Let me just manage expectations by starting with this – today sucked big time.
I knew it would suck – I knew it on Friday when I was enjoying an illicit day off and I knew it all weekend as I did my best to ignore the number of unread emails creeping up on my work phone. The thought of today followed me around like a dark cloud and kept me awake till the small hours, whispering in my subconscious, ‘Enjoy it while you can, ’cause tomorrow is gonna be soooooooo rubbish……!’
And it was. You know those days when there just aren’t enough hands to get the job done, and everything is going wrong and you just feel like it’s all spiralling out of control? It was like that. I knew it would be a busy day, but this was something else. The phone just kept ringing, and everything needed to be done RIGHT NOW DAMMIT and every question asked was one I didn’t know the answer to. As the hours rapidly ticked away I was struggling to keep my anxiety in check, constantly looking at the clock and wondering how on earth everything would get done before the deadline. And to make things worse, everytime we needed someone else to provide input, they got it wrong. It was like they were doing it on purpose, seriously. The simplest of instructions just seemed to go right over their heads, and at times I felt like they just didn’t get it, like I was imagining the sense of urgency! All day long, I was just waiting for someone to crack, to have to calm someone down when they lost their rag, or console them when they broke down in tears.
But they didn’t. My team are a bunch of troopers, to be fair, and they are so much tougher than I give them credit for. There was of course the odd rant and the occasional muffled sound of someone trying to stifle a scream of frustration (mostly from me….), but on the whole, we actually spent more time laughing than anything else. There was a real sense of camaraderie, and everyone just put a smile on, pulled together and got the job done. And it really did get done – or as much as we physically could anyhow – and rather than go home worrying about the 10% that will have to fall into the contingency plan, I left feeling proud of the 90% we managed to achieve against the odds. It got me thinking, about how little some people value their jobs and how prone we are to complaining about things not going our way. It’s so important to feel a connection with the people you work with, and I’m so proud to be able to say I lead a team of people who care as much as me about achieving our goals. Work will suck so much of the time, it’s inevitable, but to be able to pass the day with like minded people who will make you smile at the end of the day and pull you along when you’re questioning what the point is – that’s something special that should never be taken for granted.
On a completely separate note, that isn’t really a picture of my desk, obvs. I couldn’t use a picture of my actual desk, partly because I only decided I was going to write this post on my way home, but also because my actual desk just isn’t that pretty and organised (which is a statement in itself really, because I’m pretty sure lots of you will freak out at the idea of that being an ‘organised’ desk, but to me it’s a vision of tidiness compared to mine) and I fear you would be horrified if you actually saw it for real. There are far more dirty coffee mugs, unfinished to do lists and tear stained tissues on my desk. And post it notes covered in scribbles. Because for some reason, despite there being at least 3 pads to hand in my desk drawers, every time I need to work out a calculation or jot down a note, I reach for a post it note. Maybe if I had a load of Instagram worthy notebooks I’d be more together?
Sounds like a good excuse to hit Kate Spade to me…..!
Love,
Picking the Day 