2002-10-21 - 9:37 p.m.
WELCOME BACK, I THINK
Piles and piles and piles and piles. Piles thick enough that clearing them away takes a mental frontloader. Decisions from courts, letters from clients, investigative reports, and a September state car usage report to do. More than 130 e-mails, of which only approximately six are really important, with nondescript titles that make reading them something like panning for gold. Transcripts needing to be sorted into files to await other transcripts or worse needing to be read by yesterday. There�s nothing like returning to a high-volume job after sick leave of twice as long as I planned.
I�ve learned a few tricks over the years. First, I panic and get it out of my system. Next, I tackle the pile of transcripts to be filed. Why those when they are the least important? Creating the illusion of progress is essential. Putting away even two or three 140-page transcripts reduces the piles tremendously. Putting away six or eight of them does not take very long and soon lets me see the desk underneath. After that, it�s time to sort into what can wait, what almost wait, and what can�t wait much at all.
By then, there�s nothing left to do but plunge in. Spend the morning generating document after document knowing that time is ticking away and there are bigger projects, like briefs to write, that won�t wait forever. Feel overwhelmed and remember that the feeling is a constant companion on my job when the mental callous is not built enough to hold the pain at a distance. Talk to a client�s mother and realize that the emotional callous has gone soft too.
Note that the new computer system really is as bad as everyone told you. Notice how gently the secretaries are treading, knowing that they�ll let you get your feet under you today but tomorrow they will come for help with the computer problems. Feel another project lurking and ready to pounce.
Welcome back to my world. Welcome back to my job. Welcome back, I think.
LAST YEAR: By the Light of a Fire Burning Bright
LAST FIVE ENTRIES:
Any Takers Out There?
The Guitar
The Mildew of Boredom
Get Up and Go
Second Mothers
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Copyright 2006 by Ellen |
