Working, but not working, on the weekends

It’s a Saturday, the end of (only) my third week of my first job out of college, and I’m at a lovely cafe poring over Medium articles, research papers, whitepapers, and my Airtable dashboards for Crypto Bacon Bits.
It’s work, but it’s not work.
I’ve always been a staunch believer of work-life balance, and I think I hold on to that principle quite tightly during the week. My weekday evenings are dedicated to something that nourishes my mental health — yoga classes, runs by the bay, dinners with friends, quiet downtime at home. The occasional work event pops up and I make concessions for that, of course, but otherwise the hamster wheel must stop spinning once the sun goes down.
However, the very nature of my job requires that I don’t stop interacting with the industry. I can’t afford to take a day off and shut myself off from blockchain happenings; I have to stay relevant in order to keep the site and its content relevant.
Which means I have to read.
I’ve also decided to position the content as opinion-led, and thus you can’t simply summarise what’s going on in the world of blockchain and cryptocurrency. The content needs to have an angle, an analysis, an opinion of some sort that invokes a discussion or provokes a thought in the reader. Unfortunately, I didn’t come into this job knowing a whole lot about the industry and its development so far, and was definitely not aware of all the issues present in the space. Yes, buzzwords like “security”, “decentralisation”, “privacy”, “value” and many others get thrown around a lot, but these properties in relation to the numerous industries and societies around the world are incredibly difficult to wrap your head around.
Which means I have to read some more.
I also didn’t come into this job with any experience on how to run a digital media company, and getting thrown straight into the deep end with this portfolio has been a challenge. I have had to learn how to create content and curate content calendars, how to draw in revenue, what KPIs are crucial, what aren’t. There’s so much I don’t know about running an editorial, let alone making it profitable. There’s even more I don’t know about managing multiple social media platforms and digital media production schedules. Yet these are absolutely crucial to my job.
Which means I have to read more than some more.
Thus, I find myself listening to the relevant industry and skill-set podcasts as I get ready to go out, trawling news feeds on my commute, reading technical how-to books and articles over the weekend, and basically consuming any and all information I can that might help me get a better grip of the tasks set in front of me.
At first I was resistant — why should I have to do all this work outside of work hours? But a conversation with a friend made me realise, this isn’t really work. At least not in the traditional sense. It’s working on myself, working on my skills, working on my personal development. Working to be better as a person so I can be better at my job.
It’s work, but it’s not work. And I think getting paid in personal growth is better than any salary I could ever ask for.
Side note: Writing this article has also been some sort of work. I write opinion pieces for the site on a daily (weekday) basis about blockchain technology and cryptocurrency developments, but I’ve since decided to write on the weekends for myself. A chance to develop my writing skills, but also a chance to document how I progress through my pursuit for growth as I enter this new phase of my life.
