Work ethic

I have sat here for the last 8 hours of working time, doing virtually nothing related to what I am being paid to sit here doing.

One reason for this is distraction – it is always more interesting to surf blogs than to work out water levels in a sewage tank.

Another reason is that I am finding hard to get my teeth into anything. Most of my projects are waiting for someone else to do something. I could make an assumption about what they will do, but it could all be abortive. I don’t really know what I am supposed to be doing.

Another reason is that often it’s not that there is nothing to do; it’s that I can’t think what it is. And I know that whatever it is, I will be in trouble for not doing.

So for distractions, workload fluctuations, and poor foresight, I do zilch. And I get to the end of the day feeling demotivated, and feeling guilty because I am still taking the clients money for doing nothing. It is contrary to my personal work ethic to sit at my desk inactive in this way.

These days contrast sharply with other days when as soon as I walk in people are asking me questions and requiring output from me, I have clear vision and I have the information and tools to hand – I soar through the day and go home knackered, but satisfied. When I’m good, I’m very good.

I want more good days, and fewer confused ones.