The right kind of focus
Saturday, 3. March 2007, 17:32:57
A couple of weeks ago my department boss moved on to a new job. We were understaffed with three of us, but now we are down to two things are a nightmare. We are helped out two days a week by a consultant, but with so little time the amount he can do to help is very limited. So far a lot of the solutions that he has come up with is for me to work more hours.
I am now the only programmer in the company. So every little request seems to come through me & everyone seems to want me to work on everything at once. A common request is for some custom report or graph (we already produce a monthly document which is an inch thick full of reports, but these reports have a nasty habit of not saying what people want them to say). It always makes me cringe how people ask for a report by stating the conclusion they want it to show, but I have learnt not to waste my time trying to explain the correct use of statistics. A lot of the time people's instincts are correct but sometimes I get to enjoy handing over reports that massively conflict with someone's beliefs. It is a very rare occasion when I produce a report exactly as it is asked for.
It has been noted that my usual calm demeanour at work has been slipping on occasion. Soon after my boss had left we were having a problem with one of our systems that I just couldn't crack, even my old boss who wrote the system couldn't shed any light on the problem. Our consultant spent all morning looking at it & couldn't come up with anything either. Then at lunchtime he left saying he had to go meet another client & wished me luck. Great.
After working late I came home. I was feeling really angry & like the everyday for the past few days my head was buzzing with work. Instead of turning on my computer to read some news & blogs as I usually do I started a practise session instead. I practised various circus skills for a couple of hours. It was like the scene in Footloose where Kevin Bacon starts to dance in the abandoned factory. Ever since I started juggling there has been something about it that calms me down. I particularly remember doing a handstand & all the tension seemed to just pour out of me. Since then I have been juggling a lot, usually I'd spend an hour or two reading on the internet, now though the only reason my computer gets turned on is to set iTunes going. Since upping the amount of time I spend on my favourite hobby & cutting down the amount of time I spend staring at a flickering screen I have been feeling noticeably better in myself, more relaxed, fitter & more alert.
Right now I can't think why I slip out of the habit of practising.
I don't think it is just me either, everyone at TWJC seems to be doing more juggling. Previously there used to be a lot of standing about chatting, now though everyone is definitely using the hall time much more & saving the chatting for the pub afterwards. I remember a time when it would be approaching 9.30 when they chuck us out of the hall & I'd just want to go home or to the pub. This week when I was walking from the hall to the bar I remember thinking, "I wish I had another hour or so so I could work on that a bit more..."
I am now the only programmer in the company. So every little request seems to come through me & everyone seems to want me to work on everything at once. A common request is for some custom report or graph (we already produce a monthly document which is an inch thick full of reports, but these reports have a nasty habit of not saying what people want them to say). It always makes me cringe how people ask for a report by stating the conclusion they want it to show, but I have learnt not to waste my time trying to explain the correct use of statistics. A lot of the time people's instincts are correct but sometimes I get to enjoy handing over reports that massively conflict with someone's beliefs. It is a very rare occasion when I produce a report exactly as it is asked for.
It has been noted that my usual calm demeanour at work has been slipping on occasion. Soon after my boss had left we were having a problem with one of our systems that I just couldn't crack, even my old boss who wrote the system couldn't shed any light on the problem. Our consultant spent all morning looking at it & couldn't come up with anything either. Then at lunchtime he left saying he had to go meet another client & wished me luck. Great.
After working late I came home. I was feeling really angry & like the everyday for the past few days my head was buzzing with work. Instead of turning on my computer to read some news & blogs as I usually do I started a practise session instead. I practised various circus skills for a couple of hours. It was like the scene in Footloose where Kevin Bacon starts to dance in the abandoned factory. Ever since I started juggling there has been something about it that calms me down. I particularly remember doing a handstand & all the tension seemed to just pour out of me. Since then I have been juggling a lot, usually I'd spend an hour or two reading on the internet, now though the only reason my computer gets turned on is to set iTunes going. Since upping the amount of time I spend on my favourite hobby & cutting down the amount of time I spend staring at a flickering screen I have been feeling noticeably better in myself, more relaxed, fitter & more alert.
Right now I can't think why I slip out of the habit of practising.
I don't think it is just me either, everyone at TWJC seems to be doing more juggling. Previously there used to be a lot of standing about chatting, now though everyone is definitely using the hall time much more & saving the chatting for the pub afterwards. I remember a time when it would be approaching 9.30 when they chuck us out of the hall & I'd just want to go home or to the pub. This week when I was walking from the hall to the bar I remember thinking, "I wish I had another hour or so so I could work on that a bit more..."
WIDGETIZE
clean # 5. March 2007, 07:31