'Tis Better to Give Than To Receive

...but it means I don't get much of my own stuff done.

I had a bit of a revelation today.  I thought it was pretty impressive, but in the grand scheme of things it wasn't life-altering.  It was a day that I had a stack of things to go through.  So did everyone else.  A few things I had on the back burner didn't get done, but I was able to delegate a few (website pages to Wendy, expired products to Karen, you get the idea.)  At about midday, I looked around and realized I wasn't getting much of my own tasks completed, however I was guiding and helping keep a lot of other people stay on track.

Now there are two ways to handle a day like that:  you can either get frustrated with being pulled in so many different directions, or you can just embrace the role and bounce from person to person helping out when and where you can.  Normally, I would be the former.  Grumbling about my own stuff not getting done, dodging and just giving quick answers.  People would be frustrated or stuck themselves and not sure where they are headed.

I looked at Kelly today and said, "I don't feel very productive.  I'm not getting any of my own stuff done, but I'm helping everyone else get theirs done.  But you know what?  I just realized something.  That's my job."  I'm the Head Tech.  I should be supervising and ensuring that they are on task and getting things looked after.  I forget that sometimes, and I also forget how much I enjoy helping them.

I have to remember that when I get back to work Thursday and find my pile all backed up and untouched from today.