Hello
peeps!
I finally got my
backpack last w.e and my ticket for the Caribbean this week. I have also
confirmed my visits here and there with friends and family. And I am
looking up casual work opportunities to earn some pennies whilst lounging
it on the beach :)
So this is it, I am
all set to go! One small detail - I still have got 3wks to go in the
office. Which brings me to a bit of reflection today - sorry in
advance for the page long post!
My company requires
us leavers to give at least 3 months notice, so I
handed out my resignation back in August. For the whole month of September,
I was still giving it 300%, staying in late, even working on Sundays. Then
October came, together with an increasingly difficult ability to focus on the
petty fights, back stabbing, finger pointing and similar cr@p happening around
me. Now November is here and I am in my last 3wks of working
routine.
Three months is a long time. I handed out my notice in
August, but my decision to go was taken a good couple of months before, and
I have been toying with the idea for at least 2-3yrs. So all in all, I
have been gone, at least in my head, for something like half a year
already.
There are good points and bad points to this
situation.
The good:
- It's been 6 months I have stopped being stressed at
work.
- So it's been 6 months I am more efficient in my work
- believe it or not!
- I sleep better and wake up with a smile on my
face.
- It's been 6 months I stepped out of the office
politics game - again, much better for my own sanity.
- I can now see things with a new perspective and can
pin point where processes are letting the business down - therefore
where improvements can be made.
- I can bring a breeze of fresh air to my
teammates and pick them up with my positive
energy.
Now the bad:
- It's been 6wks I find it difficult to focus on the
little details. Most of the time there is no detrimental effect on my work, but
sometimes, things can end up a bit behind. That said, things still got to
slip when I was like a hawk on every single useless details of a project because
of the clutter it was causing in my little head.
- I am becoming increasingly selfish in my approach to
things, and not always offering to help. I know - baaaad - but as a
result I don't get drawn into activities which are not within my area of
responsibility and would therefore only end up diluting my time even more.
Something to do with too few people, too much to
do...
- I am now trying to get other people in the office to
do something for themselves - very baaad from the company point of
view!
And the ugly: people could be dropping dead around me
on my last day in a bid to make me stay longer, but I would just step over them
on my way to the door and say bye!
In a nutshell - I am a much more efficient,
approachable and motivating team member. How sad is it that I have become an A-star
worker because I know that I am leaving
soon.
Maybe the secret is to give your notice - at least
in your head - as soon as you start a new job. The good in my list far outweigh
the bad, which is only bad if you don't care about the well being of people
in the workplace.
My learning though is there is no secret.
Life is too short to
waste any of it - not even a few months. You should ONLY do the things
DECIDE to do.
If you are unhappy in a job, then you should
move on and find a new one you will happy in. Why stay somewhere for the
sake of being able to moan about the job or the company? You wont get any
of the good from my - very short - list, whereas the bad will only add
up.
However if you DECIDE to be somewhere, then make
sure:
1. It is a job/company that you really choose to be in.
We have all heard the old story - recession, I need money and I will
die in the gutter if I don't take this job. But aside from a handful of life or
death situation, nobody EVER had to take a job. Stop the bullcr@p and
man up for goodness sake!
2. You wake up everyday with a smile on your face
because you will be going to do something you enjoy and strive
for.
3. And because work is only part of the day - make some
time for yourself every day and do something that makes you feel good. Again, we
all know the old story - need 25hrs in the day to fit it all, what about the
kids and house cleaning, I am shattered when I leave the office, it is dark
outside, I am broke - but, seriously? Do you really believe
that?
Now go and enjoy, because you never know what is coming
your way.
