Between Meetings

There is time for combustion

What happens at work

In general, two things, right?

Meetings and not meetings.

In the meetings we are supposed to listen or show off or show off how fine we are at listening. 

In not meetings we are to prepare the things we are to show off in meetings and/or listen to when others praise or (it happens!) destroy. It is a way we have been trained to use time from our first days of school. At that time it was thought of as classwork or, if our teachers were merciful or without a lesson plan, the ability to do homework in class vs at home. In the model of school - meetings are like tests or presentations, assemblies or performances, and the in-between is when we are to be ‘good’ and ‘get ready’ for said public reward or failure opportunities.

In school, everyone has the same job - that of being a student. That changes in the working world; we each have our own job at work. We might share a title with a colleague or several, work in a team or a pool, but each person or group of people contributes in an individual way or at a specific point in a project. Additionally, each one comes into the role or roles chosen from a specific vetting process that is their own. In school, we all show up and go. And yet, the test/classwork binary continues, energetically at least. The thing is that way of working doesn't work.

All this comes from my aversion to the term burn-out, fascination with the frequency of use, curiosity about the individualization of its definition, and extreme (and highly irrational) aversion to its usage. The question is, and I have not answered this, mind you, is this experience of all work being generalized and all workers being of one kind working? Here is what I am getting at: as we grow in our careers we keep working not only the way we did when we had more junior or casual positions, but too (and here is where I bring in education) we bring the energy from the classroom into our cubicle. This is dangerous as well as unproductive.

You see, and this is a bit of fact and a lot of line connecting between a handful of generalities that aren’t too hard to roll with. And we are off - 

School is a product of imperialism and industrialization with cogs that serve in the wheels of machinery and most people were the same machine parts in the operation and making of those iron dinosaurs. Children in desks filtered through hallways and graduations and systems mapped around discipline and rigor  - the time for play lessens as the insistence upon output increases.

Flash forward to any given weekday, and you’ve lived through a series of back-to-back meetings, and now have several hours before you to “do work” before the next ‘round hits later in the afternoon.  “Doing work” will include eating while staring at the computer, contemplating afterwork plans, wondering if I should exercise or are exercising in the proper way, thinking about sex, thinking about love, curious about loneliness, and “investigating”. “Investigating” is a series of independent research projects that fall into a series of categories such as: What podcast is best? Is it healthy to be a pescatarian? Sales deals and new items available. Cheapest flight to wherever - and the like. 

Another way the time could be used is panicking that you are to be doing more or that production - yours - is to be better or higher than it is. 

Lastly, there comes what, even most generally, we know are the things to do: 1) take a break, and 2) work in a measured way towards deadlines that are pre-established and may include teamwork as well solo efforts.

What I am wondering - and I think about this in relation to my own not meeting activities - is this: . What is it I actually “have” to do anyway? And, what (whom) dictates that?

Sure, I could answer those, but that is not so helpful, as those are my processes here on my island. What I do think might be of use is to ask the bigger question: What exactly is your job and what does it take by way of action to fulfill those obligations and responsibilities? This can be found in a job description and/or what we are looked upon by our team to review or ‘turn in’. That ‘turn in’ aspect is where the school day mentality can surely help. What exactly is due? By when? And what do you need to know to do your part? And whom do you need to speak to to complete those aims?

I cannot say if this is easier to disseminate if you work for yourself vs working as part of a team and processes are not externally constructed and, thus, there is more navigation in the tasks themselves. But you know what - I don’t think so. Not that it could not be true, but I don’t think it is a ‘for certain’ kind of thing. There can be a lot said of jobs where the responsibilities are created by ourselves vs others or either/or but either way, however it shakes out, the onus falls on how the work is to be approached. I cannot speak to what might be on your plate, however, I can address your feelings about the doing of it, and the ability to weather the emotions in the solo and small teamwork non-meeting projects therein. Find your way with those while also keeping a laser focus on what your ‘job’ at your job is.  (Repeated, but hopefully shared in a more clear manner???)

Though I am inserted all over the above sentences, perhaps it might be of curious interest to share the origins of this post of being  - like so many things -  about my own anxiety. Doing makes me real. That is learned from my own personal history and encouraged in all the societal space one can think of.  It is WILD to think that the way I do ‘things’ but that does not mean that thinking or breaking or taking a nap or a walk - an uninterrupted, non-tech meal is work, too. For it gets me ready to do the things others see. 

Work is about obligations and those can be met by showtoping projects or public proclamations. Just know that ‘doing’ can be subtle, too. So if you aren’t ‘doing enough’ ask - what is actually required.