Warning: this is a long and rambling post about a day in my life at work. I just figured I should get the benchmark out there, so you get future references to my job. My promise to you: it will be long, it will be boring, and you won’t learn a single new thing…. hey, that’s funny, that pretty much sums it up for my work days!
My morning routine is where I spend my ME time. For my husband that’s late at night, for me that’s wicked early in the morning. Today, I woke up at 6am after having a very restful weekend. I watched a portion of the movie Gosford Park while I got ready and had breakfast, my husband getting ready in the background (quite unusual for him to be up this early… he kept interrupting my movie-watching!). I was out the door by 7:13am to waltz into my cubicle at 8:07 am.
I skimmed my email for anything important and any meetings set up at the last minute. After replying to a lucky few until 9am, I proceeded to zone out and read a few chapters of my latest Blog obsession: Ah Yes, Medical School.
Somewhere in there a friend at work stopped by my cubicle to tell me about his interviews (external and internal) for new jobs. I reciprocated by telling him about my plan for my own offers: I’ll be meeting The Hospital team tomorrow, and I’ll just tell them that I cannot accept the offer as is. If they would like to work with me on the offer, I’m all ears. If not, I wish them luck and I’ll walk away.
As I wrote this entry, I was also listening into my 9:30 meeting. Have I made it clear yet that 100% of my meetings are over the phone? You should have seen me hunched over my keyboard with my elbows resting on the desk, typing away on my smartphone, while a screen-share was being displayed on one of my two side-by-side flat-screen monitors. Every so often I looked up to catch up. I’d only really be in trouble if they had a question for me, which would be unlikely since it was one of those many meetings where experts talked back and forth and I had absolutely no input whatsoever.
Side note: I got a meeting Decline from someone who decided to not even write a reason for the decline on the reply, and who wouldn’t even bother to propose a new time. I guess it could have been worse… I’ve had people who have responded Tentative to meetings where there are only 2 invitees: them and me. Seriously?!
10am hunger is striking… I’m gonna go grab one of my yogurt cups from the fridge.
– Back to the call –
The 9:30 meeting has ran over by 35min so far. People are very passionate on the call: they are all talking over each other and getting very emotional. At the same time I got an email from someone about a system I haven’t supported in 2 years. Man, what will they do when I leave?
– Call over –
This call went on for 1.5 hours (over by 1 hour). Now I go to my next meeting. When will I get to do some work?
Side note: Mmm I think I’ve gained some weight… My pants are wrapping around my thigh like a strapped pot roast. Maybe I should bring a yoga mat to keep at work so I can do curl ups in my down time. That reminds me, they have a new room in the office where they put weight lifting equipment (there isn’t enough money or justification to have a fully equipped gym on site). Maybe I should check it out at some point today.
– Stretched for 4 min before my 11am meeting –
Wow, 11 am. The morning is almost gone, and I haven’t really done anything of substance today.
It actually makes me quite sad that this job has sucked my ambition totally dry. I guess when you have no real incentive to do an awesome job, and it’s even hard to define what “pushing the envelope” and “going the extra mile” really looks like, you just have nowhere else to go but striving for not getting a bad review. Adequacy is the goal. Sad, isn’t it?
– Noon –
I did it! After my 11am meeting I set out to reply/delete/archive every email since last week. Task has been accomplished! Now it’s noon and I’m gonna go get some goodness for my tummy. I was really bad this weekend (ice cream, peanut butter shake, pop corn for dinner), I mean, my diet is out of control! Time to capitalize on my Sunday workout and get something healthy.
Oh, I also wrote an email to HR at The Corporation for a status update (haven’t heard back in 2 weeks).
– Lunch has been had –
I called up a friend for lunch, but she was unavailable. She left my current employer last year and now has a well paid job at a consulting firm just a few blocks away from my office. I can’t tell whether she’s happy there or not, but I think we both agreed she would still be miserable in her old job. Anyways, lunch was a solo affair.
I went over to California Pizza Kitchen and had a cup of the Asparagus soup and something from their Small Cravings menu, while entertaining myself by reading the Med School Blog. I’ve had lunch by myself so many times that I don’t even think about it anymore… Should I be embarrassed? I am not, so I hope that’s alright with the universe.
As I was walking back in trendy Back Bay, I felt like the saddest young professional woman in the world: I look terrible! I don’t work with anyone in the office, which means I don’t really think twice about my wardrobe, make-up or hair. I was walking down the street with my hair all in a messy and low-hanging pony tail, my slight make up has faded 100%, and my jacket doesn’t match my outfit. All of that combined with my youthful looks, I look like a high school sophomore skipping school in the middle of the day.
I can’t wait to have a job in which I will care about what I wear every day. Looking good just makes you feel good, doesn’t it? Deep sigh.
Ok, back to work. I got meetings from 1:30 to 5PM today. I hope someone cancels one of them.
– Back at the desk –
I got to my desk at 1:10. Reviewed the 10 emails I got since I left for lunch, and just sat here quietly until my 1:30 call. I can’t get much work done in 20 min anyway.
