YES.

There's an event in London ON this Thursday that my boss is going to. Last week my colleagues asked if I was going as well, and I said I wasn't, plus I added that I no longer care to go any more southwest than Waterloo ON.

That same day my boss stopped by my desk and told me that next week (this week) is going to be pretty busy for him and he asked if I could go to London in his place. The colleagues who had asked me if I was going were within earshot as I replied, "Of course! I'll be there!"

They thought it was pretty funny that on the same day I had said I was absolutely not going to London that I subsequently agreed to go, and it was funny. However, who am I to turn down any request that my boss makes (within reason)? I'm at the beginning of my career, keen to gain experience and knowledge, and advance forward to the next level. If my boss wants me to go to London, I'm going! Plus, it means a day off work and a long train ride. Personally I like long train rides.

So, London here I come!

Holidaze

Coming back to work from a two-week holiday is like diving into the deep end without taking a big breath first. No matter how you prepare mentally, and even if you've been checking emails while you were away, it's still a shock to the system.

Thankfully my colleague, who was sent from heaven, made me some coffee this morning. That was a good start.

I've got to approach today with a strategy. I think my strategy will be to take the focus away from TODAY and think more about THIS WEEK. It'll take some pressure off this single workday to instead utilize the entire week to get up to date, up to speed, and back on track. I must also remind myself that no problem is unsolvable and no mistake is unforgiven. On top of that, my best approach is to take things one step at a time, set myself goals for each day, and remember that no matter how stressful the day, it always ends!

I shall reward myself with an evening filled with MTV Canada and sitting on the couch.

Let's go!!!

Caffeine & You

One aspect of my job involves "meeting days". I book a bunch of meetings in Toronto, and then head in to the city for a day, have the meetings, and then usually stay for the weekend at my parents' house. It's always really nice to get out of the office, be in Toronto where you see more than 1 person when you're out walking, and keep things fresh! I really like it!

Usually these meetings are over coffee -- we meet at a Starbucks and chat about whatever it is we're chatting about. Loves it! BUT... if I'm meeting 5 different people, that's 5 different coffees. That's a lot of coffee! Combine that with the normal nerves of having business meetings, and you've got me performing on a more jittery level than I should be. There's no need for that!

So... something I've learned? Order tea on occasion.

Trust Thy Boss

As always, there are exceptions. You might have a total a**hole of a boss, and so ignore what I'm saying. However, I'm an optimist (or you might call me naïve) and I like to think that most people have good intentions. Anyway, these statements are leading to the point of this post, which is to "Trust Thy Boss".

So many times over the past 4 months, I've thought to myself... "Why aren't I getting more projects?" "Why don't they want me to put my knowledge and experience to use?" "I'm so bored... why aren't I doing more?" I've done my best to take initiative here and there, but there's only so much you can do sometimes. If you're not being given stuff to work on then your mind wanders... your hand wanders to the mouse... you type in www.facebook.com... and the rest is history.

But now I've just about hit the 5 month mark and things have changed completely. The other day I was working on about 3 things at once and getting extremely overwhelmed by the emails that kept coming into my inbox. Overwhelmed & stressed can be bad things to feel, but I can now say with certainty that after a slow start into my big girl job, being busy is ALWAYS better than being bored. I'll take stressed over twiddling my thumbs any day.

Anyway, the reason this has to do with trusting my boss is that now I can only think that maybe he was easing me into things; letting me get oriented, get to know my colleagues, etc. If I was handed 10 projects on day 1, wouldn't I be far too overwhelmed in addition to feeling nervous and new? However, as it was, right before this rush of work came upon me, I was finally feeling like part of the team. I understand the rhythms and schedules and dynamics of the office, so now that I've got lots to do, I know who to go to with questions, etc. It wouldn't have made sense for me to have tonnes of projects before, but now... it does!

So I'm glad I stuck it out. My boss definitely delivered on this one.

AGH!

I've got little bumps on my teeth as if each tooth has a serrated edge. My dental hygienist said that it is rare to see those bumps on adults' teeth because post adults grind their teeth and as a result the bumps grind down to nothing. My conclusion from that was that I manage my stress well.

However... sometimes, like right now, I feel quite stressed and overwhelmed by my workload. This happened a lot while I was a student at WLU, and it happens occasionally now in the working world. I got a lot thrown on my plate today and I'm feeling a bit snowed under. Incidentally, I've never experienced a November this warm and precipitation-less.

I needed to blog about this to take a minute to get a few deep breaths in and also to still my racing heart. One of the projects I just realized was in my portfolio may be overdue and so I'm freaking out a bit. But - I will figure it out. I will break the project down into manageable tasks and it'll get done.

Agh.

Getting to know all about you

Some people are surprised to find this out, but I am the definition of an introvert. This doesn't mean I'm anti-social or unable to carry a good conversation, it just means I don't really thrive off of social situations. I can hold my own at a dinner party, but after the party's over, I need some serious alone time to recharge my batteries. Another aspect of being an introvert is that I'm very strategic, you might say, about how I share personal information. I don't just blurt out things about myself and often take a lot of time before I feel comfortable enough with someone to tell them things about myself... things aside from the daily minutia, of course.

A new work place is a great example of this. I have now reached my 4-month anniversary of working here and only yesterday did I tell my co-workers that I have a girlfriend. I have been spending 40 hours / week with these people, chatting and working, and yet I didn't share with them until now that I have a girlfriend and, of course, that I'm gay. Some people would've shared this information months ago, but not me... for whatever reason I just had to wait for a specific time.

What I'm learning about the workplace though is that it's best to take your time. Just as there's no rush to have that condo in downtown TO, there's no rush for your co-workers to know every detail about your life... unless you want them to. What I mean is, no one is going to look back and say, "Why did you wait this long to tell us about yourself?" They're going to say, "It's a pleasure to know you now". Don't feel any pressure to put on some kind of persona just for the sake of it. Just be yourself and let it all happen. When you feel comfortable, it just feels so good to get to know people.

Convocation

I never went to my high school graduation. I probably would've, but I had already started working at a camp for the summer, so I just couldn't. The truth is that I don't normally care about occasions like that, but when my university convocation was about to occur, I figured it was time that I let myself enjoy some pomp & circumstance... plus, I thought my parents might enjoy seeing the end result of my 5+ years at uni.

Here's what I was shocked by: how proud I felt. I was practically beaming the entire time - especially seeing my parents and my best friends in the crowd.

You sometimes feel like university is just going through the motions until you're done... but it wasn't an easy ride, was it? It was hard work, stress, anxiety, and sometimes working your body and brain past their limits. Alternatively it was fun, and my mind was expanded to embrace new ideas, concepts, and issues, and my whole self was challenged to learn and grow and change...

University was an experience and I'm so glad I got to celebrate the official end of one phase of my life now that I'm in the next one. I deserved a little pomp & circumstance, right?