Re: Time Management: WAS Criticizing Writers - What Would You Have Done?

[Martin Bosworth <martinhbosworth -at- gmail -dot- com>]

> Thing is, the total and constant need to talk to people is one of my
> strengths. I get more info on the product, the developers LOVE me and come
> by to visit all the time so I get a ton of info on everything without
> working hard to get it. Plus I actually like tech writing.  I like writing
> training materials and then teaching people stuff.  I like learning new
> stuff and then writing about it. I like testing my brain power with really
> hard stuff. But the iso gets to me sometimes.
> 
> 
> Anyone have pointers? I'm a total social creature...  Everyone at the gym
> knows me, I belong to a ton of clubs, throw parties 2-3x a month, know all
> my neighbors for three blocks at home...  I can always count on at least 3
> friends in my house doing something or other almost all the time.  I am
> doing culinary arts training, but that is for fun and to meet new
> people...  I'm not looking to trade careers anytime soon.
> 
> Advice and whining welcomed.

Amanda,

My previous job was just as you describe...the engineers all worked
separately from me and I was never included on their discussions or
any sort of policymaking. They actually were a good bunch of guys who
tried to get me more involved, but our supervisor was a real
authoritarian who insisted that there was no need for me to contribute
beyond writing the reports, since the engineers did all the work. (He
was also a terrible writer--I had to write an RTP that included data
from his office, and it was so bad I had to cut it down to one
paragraph just to make it usable. I see no coincidences here.)

I'm tremendously social. I love to talk to people, get to know them,
find out more about their jobs, etc. I would say this is one of my
strengths as a TW--people feel at ease with me because I'm friendly
and chatty, and therefore will open up when it's time to discuss the
whys and wherefores of a project.

It sounds like you have a very full social schedule as it is :), but
why not try talking to the team about getting more involved in the
process? Find out if you can get involved in the meetings, planning
sessions, etc.

One lesson I had to learn was balancing sociability with
responsibility. When I knew a big project was coming, I also knew I
had to buckle down and get it done right away, or else I would let it
slide and end up staying hours into the night, slaving away at it, and
resenting everyone who got to go home, be with their friends, etc. The
sooner you knock big stuff out of the way, the more time you can free
up to do the things you want to do. These days, they call it "time
management", but they used to call it "common sense". :)

Martin

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