company follows their “100 Most Creative People in Business” list, and finds that only roughly a quarter embrace social networking stuff. 

Hey now! 

Privacy?  Unplugging?  Got better things to do?  How about:  All the above.  If you’re not yet obsessed with online “living,” you may be more creative than you think.  

“Staycations” are huge this year, and there’s nothing wrong with a little home cookin’.  But if you long to BreakAway, it need not bust your budget.  This pithy article suggests going by car, packing a cooler (yes!), trying off-season, and more ways to save bucks while seeing a slice of the world. 

Give it a read if you’re on the edge of sanity AND solvency.  There’s also 5 good websites to help plan your getaway. 

• RoadsideAmerica.com
• Hotels.com
• Homeaway.com
• Roadfood.com
• Priceline.com

This brilliant, short commentary by Jim Shea suggests that Unplugging (one of this blog’s favorite recommendations) is not alive and well.  Rather, work trends continue to move toward the 24/7 model, thanks to technology.  We now have a culture of “Crackberries”—worker bees who never let the work buzz stop. 

Hence, “weisure time.”  That’s when your work and leisure time merge into a sort of purgatory. Symptoms include…

• People with BlueTeeth.  
• Dinner dates who text while they talk to you.  
• Laptops on the beach. 

“They” say this is the future.  And it’s already here. 

Hey, if this is what it takes to succeed at your job, do what you gotta do.  But if you can possibly take temporary retirement—and I’m talking, like, going to a baseball game and spending an evening with your kids—then dare yourself to Unplug now and then.

You may work better.  And you’ll feel better too.  

Survey sez: 

77%.  When asked what they found difficult about taking time off from work for vacation, percentage of full-time employed adults who said it was their first day back after vacation. 

44%.  Percentage who found the last day in the office before vacation to be difficult.   Source:  Randstad-USA

The stats and stories about unused vacation time in the USA are sad and startling.  But these numbers provide a glimpse into the working lives of the poor stiffs who find taking time off to be “difficult.” 

Of course, that day before and after breaking away can be a challenge.  But don’t most worthwhile pursuits in life come with a cost?  Heck, even vedging in front of the TV requires some electronics, cable or satellite, cold beer and fresh chips! 

Since enjoying hard-earned vacation time can be so challenging, BreakAways make even more sense.  After all, the workday before and after escaping for a month or six probably isn’t any more “difficult” than when you take a week off. 

And for sure the payoff is much, much bigger!  

A recent survey published in TIME reveals that more than half of Americans are losing faith in the future of the American Dream.  No surprise there, and perhaps it’s even a contrarian indicator?  After all, people get overly giddy when times are good, and then go too gloomy when cyclical downturns happen—which can suggest a bottom. 

Percentage of people who believe the American Dream will be easier or harder to achieve in 10 years.

13% Easier

57% Harder

This time may be be different, though.  We’ve given ourselves far too much credit for far too long.  If the American dream is pay-as-you-go for a while, these numbers could be spot-on.  Oh well, the best things in life are still free. Right?  This site is all about taking TIME (not the magazine, duh)—not spending money on stuff! 

Isn’t the internet great?  Isn’t it cool having Blackberries and iPhones and being able to get any and/or all information anywhere and everywhere all the time? 

Maybe.  But at a cost.  Never mind the loss of free time and thought and spirit. 

$900 billion.  Annual cost to the U.S. economy – in lower productivity and throttled innovation  — in organizations of all shapes and sizes caused by information overload.

According to the research, the REAL cost is even more outrageous:  Nearly a trillion dollars! 

‘Nuff said. 

Where can you find pleasure

Search the world for treasure

Learn science technology

Where can you begin to make your dreams all come true

On the land or on the sea

Where can you learn to fly

Play in sports and skin dive

Study oceanography

Sign of for the big band

Or sit in the grandstand

When your team and others meet

–From “In the Navy” by the Village People

In this provocative NYT article, David Brooks dives deep into the notion that genes and IQs and things determine profound success, and convinincingly argues that nothing beats good, old-fashioned practice.  That’s not only how musicians get to Carnegie Hall, it’s also what made Mozart and Tiger Woods great. 

As Brooks states,

The mind is sloppy and will settle for good enough.  By practicing slowly, by breaking skills into tiny parts and repeating, the strenuous student forces the brain to internalize a better pattern of performance.” 

He recommends two “enjoyable” new books:  “The Talent Code” by Daniel Coyle, and “Talent Is Overrated” by Geoff Colvin. 

For any of us who feel in a slump, a little background reading on perseverance may in order.  After all, nobody golfs par or launches a new idea without hard work along the way.  At some point, it’s probably even pleasureable.  Bet the pay-off is! 

To stretch the idea a bit further, nobody gets a sabbatical without persistence and patience either.  Gosh, even a week vacation takes ample planning and some sacrifice.  So, if you want a BreakAway, start rehearsing now.  Try weekend escapes.  Serve up (media-free) Sunday Supper.  Sneak away and chill 20 minutes every afternoon. 

Practice may not make perfect.  But it may get you to your desired destination in life.