This 3-Day Workweek was Enough

There have been occasional articles in the news about switching from 5 day workweeks to 4. A few countries and companies are trying it. This week I had just a 3 day workweek... not because of any policy change but because Monday was a national holiday and Tuesday I used PTO. And after just 3 days of working this week I am spent.

The crux of the matter is that my 3 working days this week were packed. I had meetings starting as early as 7am and my calendar was booked nearly solid each day. I finished each day worn out, and after 3 days I'm glad it's the weekend already.

Part of the reason my calendar was booked nearly solid is that I created appointments for work that normally goes unscheduled. For example, when I knew a slide deck I'd need to present to a customer first thing Friday morning was in rough shape, I booked an hour late in the day Wednesday to work on it. My boss asked me to complete a course certification by the end of next month, so I've been booking hour-long blocks twice a week to work on that. Protecting time during the workday to do these important tasks is how I keep my workdays sane. Though it feels insane that I'm so worn out after just 3 days.

The Second Time's a Charm: Falls Creek Falls

North Cascades Travelog #12
Okanogan National Forest, WA - Mon, 4 Sep 2023, 9:45am.

This morning we got up early-ish— it's technically a weekday even though it's a holiday, so my standard alarm wakes me up at 6:45am— puttered around the hotel room for a bit, ate a light breakfast, pulled our packs together, and headed out for a morning hike. Our hike this morning is the Falls Creek Falls Trail. It's about 12 miles north of Winthrop in the Okanogan National Forest.



Curiously today marked the second time we've been at this trailhead. We were here yesterday, too! As I noted in my Day 2 wrap-up last night, when we got here late in the afternoon it was getting dark with clouds in the sky and had just started to sprinkle rain. Plus, we were really achy from other hikes earlier in the day. "It's only a half mile trail, maybe we should do it anyway," we told ourselves. We decided the poor conditions meant we should try again today. And since it's only about a 20 minute drive from town it's not like it's a lot of extra time spent getting there and back.

Though the trail does start out easy— in the photo above you can see it's paved and is marked as handicap accessible— I'm really glad we chose to bail out the first time and come back today. We're feeling so much more refreshed, and the weather is beautiful.



That paved trail in the first pic leads gently upwards through an old growth forest to Falls Creek Falls... or at least the first part(s) of Falls Creek Falls. Yes, the first part(s), because as beautiful as these falls are— and we spent a while drinking in their beauty— there's more to see further up the trail.

This spot is where the sidewalk ends, though. The trail turns to dirt and climbs steeply from here.



Zig-zagging up the switchbacks from the first falls took some huffing and puffing but it was a nice part of the hike. As we climbed out of the valley up the side of the hill we passed through a burn zone— as you can see in the photo above. A wildfire is burning right now in the high mountains to the west of here. This area burned maybe 3 years ago, I read. The charred hulks of the big trees remain, some of them barely clinging to a bit of life, while new undergrowth is already starting to thrive.

Stay tuned; there's more to come!