You Know You Are Tired When....
You absentmindedly click on a blog name in Bloglines, start to read the unread posts and GET HALFWAY THROUGH before you realize that you're reading your own blog. I actually had the thought "Wow! That's so cool. That knitter is having cold office issues and wants to knit a couple of light weight cardigans just like I do."
New Job Comments
I mostly still like my new job. Some days it drives me crazy. At least one co-worker seems to wait until the last minute to get things done, then to frantically try to get things finished and off to the clients. It does not appear possible to get incremental tasks done in advance with this person. It's not apparently a priority until the deadline is nearly unmeetable and then it becomes a critical urgency. Another person has been taking at least one day off a week for the past several weeks while complaining that there isn't enough time to finish several large projects that will be due to clients in the next few months. Maybe I'm missing something but perhaps taking time off with big deadlines isn't the best decision there.
The last minute frantic thing is what's really driving me nuts. Nothing is a priority until it's very nearly (and sometimes is actually past) deadline time. I used to do that, mostly as a function of not being able to do it perfectly from the start so I couldn't actually get started. I now know that starting at all is the biggest hump and that getting it perfect (or at least close to perfect) happens along the way. As a result I much prefer to start things in advance so that there is sufficient time for revisions or changes or unexpected setbacks to be managed without missing the deadline. I think that most of the time this approach also results in a higher quality end product, rather than something more hastily pulled together.
Last week a proposal which was due today wasn't a priority for my co-researchers. They each took Friday off, despite having said they'd be working on the proposal. They apparently didn't work on it at all. Until 9pm last night when a flurry of revisions started. I guess I'm a slacker, but I don't work at 9pm on Sunday nights. I typically don't work on Sunday nights at all. That's a night that I typically don't even spend much time online. I usually watch a DVD or read a book or talk to friends on the phone while getting ready to take on the next work week. It's my one night of the week where I absolutely take time for myself and do NOT do work. I commented today to a coworker that I don't work on Sundays and that if they need me to do work, it would be best to call me rather than to send e-mail to my work account. The solution I received back? To sign up for an MSN account so they can contact me faster/sooner/easier about work. *sigh* The solution to this problem is NOT to give me account #8 to check every hour every day to make sure I'm not missing things. If I'm away from the computer, it doesn't matter which account I'm not checking and not receiving messages from. (And actually I had been on my work e-mail for most of Sunday working on an unrelated project on my own time!)
I'm trying to come up with constructive ways of demonstrating that a) they might get a better result by planning things out better and working more consistently and b) that I'm not going to do the last minute panicky thing and make it all come out ok. Yes, I can save their butts, but I'm not going to set a precedent for always saving butts at the last minute. I'd much rather start the work earlier and do it better over more time than to panic our way through it at the last minute. There's no reason for that. For goodness sake, we're working at a prestigious institution. It didn't get to be prestigious by doing last minute panic jobs.
I look forward to when I have my own projects and can sort out the project management hiccups for myself. In the meantime, I have to be more mindful of my attitude. It's been rather frustrated and unhappy lately. Time to reinforce the concept that nobody can make me grumpy without my permission.
Working Out
I still haven't got a good morning routine established. I have been getting to work at 0700, but it seems that I'm expected to respond to e-mail as early at 0600 (what I've learned is that if I don't check mail that early in the morning that any opportunity to reply is lost as whatever action was being proposed or asked about is already done by the time I actually get to work because apparently I'm too late/slow). Getting up at 4:30am is fine for getting to work at 6:30 if I don't workout. I'm not sure I can workout and get to work at 7am if I only get up at 4:30. Working out after work usually means the fitness room is busy and also that I'm tired/hungry and less likely to work out at all. I'm not really keen on getting up earlier than 0430. I also need to go visit the gym down the road and see if I want to join or not. I think I do, but I still haven't checked it out.
Last But Not Least
Boy turned 50 this past week. Happy Birthday!!!
New Job Comments
I mostly still like my new job. Some days it drives me crazy. At least one co-worker seems to wait until the last minute to get things done, then to frantically try to get things finished and off to the clients. It does not appear possible to get incremental tasks done in advance with this person. It's not apparently a priority until the deadline is nearly unmeetable and then it becomes a critical urgency. Another person has been taking at least one day off a week for the past several weeks while complaining that there isn't enough time to finish several large projects that will be due to clients in the next few months. Maybe I'm missing something but perhaps taking time off with big deadlines isn't the best decision there.
The last minute frantic thing is what's really driving me nuts. Nothing is a priority until it's very nearly (and sometimes is actually past) deadline time. I used to do that, mostly as a function of not being able to do it perfectly from the start so I couldn't actually get started. I now know that starting at all is the biggest hump and that getting it perfect (or at least close to perfect) happens along the way. As a result I much prefer to start things in advance so that there is sufficient time for revisions or changes or unexpected setbacks to be managed without missing the deadline. I think that most of the time this approach also results in a higher quality end product, rather than something more hastily pulled together.
Last week a proposal which was due today wasn't a priority for my co-researchers. They each took Friday off, despite having said they'd be working on the proposal. They apparently didn't work on it at all. Until 9pm last night when a flurry of revisions started. I guess I'm a slacker, but I don't work at 9pm on Sunday nights. I typically don't work on Sunday nights at all. That's a night that I typically don't even spend much time online. I usually watch a DVD or read a book or talk to friends on the phone while getting ready to take on the next work week. It's my one night of the week where I absolutely take time for myself and do NOT do work. I commented today to a coworker that I don't work on Sundays and that if they need me to do work, it would be best to call me rather than to send e-mail to my work account. The solution I received back? To sign up for an MSN account so they can contact me faster/sooner/easier about work. *sigh* The solution to this problem is NOT to give me account #8 to check every hour every day to make sure I'm not missing things. If I'm away from the computer, it doesn't matter which account I'm not checking and not receiving messages from. (And actually I had been on my work e-mail for most of Sunday working on an unrelated project on my own time!)
I'm trying to come up with constructive ways of demonstrating that a) they might get a better result by planning things out better and working more consistently and b) that I'm not going to do the last minute panicky thing and make it all come out ok. Yes, I can save their butts, but I'm not going to set a precedent for always saving butts at the last minute. I'd much rather start the work earlier and do it better over more time than to panic our way through it at the last minute. There's no reason for that. For goodness sake, we're working at a prestigious institution. It didn't get to be prestigious by doing last minute panic jobs.
I look forward to when I have my own projects and can sort out the project management hiccups for myself. In the meantime, I have to be more mindful of my attitude. It's been rather frustrated and unhappy lately. Time to reinforce the concept that nobody can make me grumpy without my permission.
Working Out
I still haven't got a good morning routine established. I have been getting to work at 0700, but it seems that I'm expected to respond to e-mail as early at 0600 (what I've learned is that if I don't check mail that early in the morning that any opportunity to reply is lost as whatever action was being proposed or asked about is already done by the time I actually get to work because apparently I'm too late/slow). Getting up at 4:30am is fine for getting to work at 6:30 if I don't workout. I'm not sure I can workout and get to work at 7am if I only get up at 4:30. Working out after work usually means the fitness room is busy and also that I'm tired/hungry and less likely to work out at all. I'm not really keen on getting up earlier than 0430. I also need to go visit the gym down the road and see if I want to join or not. I think I do, but I still haven't checked it out.
Last But Not Least
Boy turned 50 this past week. Happy Birthday!!!
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