So it took me just over a few years to come to this point, but while I was in the shower today (and it would be in the shower, why are all the best ideas are while you are in the shower?) I finally realised what my working style is and why I am beginning to hate my job.
I work best when I can concentrate on projects. In other words, I work best when I have a single project/idea to focus on. Yesterday was a pretty good example of it; I found myself genuinely enjoying the projects I had to do and was very resentful when I had to switch from one task in a project to another on short notice. However, I couldn’t submit the project copy completely error-free; too much switching meant that my attention span was pretty bad and I actually made a very glaring grammatical error that my Project Manager caught it.
Coming back to the point, did I mention that I hate social media? Managing it at least. My current workflow is now:
- Check FB pages for clients in the morning
- Write responses to users if necessary
- Post updates manually if no updates were scheduled previously/ alternatively monitor contests we are running
- Compile and send back to the client if there are issues (most of my clients are in the Fast Moving Consumer Goods business, aka foodstuff and cosmetics, so we do get enquiries fairly often)
- Work on copy for other projects
- Create messaging calendar for clients
- Research trends
- See what the competitor is doing
I know my other colleagues have way more stuff to handle than I do, but I am feeling very overwhelmed at works. It’s death by a thousand cuts, because most of the time I am in the middle of writing or conceptualising something and then I get called/asked to check the FB page or I check the FB page before I start on my task and then I get distracted because I have to reply to the user or email comes in and I want to strangle the client who has no respect for other people’s time stuff gets pinged to me and I just lose focus.
It’s that breaking of the flow that often causes my distress, and I suspect, the reason why both my attitude and drive to create has plummeted. The stop and go style of driving often kills your car’s fuel consumption and brakes faster than a smooth, long drive, and I think that is what is happening to me.
Goddess, grant me the strength and wisdom I need to overcome this.