A recent article on Canada.com (Article) really got me thinking and helps reconfirm why we are building this amazing business on the side.  The article talks about how Canadians are being consumed with work because of how easy it is to stay connected via blackberries and other remote devices.  It talks about how the dream of free time is pretty much non-existent. 

Being in IT I can relate to this article 100%.  I am a Team Lead of the network infrastructure team where I work and in this position my blackberry is tied to my hip.  I need to make sure that if any alerts come in off hours that they are taken care of.  I also have at least one week a month where I am on call and have to do checks on backups to make sure they are actually working, make sure there are no other critical issues, etc…  So where do I get my free time?  Where can I actually unplug?  I can’t.  Even on holidays I get e-mails from my boss or others and I’m somewhat expected to answer them.  Are you kidding me?? 

I’ve done large projects that require many weekend hours and many evening hours and that is common place.  Not only in my industry but in many industries.  If you don’t believe me then you are either in a job that is in the government, or you have your head in the sand.  Our free time is slowly dwindling as our employers demand more and more of this time at the least amount they can pay us.  Its sad what our society has become.

This is part of the reason why my wife and I build this business.  I no longer want to be on call or be tied to my blackberry for work.  I mean honesty, who does?  I’m done with working these long hours and being somewhat expected to answer my blackberry on vacation.  We will work hard for something that actually matters and build this business as great examples to everyone.  The first step is getting my wife free and we are still on schedule for doing that late summer.  It’s her turn first to gain back the time that her job robs her of.  That is truly something that is awesome and worth working hard for.  We need to stop building someone else’s dream and build our OWN!