It's Summer, So Why Am I SAD?

It feels like a year since my phone has rung. I’ve been sitting staring at it, waiting for something to happen. Anything. Even a wrong number would be welcomed. It’s the last day of August, and we are officially in the dog days of summer. I know that we all long for summer. Lust for it even. But summer makes me SAD.

For other people, the normal people, summer is a delight. They begin to look forward to the next one even as the sun is setting on the current one. It’s about heat and sun and vacations and relaxation. Let me just be clear…I love vacationing with my family and spending extra time with them. I like barbeques and beer. (Just for the record, I do NOT enjoy the beach or swimming in the ocean-but that’s a story for another day.)  I enjoy the nice weather and the long days, but when it comes to work, for me, summertime is a horror show.

Over the last few years, it’s become crystal clear to me (and anyone that works with me) that I’m pretty much an adrenaline junky. I love it when things are crazy busy. I love to have multiple balls in the air at one time. I thrive when things are happening. As long as it keeps going, I can keep going. I like my phone ringing, my email binging and my text messages pinging. The wilder it gets, the more I enjoy it. I really like visiting customers, I love writing proposals, and I look forward to making presentations. I even love the traveling for work. 

I love being busy at work.  Love it.

May is a crazy month in my industry. There are a number of big industry events, and customers are trying to clear things up before summer, so it’s a wild time. Trade shows and conferences and all manner of stimulating things to think about and do. June is really a month where customers are getting their last quotes and proposals before summer, and getting all questions answered, reports submitted, and plans made for the fall, so my phone is ringing like crazy.

Then July. All of a sudden, it’s like I’m the last person left on the earth. I feel like Will Smith in I Am Legend where he thinks he’s the last person on earth. I swear to God that I have gone for two days without receiving one email. It’s like even the spammers are on holidays too. I have been known to restart my phone just to make sure I’m connected the world. Occasionally around 3pm, I’ll send an email out to the universe just to see if I get something back. Crickets. I’m alone, and it drives me crazy.

Will and I are the same.  Except for the machine gun.  And other stuff.

When August hits, whoever isn’t on holidays goes on holidays, and I’m truly by myself. I start to get paranoid. And then anxious. By 2pm on a Tuesday I am in mid-anxiety attack when finally, and without warning, I get an email. Immediately the anxiety goes away, at least for a minute. No projects are getting done in the summer, no new business, and customers don’t want to have meetings. In fact, if I try to set up a meeting I’m met with silence on the other end of the phone that if voiced would certainly sound something like, “Are you freaking insane?  Why do we want to have a meeting in August?...Catch me in October.”  If it weren’t for the odd golf tournament, I probably wouldn’t see a customer between June and September

There’s this well-defined condition called Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). Essentially, it’s seasonal depression. Most people afflicted with SAD experience symptoms in the depths of winter (the winter blues), and it’s often associated with the amount of light that they get, so treatment often begins with light therapy. I clearly am not reacting the lack of light, so shining a light therapy lamp on me is not going to help the situation. When I checked the Mayo Clinic website, they confirm that Summer SAD is a real thing. I have all of the symptoms of Summer SAD, with a smattering of Winter SAD symptoms thrown in just for fun. My energy is drained, and if you ask my lovely wife, I’m moody.  I don't feel like doing things that I usually love to do (like writing this blog, for instance). Her suggested treatment?  A smack in the back of the head followed by a swift kick in the ass. The only summer SAD symptom I don’t have…weight loss. (For me, that would be the benefit of Summer SAD).  

The light is just not gonna help me.

I’m not sure I have a full-blown case of summer SAD, but I’m sure of one thing…My wojo (work-related mojo) has departed, as it does every summer. The only thing that will bring it back is a ringing phone, a binging in-box, and a bunch of pinging text messages. Let the autumn commence!