Saturday, August 25, 2012

Building a work ethic ....


What could I learn from Sally and her marvelous work ethic?



Persist, Focus and Do it must be her mantras.

Persist.


Sally fundamentally believes that there is always a way to get it done. She'll take a break and do something else but she doesn't forget the assigned task and she doesn't worry too much about it. She knows it'll happen eventually.  She clearly demonstrates that she understands she has to take care of herself in order to work as hard as she does. She's hard on herself;  leaping off decks and letting herself get too hot before stopping are two examples,  but when it's time for a break she makes it clear that a breather is in order. She will work past the time she wants to quit but if she goes too much longer the quality of work starts to suffer. In a human context  knowing when to stop is an important aspect of keeping a strong willingness to work. Building time for fun, breaks, a change is essential to being able to maintain drive.  Balancing that sometimes adding 20 minutes, or "just one more unit" of work past when you'd like to stop can get an awful lot accomplished.

Focus.


When Sally knows what the task at hand is virtually nothing can interfere with her desire to get the job done ( a job I think she should do or a job she thinks she should do - either way works for her). She's demonstrated that time, and time again. I, on the other hand, have been working on this post since before filming Saving Dinah finished July 21.  She takes time to build to 100 % focus. She needs to know the job at hand, have what she needs to do it available, and warm up a little. Whatever she is doing she gives it her all once warmed up. Again, and again and again if needed (back to that persistence thing!)

Do it


Sally's deadline is always pretty immediate - if a job needs doing she does it. She relies on humans for priorities and deadlines, in exchange she gives enthusiasm to motivate getting it done! She has no issue with using a break to work on something else then returning to the original task with renewed vigor. She isn't afraid to make a mistake and have to try something another way or maybe even have a complete redo of the task.

She puts many people (me included) to shame with her work ethic. I'm taking a page from her book for the next week!


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