Excel at my job

I have become complacent. I am no longer actively working toward this goal, and that’s bad because when I am not completely focused on it I tend to slack in some very big ways. So, I guess I’ll just try to plow through my ennui and make it work.

It’s probably worth noting that one of my collegaues complimented me on my writing skills last week. With my boss’s position still vacant, it has fallen to me to write the cover letter to this year’s steward reports. Our temporary Director read the letter I wrote and could not say enough good things about it. He even went as far as to call it “miraculous.” He thought I really captured the President’s voice well. Hearing that made me very happy. It was the first praise I’d ever received for an important written assignment.

Today one of the departmental directors complimented me on my minute-taking skills. And last week a different departmental director referred yet another departmental director (got that?) to me because she needed help proofing and formatting a very important document and was told I was a whiz at that sort of thing.

It has been almost two years since anyone around here has complimented me on my work or realized that I have “expertise” in anything. It’s really, really nice.

I’m really liking not having an official boss. It’s allowing me to work with co-workers who I don’t normally interact with, and prove that I am a capable of performing a wide range of useful tasks.

Both of my bosses have resigned. A little shocking at first, definitely sad, but a very interesting turn of events nonetheless. You see, the three of us made up our own department, and with them gone I have to take on the responsibility of just knowing about all the proposals and what not that they had memorized. I have to be able to find information quickly and pass it on to those who need it.

Though we are conducting a search, and hope to fill the vacant positions asap, for now, it’s on me. I am the information guru.

This is my first week without them and I’ve been so busy. There are so many people who need so much information in order to do their own work. There is never a dull moment. And I kind of like it. I like not having a real boss at the moment. I like kind of just…working for everyone as needed. I like having to become a walking encyclopedia.

I’m hoping that maybe the interim directors they send in will notice how hard I am working and put in a good word for me. I want people to think I am doing a good job, that I am hard worker, one who is worthy of a promotion or a rasie :-)

I don’t know if I’m excelling yet but I’m definitely trying harder. Even though both of my bosses have been doing a lot of independent work lately that I can’t help them with, I’ve been staying on top of the smaller tasks I am resoinsible for like filing and typing meeting minutes. I’ve also been better about keeping track of everyone’s appontments.I’m good about tackling new assignments as soon as they touch my desk and I feel I’ve been doing a much better job of supporting my bosses. But, I guess only next year’s job review will tell.

I’ve been given the added responsibility of taking notes at two additional meetings per month. The woman who used to do it is being promoted. They could have asked any of the other assistants in the office to sit in on these meetings but they chose me. And, even though it’ll suck what with my carpel tunnel syndrome and all, if I take good notes and type them up in a timely manner while still maintaining my other responsibilities it’ll just make me look all the better.

I believe I have made great strides since receiving my shitty performance review back in June. I have gone to work every single day, when I’m there I spend more time actually working than goofing off, I try to relieve my boss’s work load whenever possible.

I think my boss recognizes my improvements and is pleased by them. He has been giving me more work to do and trusts that I can handle many tasks at once. I am not yet Super Assistant, but I am definitely Way Better Assistant. I hope to continue making positive changes so that one day I can actually move up the employment ladder.

It has been two weeks since I got my bad performance review; two weeks during which I have tired to make myself indeispensible to my boss. Here are a couple of things I have learned:

1) The more reliable and efficient you prove yourself to be the more work you will be given.

2) The more effort you put in, the more responsible you feel for your work and the people you work for.

I’ve been making out a “to do” list for the next day everyday before leaving the office. This has helped me to stay focused. I try to keep goals in mind throughout the day: the goals of the office, the goals of my department, my own personal work related goals. That helps too. I just keep asking myself “What can I do?” and the more I ask, the more work I find to do. I go home exhausted, but at least I know I’ve earned it.

I’ve been trying. Every single day this week I have shown up ready to work. Every day I’ve written up a list of tasks to complete the next day and then I do them. I’ve worked through my lunch hour. I’m staying late today. I’m trying to get a variety of tasks finished; ones my bosses have assigned as well as ones I think are important, like re-organizing my bosses’ file cabinets.

I am trying, I am trying. Bit by bit, I am trying.

There is much to be said for putting in a hard day’s work at the office and leaving feeling as though you’ve accomplished something.

Ever since I received my bad performance review I have been trying to improve my work habits.

A friend advised me to tackle one project at a time and finish each one before moving on to another. I have been trying to do this, and it has been working to some extent. Written assignments are best tackled in this manner, as are particular research projects. But, since I assist a number of individuals in my office sometimes I absolutely must multi-task in order to get everything done in a timely manner.

I still haven’t quite figured out how to productively multi-task, but dealing with one project at a time has helped me clear some of the long festering paper work off my desk.

As a result of trying to improve my performance, I have been doing more typing which, in turn, is causing my carpel tunnel symdrome to flare up quite a bit. There’s nothing I can do about that other than wear my wrist braces and keep on working.

I’m trying. I’m really trying.