Yesterday my book got on a plane in Dubai. It’s headed to the US as I write this and, theoretically, on Thursday, I get to finally see it. In two weeks shy of one year, Vertical Ethiopia went soup to nuts. That is fast for the book world, right? And even faster considering this: my publisher is Ethiopian in a predominately Christian country where they take Saturday and Sunday off. My printer is Muslim in a country when they take Wednesday and Friday off. The result? A three-day workweek. Not bad for cranking off the book.

I think I am pushing the 7-day workweek and making each day too long. We all do it—everyone around me talks about overworking. The irony around here—in Boulder, where I live, is that we all say we have chosen our jobs with lifestyle in mind. But then that same mania of humanity comes into play. You keep driving if it is in your personality to do drive at all. My friend Elizabeth sat me down last summer and told me we needed to have an intervention, as I was becoming a workaholic. I asked her if we could please have a conversation after I finished my article. We’re still waiting to chat.