With less than a week left until the end of the month, I am trying to get the last of my bonus work completed, whilst also trying to stave off getting sick, like my wife and daughter are currently. They have both been home for the week so far and tomorrow looks the same, but hopefully at least Smallsteps can head to preschool on Thursday, as my wife has to work that day regardless. OF course, I am able to work from home, but I am trying to get into the office this week as it is easier to get things done there.
This quarter, I have been pretty "on the ball" in terms of my organization, which is largely due to it being necessary to survive the conditions. I am not the most organized animal normally, so it is a bit of a step outside of my comfort zone to spend so much effort on planning and coordination, though it is welcome. Back in the day, I was a "wing it" kind of person and whilst that worked for me then, I am less capable than I was and it is a less successful approach than I would like.
Having said that, I am still performing at a pretty high level and like my supervisor mentioned, most people wouldn't notice that much of a difference, at least in terms of my deliveries. In regard to running sessions, I am well above average, but I notice the shortcomings.
Where I really fall down though is in my ability to do the unfamiliar tasks in the job, the ones that I haven't much past experience with, so have very little habit built around it. This takes time and effort to establish routines for, but it takes a lot of practice to actually commit them into a semi-automatic process. Keeping my calendar and timetables in order helps with this, as it becomes a trigger point to pull my focus toward and fire an action. I don't know how many repetitions I require to forma habit now, but it is more than it was and, it also takes longer to break them, so getting them relatively right is important.
But, at least am seeing some payoffs in taking this journey, where at least I am ahead of schedule and have a little bit of padding, unlike past quarters. This means that even if I do get sick, I should still be able to hit the minimums required to get full bonus targets, and then chase the tails at the start of Q2.
However, ideally, I want to be able to hit the ground running for next quarter too, as I am hoping to take a bit of a longer summer break, so if I can get things completed earlier, all the better. I have so many additional hours to take, plus almost a full set of vacation days from last year, that were carried forward from the year before when I was away from work ill. Unless I make it happen, I won't have a chance to ever take them.
I am getting better at my job these days, which feels good, because it wasn't that long ago that I had the feeling that I might never have an opportunity to advance again, that I would stagnate. A lot of people are looking for ways to work less, but when that is a condition forced upon us, it isn't something most people will enjoy. It is one of those "don't know what you've got til it's gone" situations. Though most people see the "work less" dream combined with having enough to not have to work more - but the reality is, most of us in this world will not reach that level of comfort.
so if we are unlikely or perhaps for many, unable, to get to that point, might as well find ways to enjoy working and perhaps even, enjoy working more at something. Sure, it might not be for the love of it, but there can still be satisfaction and meaning found in doing what we don't love too. I'd rather struggle at a job, than struggle without one.
But that might just be me.
Taraz
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