I was writing down a to-do list at work today and realised it was getting out of hand. Not the list of things I needed to finish; whilst there’s plenty on it, it’s not intimidating, just a lot of work. What struck me was the number of non-essential “exploratory” ideas I wrote down towards the bottom of the list. Things which I probably won’t actually do. Things which I probably shouldn’t do, in fact, and not just because there are urgent items further up the list.
One of the things I like the most about my current role is that it’s fairly diverse (within its own boundaries, of course). So this afternoon I’ll be mostly working on a print publication but I could just as easily be editing some video footage, or writing/editing text for an ad or invitation, or creating a construct for someone’s presentation, or possibly even working on simple Office automation. I really enjoy the variety, and not having to do the same thing day in, day out.
The biggest problem I have is reigning myself in. There are exciting new projects I’d like to work on, and it’s hard to say “no, I’m not the person for that”. New design for a corporate website? I’ll do that. iPad app? Sounds interesting, sign me up. Interview production? Let’s do it in-house!
This is the hard bit. They might be hugely interesting projects and an opportunity to learn something new, but they’re NOT jobs for me! Let’s bring in some specialist expertise. Let’s get a contractor. I will learn to say this through unclenched teeth. I will!
But let me have just one of the cool new projects, k? Please? Just one?
*twitch*