Friday, March 12, 2021

A Regular Job

As I have working through the fact that my calendar has somewhat cleared out and my incoming e-mail has changed to a dull roar, I have been combating the fact that I do not feel that I am actually contributing enough to my job to continue to justify it.

I mentioned this to a friend, that with a change in priorities my meetings are now about 25% of my work time and that I have no meetings before 0900 and after 1600.  

In other words, my friend said, you have a normal work schedule now with a normal level of activity.

I scoffed at first:  Normal hours?  That was ridiculous.  If one was working, one had to be working at least 40 hours a week if not more.  And a constant stream of e-mails and tasks were evidence that one was busy.

But I thought about it a bit more.  This very week, due to my early meeting being ended, I had suddenly made the decision that I would start trying to write another book.  And that I was actually taking a break and lunch and setting aside a formal study time for language.  And I have changed my blogging times to the evening, instead of trying to rush through things in the morning.

In other words, I am actually starting to try and live a normal life.

I have been grappling with this thought, as hard as it is to imagine.  I am beginning to wonder to what extent the last 4 years (prior to my transfer) have impacted me, and in not good ways.  I have a number of lingering impacts - less ability to sleep, more tired, less able to focus, even less able to remember - that I am now wondering how much of that was due to my previous position.

It strikes me as odd that I have to relearn the ability to work which most people take for granted.



6 comments:

  1. I used to be a hard charger. I'd push to be the best, the goto guy. I've had a couple work groups where that was discouraged. It gave me a perspective I hadn't had before.

    My work - life balance is a lot better now. I still charge hard, but I learned that the corp is a multinational investment vehicle now, not the "family" I started with.

    My "absolute" value to them can be measured by the hole I leave in the tub water when I step out.

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    1. STxAR - The "hole in the water" lesson is amazing one when you grasp it, right? We always think that we are irreplaceable early in our career, only to find out that we are not.

      The more you come to understand you are skill set that fills a need, the more you are able to moderate your work.

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    2. Well, the old math brain shorted out. |Absolute Value| Doh!

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    3. Heh Heh. I have always been an absolute value for a negative number.

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  2. I once had a boss that I went and asked for more work to do when I wasn't "busy". He told me that I wasn't being paid for 40 hours a week. I was being paid to complete the project he asked me to do whether it took 20 or 80. He told me to go home and enjoy the afternoon off. I never forgot those words and I pretty much approached every job thereafter with that in mind. I enjoyed those periods of time when I wasn't very busy.

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    1. Ed, one of the best bosses I ever had - at the beginning of my career in my current field - told us that he did not care if we only worked six hours a day, only that the work was done and his boss' boss did not show up asking questions. It changed how I viewed work.

      Sadly, most jobs say they pay for results, but practically also pay for hours in your desk chair.

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