Category Archives: NaBloPoMo

National Blog Posting Month – December 2012 – Work

Prompt – Do you think some people achieve easily, or do you agree with Lombardi that “the only place success comes before work is in the dictionary”?

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I suppose that for every little quote like this, there is a notable exception. The problem arises when people assume that they are the exception, and so don’t apply the wisdom provided.

If you want to be successful, you ought to expect to work. That is all there is to say about that. The most successful people, like actors or football players, actually put in some brutally long hours. They also get paid well and get some fantastic benefits, but that’s beside the point. No, actually, that is the point.

We all want to get paid well and we want the fantastic benefits. But we don’t consider that the people who are already in those positions are working their hind ends off to stay where they are. Once one of these highly successful individuals falls out of the adoring spotlight of the world’s population (for whatever reason), often then fades their success. (How many times have we heard of the once affluent person who is destitute later in life, after their fame faded.)

For this reason it is important to work up to achieve success, and to keep working to maintain that success. We can’t take a break and assume that momentum will carry us comfortably through the rest of our lives.

And on that note… I’ve got some work to do!

For 12-21-12

National Blog Posting Month – December 2012 – Work

Prompt – Discuss this quote by Maya Angelou: “Nothing will work unless you do.”

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This quote falls along the likes of what I often say, that few things worth doing are easy. The point here is that the easy route usually fails (though occasionally you luck out). If you want to succeed, you have to do some work. You’ve got to pay your dues, as it were. For most people, work is a requirement for success.

This isn’t to say that hard work is a guarantee of success, but no work is basically a guarantee of no success. Even people who seem to get lucky breaks work hard to put themselves in situations where they might get noticed.

That’s why it’s important to keep working toward goals, even if they seem impossible, because when you stop working, success is not possible.

It’s an unfortunate circumstance that (here in the U.S. at least) this lesson is lost on many. We have a great sense of entitlement in our culture (and I won’t get into the discussion of why) in which we all assume that if we’ve been working scut jobs for so long, we suddenly deserve to get paid more and have wonderful living conditions. And when that fails… well, it’s bad news.

We’re a society of getting a prize for trying, not for winning, which has resulted in a whole generation of people who think they should get something just for being there: entitlement. It can’t work that way, though. Not for adults. Some cope with that just fine. Others sometimes go off the deep end, with potentially disasterous results.

Yes, we need to teach this lesson to our kids: You don’t get something for nothing. You’ve got to work for the things that you want. Nothing worth having is easily attained. “Nothing will work unless you do.”

For 12-19-12

National Blog Posting Month – December 2012 – Work

Prompt – Agree or disagree: All work and no play makes you a dull girl.

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In the case of this prompt, it’s important to define what is meant by ‘work.’ Work could be defined as that which a person does to earn a paycheck, whether they enjoy the work or not. Alternatively, work could be defined as any task which requires mental and/or physical effort, again whether for pleasure or by requirement.

For me, I distinguish between work and not-work based upon the level of effort required (i.e. the second definition). Thus, watching “America’s Got Talent” is not work, writing a blog post about everything geologically incorrect about the movie “The Core” is work. Going for a two mile run is work. Power-shopping at the mall is not work. Writing this blog post while I’m in the office is work, even though it’s not what I’m actually getting paid for.

Play also needs to be defined better. For me, play is anything you derive pleasure from, whether paid or unpaid. Using these definitions, an activity can be simultaneously work and play – and I do a lot of that. I actually enjoy my job, so I often feel like I’m playing while I’m at work.

All this said, it is important to remember that play, by itself, is necessary for any person to maintain their sanity. If all I ever did was work, or work-play, I think I might lose my mind. That’s why I do watch TV and I do occasionally go power shopping. Without that mental and physical escape, I think I might explode!

 

For 12-17-12

National Blog Posting Month – December 2012 – Work

Prompt – Do you think you’re yourself at work, or do you think your co-workers don’t know the “real” you?

