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Tuesday, October 17, 2006
Today was one of THOSE DAYS. Yesterday I had an 11-hour day at work, then did about two hours of work at home, trying to get ahead so that today I could feel caught up. This always seems to backfire, and today rather than being proactive, I am exhausted.
Amazingly, I was walking to lunch today thinking how I was lucky to have a break, and how nice it was outside. The leaves finally changed last week, and it's very pleasant and fall-like here. Not more than an hour later, I was feeling like I couldn't sit in a cubicle for another second.
How do you get through these moments?
I am going to do some mad self-promotion of this post, because I really want some comments! *crosses fingers*
TAGS: cubicle, job dissatisfaction,
Cartoon from The New Yorker.
4 Comments:
The way I get through a day I want to get through is to focus on doing only what I really, truly felt like doing within the context of work.
Sometimes, that may mean making a poor use of your time, but as long as you're still working, it may be worth it. The opportunity cost of staying in the office is higher than normal when it's nice out--you may as well have a better afternoon of work than normal.
This can backfire, of course--if you have a pile of nasty leftover work (or, worse, Important Nasty Leftover Work That Is Now Late) waiting for you tomorrow, you may want to be outside even more!
Plan for days like this, though--if there's a task or a project that is easy and fun but highly chunkable and not terribly urgent, save some up for those days you can't stand to be inside.
1:30 AM
Hmm... you'd like comments/advice on how to still be productive when you worked 13 hours the day before and it's beautiful outside and you really aren't into it? Hmm... tough question.
Here are a couple possibilities, but you'll have to pick the one that suits you best.
1) Don't work the 13 hours to begin with -- sometimes pacing yourself is important. A co-worker who used to work a lot of hours and I (who never has been a big overtime person) once came to the conclusion that there is something to the 40 hours amount of work. We noticed that when we had worked somewhere between 40 and 45 hours for the week, that our productivity dropped. So when we worked an extra 10 hours, we didn't get 1/4 again as much work done as a regular 40 hour work week. Okay, next idea.
2) If you worked that much, you deserve the afternoon off. Take it. or a variation on this....
2a) Set a goal that you can achieve by about the middle of the day and when you get to that goal, then take the rest of the afternoon off. (This variation is useful for those who need convincing that they deserve a break).
3) If you really feel you HAVE to stay and work, then plan frequent breaks. Plan to bust-your-butt for 30 minutes and then go for a ten-minute walk. This will help also if you are tired, to keep you alert and refreshed.
4) Are there any tasks you have that would get you outside? A walk to another building? Dropping something off at the post office? Do you need to go to the bank?
Okay, those are all my ideas.
Good luck!
9:52 AM
Thanks for linking to my blog. There are a couple things I have learned in my hop from job to job.
Too many people nowadays are working more and more hours per day, just don't do it. Unless there is something that is truly, truly, deserving of overtime, don't do it. I work 8 hours a day, and I'm out. I'm not sitting around to support any more computers, or users.
This may change, as I'm now an hourly worker (first time in about 2 or 3 years). I think employers take advantage of salaried workers, by making them work more than 40 hours per week.
11:36 AM
I like that cartoon. One needn't be an employee to understand the shift that has taken place in modern thinking as regards job satisfaction. The very paragon of management genius, Peter Drucker, won't need to be persuaded to rise from the grave and give his unreserved endorsement to the fact that modern employees are motivated by a lot more than money or perks. An inner voice tells me that high pay and lavish benefits are not the in-thing with most employees. Yesterday's in-thing became today's out-thing. Look at the rise of social entrepreneurs, for instance. In any case I am convinced that without a mission or cause that centers you, you will not survive long in today's unique work environment.
9:21 PM
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