Never Check E-mail in the Morning And Other Unexpected Strategies for Making Your Work Life Work

Introduction Welcome to the New World of Work RitaRita is hearty and tenacious, with a powerful presence and an air of resolve. A brilliant strategic thinker with years of experience and an eye for details, she takes tremendous pride in her work. Upon starting her job as vice president of strategic marketing at a premier ad agency, she was exuberant. Her fresh perspective helped her make a visible contribution right away: within six months of her coming on board, the agency broke into a whole new market, landed four huge accounts, and created major buzz in the industry. By the end of her first year, the company had won two prestigious awards and was beginning to attract the brightest designers and salespeople in the business.Rita loved her job and was great at it. Her coworkers and boss appreciated her efforts, and Rita felt confident and in control. Her daily activities provided an outlet to showcase her talents -- and getting the work done left her with feelings of satisfaction, fulfillment, and accomplishment. In a phrase: Work was working. Sounds great, doesn't it?At some point, she can't remember when, Rita began to drown. Her to-do list got longer and longer, as did her days. Her family would call, sometimes at ten at night, to find her still toiling at her desk. Rita was snared in all breeds of daily details and drudgery -- solving tedious production problems and assembling complicated advertising reports. Meetings devoured her day. Sorting through her in-box required a Herculean effort. Her office became a Hoover Dam -- piles of work so literally congested her space that what went in might never come out.No matter how long or how hard Rita worked, she could never get to the bottom of her mile-long to-do list. Rita felt sidetracked by work that didn't draw on her talents and strengths. By the time she called me in for help, her confidence had waned, her performance had plummeted, her brain was fried. Overwhelmed and pulled in a million directions at once, she asked, what more could she possibly do? In the hustle and bustle of the modern-day workplace, she felt stuck, unproductive, and hopeless. Frustrated and discouraged, Rita quietly wondered, "Is it me, or is it them?" I am in the business of untangling messes. When a client calls me in to help sort out his work life, his head is usually swimming; he feels wound in a big knot. Like Rita, he feels a sense of responsibility but is unsure where he leaves off and where his company or coworkers come in. When work isn't working, the perplexing and commanding puzzle we are all faced with is, Is it me or is it them? Who, or what, is causing the meltdown? We wonder whether we're the ones who've somehow changed and are slipping, or if the work itself really has become impossible. Is there something we can do to correct the situation, or is it truly beyond our control?It's not easy to succeed, much less thrive, in today's world of work. That's everyone's challenge. Change and speed are the orders of the day. The workplace is leaner, more competitive, and less secure. You may feel lucky just to have a job, let alone have time for a personal life. Workloads inflate to absurd proportions, a situation that is neither rewarding nor enjoyable nor puts you in your best light. It's easy to be gradually pulled into tasks that don't match your job description, make use of your particular expertise, or coincide with your goals. You long for the days when you could spend quality time with your family, get to the gym, feel relaxed during your time off. Like Rita, you may feel downtrodden and burned out. Work has become anything but fulfilling.When Work Is WorkingNo matter what the industry or economic climate, there is a universal definition of when work is working.Happiness at work involves liking what you're doing and being good at it -- feeMorgenstern, Julie is the author of 'Never Check E-mail in the Morning And Other Unexpected Strategies for Making Your Work Life Work', published 2005 under ISBN 9780743250887 and ISBN 0743250885.