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One thing that I do know for certain is that the person that I am in the office is the same person that I am at home. I’m fortunate to have a job where I’m not expected to conform to some particular behavior. I’m grateful to have a job where there is no specified dress code. I’m glad to be in academics where it’s more important what you do than what you look like.

In academics, even social skills are optional, which is one of the reasons why I’m glad I don’t have to go to faculty meetings.

All this isn’t to say that I don’t care at all about my appearance or what others think of me, I just don’t concern myself with these things any more than I would if I were going to the grocery store. I wear jeans to work most every day, but that’s for practical reasons: I’m regularly crawling on the floor of my laboratory. A skirt or nice slacks would be destroyed in no time. I do wear T-shirts some days, but I actually prefer to wear something a little nicer. Maybe something that buttons or has a collar, but still always something practical that will keep me warm in my 62-degree office and also not get caught on anything in the lab.

My co-workers know me well, at least my quirks. I’m notorious for meowing greetings to people. They know that I’m learning swordplay. They know that I like to sew medieval clothing. If I were trying to hide the ‘real’ me, I suspect no-one would know these things about me.

I’ve got nothing to hide. I like me. I think I’m interesting. And being ‘me’ in the office doesn’t hinder my ability to do my work, nor the abilities of others to do their work. The me of the office is the me of the world. I’m glad I don’t have to change personalities every morning as I drive into work!

For 12-14-12

National Blog Posting Month – December 2012 – Work

Prompt – Are you happier when you’re working or when you’re relaxing?

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Some days I have serious doubts that I can relax. I get nervous during idle time, with the constant nagging suspicion that there is something that I ought to be working on.

I think it’s a remnant of being a graduate student. We called it “grad student guilt” then. Basically, if you were conscious, you needed to be working if you had any illusions about graduating on time. I still feel this way.

Relaxing is stressful to me. I have a hard time just kicking back, enjoying a beer, and watching a movie. Lately, I’ve been watching lots of movies, but I’m only able to do that as I’m working on a blog series about bad geology movies. See? It’s work, so I’m doing a good thing.

When I’m working, even if it’s not related to my paying job, I feel like my energies are going to good use. I feel like my efforts will be beneficial in the long run. I (almost) never feel that way when I’m relaxing – though rationally, I know that there are important benefits to taking a break from time to time.

So, am I happier when I’m working or when I’m relaxing? Usually happiest when I’m doing a lot of work and being highly productive. Relaxing can wait until I am no longer capable of working…

For 12-13-12

National Blog Posting Month – December 2012 – Work

Prompt – What do you think would be the hardest job for you to do?

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There are two ways I can approach this question. I know that the hardest job I have ever done is being a parent. Of course, like all parents, I am grossly underpaid. And there’s no vacation. No days off. I’m still a parent, even if I’m sick. It can kinda suck. On the other hand, once in a while the boy says “I love you, Mom,” which basically negates all the bad things. It’s a hard job. The hardest. I feel horribly underqualified. Yet I do it every day and both boy and mom seem to be doing all right.

 

Now, if I were thinking of career style jobs, the hardest job I could have is any in which I was required to make a ton of phone calls. I think I’d be sick everyday. You see, I have social anxiety (though most people who know me find that hard to believe). For all the years of therapy and medications the one thing I still can’t do without overwhelming terror is make a stupid flipping phone call.

I do make phone calls, of course, and sometimes with little to no anxiety. But if I have to cold-call someone, say for example a program director at the National Science Foundation, or a land owner who’s land I’d like to work on, I flip. This may be one of the reasons why my current job suits me. I don’t have to make those calls. I call vendors from time to time to ask for parts (which can still be difficult). Most everything else I need to do can be done with e-mail. I can handle e-mail – most of the time.

So retail jobs would be a nightmare for me. Secretarial jobs, panic city.

Sitting in an interior laboratory with no windows, just me and the mass spectrometer, just fine. I’ll stick with what I got.

For 12-12-12