lundi 26 mars 2012

Work Method

I'm starting to realize that what I'm lacking is stamina.

Put some pressure on me, challenge me, or just get me excited about something, and I will produce. I mean, I will work REALLY hard at something and come up with dozens of creative ideas or solutions to problems. I will produce more than anyone else. But the longer I have to work on it, the more my attention wanes... I get bored with it... and stop caring as much. It doesn't take much to get me all wound up again, but still...

Someone mentioned it might be a generational thing, which is funny because I met someone just this week who said she was just like me. She said she works "quickly and with intensity" and then runs out of steam at the end of the project.

The tricks I gave her are exactly the ones I try to apply myself: break things down into tiny chunks. Instead of sending off something unfinished, send it to yourself with a time lapse, so when it pops up in your inbox a few hours (or days) later the finishing step is like a fresh new project. Carry momentum through to the next project. Go with your guts! (Hard for someone very rational.)

2 commentaires:

  1. My issue is often with repetitive tasks. Give me a different thing here and a new project there I'm happy. I'll work HARD and I'll produce. It can be less than glamorous work but as long as it's fresh and new I'm good. Stick me with doing the same work day in and day out my level of caring drops drastically and its exceedingly difficult to get started. I play tricks on myself to get things done but it even bleeds into being able to get out of bed in the morning when I know I have to do that /again/.

    My hypothesis on this is that we as children are brought up with 'something new and exciting' every 4-5 months. School comes in a couple of semesters for most kids with a summer vacation and spring break and there is always something changing. This doesn't stop until you get out of school. When we get out into the 'real world' we don't have that same turn-around with the same change-ups to keep us engaged.

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  2. That's a really interesting hypothesis. It does really seem to be a generational thing -- we're used to being exposed to new and exciting things all the time.

    I get what you mean with repetitive tasks too. Ugh.

    RépondreEffacer