Past Five

Writer's Block?

I haven't been writing as much as I used to...either for Pastfive or for work....I have had some creative "blocks" if you will.  After I got out of the shower tonight I was thinking about why more people don't write.   Doesn't every kid when they are 6, 7, 8, 9,  write stories?  About themselves, about their families about what they think the world should be like?  I have 3 kids, ages 9, 7 and almost 5...2 boys and 1 girl...they come up with stories all the time.  My daughter writes them out and she's the 7 year old.  My 5 year old makes them up and talks about them.  My 9 year old laughs constantly at all the crazy ideas he has of "wouldn't it be cool if..." scenarios.  Where did that go in the majority of adults? 

I come from the school of thought that if someone wants to get promoted in their career, they have to continue doing their job at a superior level and begin to do aspects of the job they want...and/or take on a special project at the same time as their current job.  You have to do more in order to earn your promotion.  This got me to thinking about the writing.  So many employees are quick to complain.  Every day we interview tons of job seekers at The LaSalle Network, and so many of them are quick to criticize their companies or managers for how they do things.  "I don't agree with how they are retaining customers" or "The new CFO is putting too much emphasis on costs and not realizing we are short changing the employees".....

They may be right!  However, why don't they put pen to paper and write out their ideas, thoughts and beliefs on how things should be?  Why don't they write out a plan on how THEY think it should be done?  To criticize is easy....to create is a challenge.  Now maybe your manager or the ceo of your company doesn't want employees who think outside of 9-5 and won't pay attention to your thoughts that you took hours or days to write out and research.  However if that is the case, then maybe you'll know you've really done all you can to grow at your job and they don't want to grow...and then leaving may be the right thing.  However what if they do appreciate your work and effort?  What if they don't agree with your thoughts but love the energy and effort you put in and you have now earned a new level of respect? 

The time to be creative is now, however it can't come at the expense of execution.  It's a fine balancing act, however the truly great professionals...they don't lose the creativity they had as a child, they figure out how to get paid more for it.

Procrastination

In college you could procrastinate on your studies. You could pull an all-nighter, or if you did poorly, it was your money (or your parents') there you were wasting. If you procrastinate around your house in doing things or in going to the gym or cleaning out your car, it is you who suffers. What about procrastination at work?

It isn't your money that you're wasting...it's your company's. Even more than that, by procrastinating you may be putting your job in jeopardy. Do most people know they procrastinate? Some companies have created the policy of you only touch a piece of paper once...see it, read it, move it on out. How does that affect prioritization?

At my company, we are a professional services firm, and procrastination can equal death. Death of a deal, death of revenue. If we aren't working on something, our competition is, and we lose money that way every day. What got me into thinking about procrastination...I have been doing just that  when dealing with Past Five. My commitment when I started the blog was to write every week. It doesn't take much time for me to do, yet I still don't do it every week. It doesn't directly cost me money or risk my job when I procrastinate blogging, yet it doesn't make me look good when I don't write. The blog looks dated, I appear disinterested and even more than that, my procrastination may drive people away from the blog.

When someone asks you to do something, or you tell someone that you are going to do something, the sooner you get it done, the better you are. The better you will be perceived. The better you will feel about yourself!

Nike had it right more than two decades ago...JUST DO IT!