Other duties as assigned?!?!?

“Other duties as assigned.” Can anybody tell me exactly what that means? It’s on my job description at work and some interesting duties usually end up falling under that category. I won’t dwell too much on that but will tell you that by having “other duties as assigned”, I’ve learned a lot about myself and how to take on some new responsibilities.

My new duties did not come with a set of instructions. There was no reference guide or manual to guide me on getting things done correctly. My A type personality could not comprehend this! I struggle with following verbal instruction, but baby, if you write them down for me, I can run and go do. With my new duties, to which I had no prior knowledge, I began to keep a notebook of the most recurring issues. Let me tell you, this helped me tremendously! 

By writing these things down, I now had a guide that I could refer to when needed. Why didn’t anyone think of that before? Well, maybe I was the chosen one.

Writing things down led me to begin asking more questions. I know that I can be annoying with asking so many questions. In beginning, I was kinda embarrassed for asking so many questions. I really felt like my questions were stupid, like I should have already known the answer. Oh, that’s another side effect of having a type A personality. We think we need to know EVERYTHING. Even if we’ve never encountered something, seen it, smelled it, tasted it, you get the point. This has caused great stress in my life. I’ve worked hard to come to grips that I don’t know everything, will never know everything, don’t need to. Imagine if I knew everything. I would never feel the excitement of learning something new.

So, I  started to ask questions. I know I must have come across as lil kid asking “why” all of the time. But asking questions showed that I was truly seeking understanding. The more understanding I got enabled me to teach others my new learnings. Not only that, but I could be confident in what I was talking about. That’s important. Know what you’re talking about. People can see right through you when you’re just blowing smoke up their, well, you know. 

For every question I asked, I jotted the answer down in my notebook. I would verify the answers by gathering screenshots, this helped with seeing it visually.

Hmm, this falls right into line with the biblical scripture of writing down the vision, making it plain, so that you can easily run with it/do it (Habakkuk 2:2).

Writing things down kinda seals the deal, causing you to own whatever you wrote. While performing my “other duties as assigned”, I learned how to stand behind my new learnings when questioned or eat crow when I misinterpreted what was told to me. Sure, whenever I ate the crow, my cheeks would get flushed from embarrassment. Or my sweat glands would go into overdrive, making my armpits a fountain that overfloweth, if you recall, I’ve got a somewhat problem with underarm perspiration.

Feeling this type of embarrassment helped me to work harder at asking the right questions from the beginning. I learned how to stop making excuses for not having the right system access or because my manager didn't supply me with the information. I began to seek out the people who could grant me the right system access or find other people than my manager to get answers from. Doing these things helped because I was forming new relationships and taking the initiative. 

And, of course, I made mistakes along the way. There’s a difference between making mistakes and blaming others, I learned how to make mistakes, own up to them and learn from them.

As I type this, I realize that these three things, write it down, ask questions, and own it, could be used in every aspect of life. Cause as moms, we know that there are many things that fall under "other duties as assigned" in our homes. Come to think of it, that might be only sentence on the entire job description!

ReShape Mondays

A handful of spinach. Some strawberries. A banana. Two scoops of protein. A splash of coconut water/milk. Six ice cubes. Yes, six to be exact. 

Hell if I Gnaw's recipe

Press blend. Watch it mesh together. First, it turns red from the strawberries. Then the spinach gets churned in, turning this breakfast goodness into a greenish, poop-ish (if that's a word) color. 

MindBodyGreen 

That described/pictured above is my breakfast each morning. It's all good for me. Believe it or not, it tastes really good. I'll bet you're wondering what is the point of me giving you my breakfast routine and how does it fit into ReShape Mondays. Well, for one thing, I just gave you a delicious breakfast recipe you may want to try tomorrow morning. The second thing, is the blend. As I blended those ingredients this morning, I started thinking about my life: family, work, hobbies, health. For so long, I have tried to balance all of these things. I thought that something was wrong with me. As I interacted with more moms and dads, I found that I was not the only one. This was a problem felt by many. I dug my heels in. I was determined to be the first person ever to be victorious in perfectly balancing my work and home life. Years later, still haven't figured it out. Don't need to. Why you may ask? "Did Tiffany hit the lottery over the weekend and now the only balance she's worried about is balancing the $$$$$$ in her bank account?!?!" Not yet, fellow gladiators, not yet. However, in the meantime, I received a game changing way of thinking. 

A few months ago, I attended an influential class offered by the organization I work for. If you've popped in on ReShape Mondays before, you may remember my mention of this class. The facilitator said a very profound statement that really made me think. I watched as she demonstrated how she plots daily planning periods for work and home on her work calendar. Why was this a crazy idea to me? For so long, I always thought that those things should be separated. Yes, I would have a calendar for my home stuff and another work calendar. And yes, at times, I would schedule things that would overlap. Hummingbird or Yogli would have a dentist appointment on a day that I was scheduled to facilitate a class at least an hour away from home. 

So, as this facilitator explained the importance of blocking your work schedule for at least 10 minutes daily for planning, I raised my hand. "I noticed that you have your doctor's appointments listed on your WORK calendar". She chuckled and then said "Yes, because I work and I have a life outside of work. It's a blend, they both make up my life." Bam. There ya go. 

With those few words, I started to see things differently. We work so hard trying to balance, when blending is what needs to take place. We cannot negate the fact that we work nor negate that we have a lives outside of work. Which one takes precedence? If you're like me, you probably like to eat and perhaps go to a movie every now and then. Those two things tell me that you'll need a way to supplement your eating and movies, so a job is probably in order. All work and no play makes somebody boring, or something like that. Nevertheless, work hard, play hard. What I am trying to say is that there needs to be something more to life than all work. We must have a way to regroup after a stressful day of work or a stressful day of hearing "Mommy, mommy." How do you regroup, is it the gym, a good run, working on a hobby, reading, listening to music? Everybody needs a way. 

This all leads us to the blend. Blending those things that make up our lives. They will probably never balance out. 

After this class, one of the first things I implemented was to block 10 minutes each morning for planning. Do I get to this every single morning, no. But at least the time is blocked if I need it. This caused me to plan more, even the little things because "it's the small foxes that spoil the vine" (Song of Solomon 2:15). Doing these few things released years of pressure. Doing these few things led to a new way of thinking, which led to better focus. Better focus that you will hopefully see in the future of this blog. 

So, as we ReShape Mondays, here's what I have to say, I have a purpose for this blog. As I strive towards blending my family, work, hobbies, health, etc., I want to grow a community of working moms, SAHM, WAHM, wherever you work. The old adage "it takes a village" doesn't just apply to children. It will take a village to inspire/encourage/motivate this type of community. 

There, I said it. Won't you join me? I am excited. Will it be easy? Maybe. Is it worth it? Yep. Game plan, check. Shields up, fellow gladiators. We are doing this.