Presenteeism

Sometimes I come across new words that I like to skew the definition of, just so it applies to my life a little bit better.  Lately, the word has been "presenteeism."

The real definition of this word applies to the workforce.  It is pretty well the opposite of the word "absenteeism" - where a person does not come to work, due to things such as illness, family problems, etc.  "Presenteeism" is where a person does come to work, but accomplishes very little due to the same things (illness, family problems, etc) or due to lack of job satisfaction, stress, and so on.

And so you have it.  You learned a new word today.  But now for the Kristen life application definition.

For me, "presenteeism" is a lot like being headless.

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It's when only your body is present.  As for the whereabouts of your head, well, it could be almost anywhere else.  For example,

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You could be guilty of "presenteeism" during those precious moments you have together with your significant other.  Your bodies could be close enough to touch, but your heads could be off somewhere far away with your cell phones or whatever.

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You could be guilty of "presenteeism" while out your body enjoys a stroll outdoors or simple takes some time to be outside.  As for your head, it could be off running in circles fretting about what you need to do next, what you're going to cook for dinner, what needs to be cleaned, who you need to call, and so on.

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You could be guilty of "presenteeism" while your body is out catching up with friends.  Meanwhile, your head is busy thinking of that "special someone" you'd rather be hanging out with, or that game of Candy Crush you can't wait to play later.

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You could be guilty of "presenteeism" while your body is busy taking care of your own children.  Rather than joining in, your head is off quickly checking Instagram or Twitter or Facebook.

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You could be guilty of "presenteeism" while your body is soaking in a few solitary moments of relaxation.  Instead of relaxing and using those precious moments for self-reflection, meditation, study, or so on, your head is still busy going 100 mph, caught up in the race of the world.

And so there you have it.  Since starting to think this way I find myself questioning the where a bouts of my head a lot more often.  If it's not in the same place as my body, I like to reel it back in.  But it's a lot easier said than done.  However, I'm confident that if "presenteeism" is a bad thing in the workplace, it's a bad thing to suffer from in your personal life as well.