Anytime my dissertation chair/mentor would comment about how
old and crabby he was getting, I knew he was winding up to let me know
something I should pay attention to – usually it had to do with my writing
skills, but other times he would share more general observations. I’m taking a page out of his book. I think I’m getting old and crabby. And now I’m going to tell you why. This is my rant:
A colleague recently
posted an article through her LinkedIn account . I really liked the catchy title: What Successful People Do With The First Hour of Their Work Day. Initially, I was curious as to what this article could teach
me that I had not yet integrated in my daily routine. Let’s first establish my routine: up between 5 and 6 am, fire up the desktop at
home, coffee, work and personal emails for a half hour, usually a run, swim, or
yoga, then prep for work. Once I’m at
the office, the routine shifts to however my day happens to be structured with
various appointments, meetings, and so forth.
If I’m lucky, I’ve got some cushion time built in to do…what, you ask? To do my other work, of course, which could be
anything from attending to correspondence, reviewing material, proactively
asking questions, often touring work sites, more meetings and the usual
administrative and leadership business. But
to sum it up, I have a personal mission and preoccupation with providing
excellent customer service through excellent business practices. So imagine my huge disappointment when I let
it sink in that articles like the one above were aimed at a slice of our population
that allows itself to be so distracted from their job that they need cute
stories to help them figure out how to prioritize. Heck, most of the people I know have this
already sorted out!
As if it wasn’t enough, I found two more equally compelling
article titles with content along the same lines (see Frogs, Gnats, Butterflies and Gems and Watch out for the frogs )
If you haven’t read
any of these articles yet, I suggest you give it a go. I am always interested in what habits
successful people have. I strive for
excellence, and I figure there’s always a nugget or two in what other people
write. I, too, want to be
successful! I dove into the first
article like it was a long awaited treasure…but after I was done, I did a
bit more searching on the internet for similar publications. Then I did some thinking. Then my enthusiasm
deflated. Then I started to feel old and cranky.
I can’t believe we live in a society where people get paid to go to work
and can’t get it together enough to do what they’re supposed to. Does someone really have to publish an
article to motivate us to do our jobs?
Wait! Maybe that’s the answer to
my original question: What do successful
people do everyday? Answer: Not sure, but I bet it has something to do
with them actually getting their work done.
Thanks for tolerating my rant.
Be the change! Joanne
