In 1849 economics was described as “the dismal science”, but today we might describe security as a “dismal profession.”

I call it a dismal profession because it requires those who work in it to always be looking for what could go wrong and be hunting for the next problem. I believe it gives us a generally negative outlook on things, which flows into the other areas of our lives. It’s hardly the only dismal profession, but the cost we incur for working in the field is real.

Like all dismal professions, society depends on those who work in ours.

Why Work in a Dismal Profession?

Security is a critical component of the technology driven world we live in.

Adversaries are a constant threat that we face every day. Ransomware operators bring businesses to their knees and, when they target healthcare organizations, present an actual risk to human life. Nations have used cyber operations to disrupt critical infrastructure, steal intellectual property, and more.

We need skilled professionals to work in the field to protect how our civilizations function. Even though we will be affected by it; especially if we pour ourselves into it.

The question is, what can we do about it?

Make Time to Take Care of Yourself

Many of us (including me) have cratered ourselves because we never turn it off. We can't keep this up.

Schedule time to step away from a screen, get out of your chair, and go do something to refresh yourself. This may be difficult, because we’ve been encouraged to make our profession our hobby too. We may not know what would even be interesting to do away from the keyboard.

Experiment. Try things out. Be prepared to discard things that don’t work and try something else. Take vacations that are for fun.

If we do not make the time to take care of ourselves, then we end up paying too much of the cost of working our “dismal profession.”