Thing 11: Reflective Practice

I began this course thinking that one hour per Thing would be more than enough to get me through on time.  What I didn't realize was that we had two Things to tackle each week!  Nor did I allow for the fact that, as a relative newcomer to Social Media, I would need more than an hour for most Things to grasp what they're all about.  Although I am allowed to allocate work time towards the course, it has proved difficult.  Having made up for lost time during the August Bank Holiday, I find myself once again lagging seriously behind.  However, I am not going to waste time worrying about all the Things I should have completed by now, I just take one task at a time and do it to the best of my abilities.

My slowness is not so much because of time management issues, but because of my inherent resistance to Social Media!  I have been self-employed for virtually all of my working life and the one essential skill anyone in that position must possess is the ability to manage time.  For some people, this comes naturally, others (like myself) learn it as they go along.  It is a slow learning process and one that is probably never fully perfected.

When you have a number of projects going on simultaneously and tight deadlines to meet you need to be able to identify short-term goals to keep each project going and then prioritize those goals so that the most important things get done first.  Deadlines can be very stressful but they can also be thought of as an ally: they focus the mind and ensure that stuff actually gets done.  If nobody's breathing down your neck it's easy to put things on the long finger and then leave them there permanently!

Another stressful situation can arise when work is scarce.  Worrying about your mortgage is a natural thing to do but it's also a terrible waste of  time.  Instead, you must regard a hiatus of this nature as an opportunity to further your career.  You might do a course to improve or broaden your skills, or increase your presence in Social Media to create a more prominent professional profile (look who's talking...), or update your CV to better reflect your abilities and experience.

When working under pressure it's important to ensure that the pressure doesn't get to you.  You must make room for downtime, whatever form it may take.  Read a book, go for a walk, watch a movie, paint, write a poem, take a nap, meditate, have a chat with friends over coffee - whatever does it for you.  It sounds like utter frivolity but I have learnt the hard way that it is essential for your overall well-being.

Finally, don't sweat it.  In the words of Creighton Abrams, when eating an elephant take one bite at a time.