Every so often the printer, which I sit immediately behind, starts humming. It’s always followed immediately by rushing footsteps from across the room. This guy uses the printer CONSTANTLY for personal stuff. I noticed it one time when our print outs got mixed with each other, but it would have been a really easy conclusion to reach even if I hadn’t seen that: after all, he works remotely too! There is no need whatsoever for people like us to be printing work-related materials on a daily basis! Frankly, I care more about the disruption caused by his walking by my desk every hour, than the actual waste of paper resources. Sometimes I’m in a meeting where I do get to speak, and all I hear is the unending rumble of 27-page documents printing behind me.
I’m starting to realize that every single one of my meetings today is one of those “just listen and hear for your name” calls, and I really have to get a newsletter drafted for the Gay Lesbian Transgender Bisexual group (aka LGBT, of which I am an ally and strong supporter). I really gotta find the time for that.
Mmmm… Note to self: when someone in a meeting asks you “How are you coming along?” and you haven’t started work on your action item yet, you should NOT respond with “I am not coming yet.” Laughs ensued, but I didn’t acknowledge the snickers and continued with my status update in a professional manner. Why do I have the feeling this has happened to me before today?… Gah!
– During 2pm call –
I spoke my bit, which was very insightful if I may add, and proceeded to remote-connect to my computer at home to clean up my home email (unsubscribe from offer emails, etc) pretty much out of boredom. Nothing was really pressing for me to clear out.
– 3pm –
I had the pleasure of calling a brave soul who has decided to join as a leadership member in the Latino affinity group, and welcome them to our chapter. Why are they brave? Because, as it turns out, my company doesn’t have enough Latino talent to fill a pea pod, let alone a structured extracurricular organization. Our members are true Bostonians: “Leave me alone and nobody gets hurt” types. I think that will be one of my great joys when I leave: not having to worry about burning myself out coming up with networking events and professional roundtables for that group of ingrates.
– Between meetings –
While trying to figure out what to do between meetings I did a few things: called my husband, rescheduled a meeting, tried to find that story that points out that the silhouette of the Mystery Man in Outlook 2010 is actually Bill Gates’s mug shot (and found it here), determined what’s for dinner tonight, figured out what to talk about in my 4pm meeting, got nervous about what to wear at my interview tomorrow, and just stared at my screen. I’m just not feeling it today. So why do today what can be put off till tomorrow?
I really wish that guy would stop printing shit out.
Is it 5pm yet?!
Alright, let’s check out the weights room.
– Back from weight-lifting –
The room is actually well equipped. I jumped rope for 1 min, did 50 curl-ups, did 10 of those where you hold yourself up and pull your legs up so you make a 90 degree angle between your legs and torso, then 20 weight lifts (5lb) toward the chest, and 20 away towards the back. Mmmm I don’t explain these very well… This is coming from someone who said “work those quads” pointing at someone’s arms 😛 Let’s just say we are all good at something, and this is not my “thing.”
I rocked my 4pm meeting. Say what you will about how boring my job is, but I’m good at what I do.
Now, onto another meeting (joining late because it conflicted with my other 4pm). This is another one of those where I don’t have to speak.
Side note: I remember wanting to be the first to participate in ANYTHING and EVERYTHING that came my way. What happened? Where did the eagerness go?
I didn’t get a chance to work on the LGBT newsletter. I’ll probably just connect from home and whip it together tonight after dinner.
– 4:22pm –
So close to quitting time!
– 4:35pm –
Sorry to be a downer, but these attempts at making these diversity groups important are totally useless. Unless the members are getting something personal out of these, and some may, this whole leadership and networking stuff is just not fulfilling as a leader. All you get is discouragement from members who just want to be left alone. It makes you just want to quit and get all those hours you spent on this stuff back.
Speaking of leadership, I just got an email from my boss to the team asking us to fill out a survey to provide him with actionable feedback. All I do is stupid tasks that contribute NOTHING to my productivity! As you can see from this whole day, I probably did an ounce of useful work. The rest of the time I was stuck in mindless and unimportant meetings where no action was required of me. There has GOT to be a better way to manage an employee’s time!!!
Sigh, look at these questions:
- My manager genuinely cares about me as a person (strongly agree, agree, disagree, strongly disagree)
- I can make a positive impact here
- I feel appreciated and valued
- I am happy to work here
I should just put “Agree” all the way down the line so as to not skew responses and not draw any attention to my submission (it’s anonymous, but still).
– 4:50 –
Sooooooo close!!!!
– OK! 4:56. Close enough! –
Now I’ll go home (train at 5:15, home by 6), change, watch TV until hubby gets home, make dinner, eat, clean up and get crackin’ on the newsletter while hubby watches Holmes on Homes. Bed by 9:30, and start all over again.**
How was that for a sad sad benchmark of the status quo?
abi
** PS: The train was late, made it home by 6:15pm. Made dinner, cleaned up, did newsletter, bed by 10:30pm.