Work at the moment looks like a mushed up piece of avocado, splattered across the kitchen counter that is my day.
Freelance work smears itself across the normal working day ( for example, I just spent 3 hours working on an article that has nothing to do with my day job)
Other days I can't get a split second to myself and I am pulled into inane meetings where I wish I was working on all the other things I need to do (which have nothing to do with the day job), and then I get off the train and plonk myself down at my dining table and turn on my mac to do more work until midnight or so.
While I detest my day-job, it has not gone unnoticed by me that I probably won't be able to find another job where I am left so much to my own devices that I can carry on with whatever the fuck I want, until something has to be produced and I have to make it look like I have put a large amount of effort into it. (Scramble to do some research, talk a lot about annoying suppliers and difficult internal stakeholders, describe the art of getting the "story right".... etc etc.)
Am I micro-managed here at the moment? No.
Will I be when I move jobs and countries? Probably, yes.
So my point is, I really need to find a solution where I can combine working on things I like
Or else I am going to have to (pretend to) work a full time job and then come home and moonlight instead of just getting a job that I do like which can tick some satisfaction boxes.
I hope this is feasible.
Other people do it, right? Jobs they like?
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Monday, May 21, 2012
Sunday, May 13, 2012
Dreams and Nightmares
An inspiring post by Paulo Coelho:
No one will realistically think that you can make a living out of literature in Brazil. I faced many difficulties. When I was young, my parents in a desperate act of love, as they cared for me, sent me to a mental institution. They thought I was mad, as I wanted to be a writer. However, I was absolutely convinced about what I wanted to be.
The fact that you know your dreams is not enough. It is not good, living with the fact that you have it in you. You have to think of measures to manifest your dreams and be brave enough to pay the price of it. In a way, I postponed my dreams, and I was almost 40 when I dare to write my first book, The Pilgrimage.
And my second book, The Alchemist, was first published and then put out of print by my first publisher. “This title will never sell more than 900 copies”, he said. Today “The Alchemist is among the best selling books of all times.
If you are hurt about something that is meaningless to you, you can blame anybody else for it. But it is quite complicated to be hurt about something that is meaningful to you.
Then you get confused, as you know the dream is there. And the dream is not going to leave you as long as you live.
But besides the pain, there is also a great joy. You are fighting for something meaningful. Defeats are part of life, IF you don’t decide to quit.
And at the end of your life, you will understand: the journey was fantastic.
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
Fuckwit central
I had one of the most ridiculous days at work today.
Laughable really.
The HR Director for the ENTIRE WORLD decided last night he had nothing better to do than walk around going through people's cupboards and making sure they were locked.
Mine, of course, was unlocked.
So he locked it and took the key with him and left a post-it note on the front which said "Come and see me tomorrow in the Board Room."
I arrived this morning, took one look at my locker, and almost flipped a table upside down in fury.
My laptop and all my files were inside. Which is exactly the reason he locked it. To teach me a lesson.
Security, blah, blah blah.
Despite the fact that even trying to get past the security guards at our front reception is like trying to sweet talk St Peter to let you into the gates of heaven, as a whore.
There are almost 700 people that work in my building. Over 3 floors.
Our Collective Labour Agreement is still under negotiation with the unions. We are in the middle of a merger/acquisition. My pension money is probably sinking under some Euro monetary crisis.
This guy is at the head of a Human Resources department which looks after 83,000 employees.
I say, if this is how he spent 2 hours of his day when he gets paid approximately 200K a year, he should be fired for treating his job so lightly.
So I had to go and try and not act livid, and prepare myself to grovel. I felt like I was in highschool.
When I arrived at the boardroom, there was noone there, and no one else had any idea what he had done with the keys. When I asked the CEO's PA, she rolled her eyes and said "Another one." and my director looked at me and said "What the hell is this guy doing?"
He told her to go tell him I needed my keys. She knocked on his door and asked him and he called back "Take her number, I'll call her."
An hour later, he walked past me to head into a meeting.
At noon, I busted into my director's office, told him I had a deadline, and he told his PA to go fetch my key.
I had officially been unproductive for 2 hours, with people in Singapore waiting on me to send them some documents so they could move on with their work.
If you want an idea of why companies go under, it's because corporations are nothing more than poorly run highschools with ego maniacs at the helm.
I work for a bunch of fuckwits.
Laughable really.
The HR Director for the ENTIRE WORLD decided last night he had nothing better to do than walk around going through people's cupboards and making sure they were locked.
Mine, of course, was unlocked.
So he locked it and took the key with him and left a post-it note on the front which said "Come and see me tomorrow in the Board Room."
I arrived this morning, took one look at my locker, and almost flipped a table upside down in fury.
My laptop and all my files were inside. Which is exactly the reason he locked it. To teach me a lesson.
Security, blah, blah blah.
Despite the fact that even trying to get past the security guards at our front reception is like trying to sweet talk St Peter to let you into the gates of heaven, as a whore.
There are almost 700 people that work in my building. Over 3 floors.
Our Collective Labour Agreement is still under negotiation with the unions. We are in the middle of a merger/acquisition. My pension money is probably sinking under some Euro monetary crisis.
This guy is at the head of a Human Resources department which looks after 83,000 employees.
I say, if this is how he spent 2 hours of his day when he gets paid approximately 200K a year, he should be fired for treating his job so lightly.
So I had to go and try and not act livid, and prepare myself to grovel. I felt like I was in highschool.
When I arrived at the boardroom, there was noone there, and no one else had any idea what he had done with the keys. When I asked the CEO's PA, she rolled her eyes and said "Another one." and my director looked at me and said "What the hell is this guy doing?"
He told her to go tell him I needed my keys. She knocked on his door and asked him and he called back "Take her number, I'll call her."
An hour later, he walked past me to head into a meeting.
At noon, I busted into my director's office, told him I had a deadline, and he told his PA to go fetch my key.
I had officially been unproductive for 2 hours, with people in Singapore waiting on me to send them some documents so they could move on with their work.
If you want an idea of why companies go under, it's because corporations are nothing more than poorly run highschools with ego maniacs at the helm.
I work for a bunch of fuckwits.
Saturday, May 5, 2012
Thursday, May 3, 2012
Block head
I get paid to write today but I can't write.
Insert your choice of overwhelming dose of self doubt here.
"This sounds like everything I've ever written."
"This sounds like everything else, everybody else has ever written."
"Those words/sentences/tenses/phrases don't make sense/don't go together/can't go together/don't explain what you're thinking."
"You're making a mockery of this person's work/career/intentions/life goals."
"This piece is about as inspiring and truthful as a script for a tampon commercial."
"This sounds like everything I've ever written."
"This sounds like everything else, everybody else has ever written."
"Those words/sentences/tenses/phrases don't make sense/don't go together/can't go together/don't explain what you're thinking."
"You're making a mockery of this person's work/career/intentions/life goals."
"This piece is about as inspiring and truthful as a script for a tampon commercial."
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