When is work, not work??

Week notes w/c 22.02.2021

It’s been an interesting week this week, it feels like I’ve done a lot of tail chasing and trudging, and I’ve not really achieved that much. When I have weeks like this, I tend to look back through my calendar to see exactly what I have achieved.

This week I’ve had:

· 5 hours of team meetings

· 5 hours of coaching work

· 10.5 hours of project meetings

· 2 hours of check-ins with colleagues

· ½ hour of mentoring with my mentor

I’m no mathematician but this didn’t leave a lot more time to do ‘actual work’ in my 37-hour week.

Now, like many of my colleagues I can pretty much guarantee that I do more hours than the basic 37 each week, but why do I feel guilty that I haven’t been able to do as much ‘actual work’ as I would like or would normally do?

For me, the answer is a mindset change, this IS ‘actual work’ and part of what I do. Water cooler conversations and “walk with me” chats have been replaced by Teams meetings. I now make an appointment to have an ad hoc chat with colleagues rather than leaning over the desk or walking to theirs to ask them a question that would normally take minutes.

We are encouraged to take breaks, check in with each other and look after our own well being and I guess, not feeling guilty about not being able to achieve as much as I would like is not down to my work ethic or lack of enthusiasm but the current circumstances we find ourselves working in. Certainly, for the short term, that is not going to change.

So, some advice to myself and others would be, worry less about what you haven’t done and concentrate more on what you have achieved.

Until next time…….