Career Advice For Extremists?

It’s Sunday evening, it’s 6 pm, my generous husband has just said the words “your dinner will be ready in 10 Minutes”. I had to take a deep breath…. You see, what I was looking at was the nearly completed first coat of emulsion. I was applying this after a weekend’s hard graft of prep. work in “The Cupboard Under the Stairs”, as we call the downstairs toilet. It was unlikely that it was gonna be done in ten minutes…..

I wanted to growl …. and let my husband know that: I. Wanted. The. Job. Finished!

Conversely, I was actually shaking with exhaustion…I am my own worst enemy!

The downstairs toilet might be small, but there was more prep to be done in that tiny space than in the whole of the house put together. I have been avoiding doing this but I’d Work for SEVEN years for good reason….So. I. Wanted. The. Job. Finished.

But actually, my husband was absolutely right. I was beyond exhausted. I was beyond “hangry”. Despite the house being covered in a layer of decorators dust an inch thick (how does it spread so far and wide!?). Despite the kitchen being full of decorating kit. Despite the fact that I hadn’t even negotiated that I would be disappearing under the stars for most of the weekend leaving him on “dad & domestic duties”… he had stepped over all of that and cooked.

What struck me was that had he not intervened, I would actually have persisted at that job until I literately dropped! Why would I do that???? Because that’s a way of being that is bizarrely a preference of mine…. the more stressed I am the harder I work. And, is my work any good when I push myself beyond my limits? No! It’s all very well getting an adrenaline rush from meeting a deadline… but it’s not sustainable. No gloss work, project or team effort is gonna realise its true potential if those involved haven’t taken the time to meet their most basic of needs.

Is this ringing any bells? Do any of you have to keep going until the job is finished? Whether you have eaten or slept, whether you are dehydrated or exhausted? Does it really improve the quality of your work and do you actually appreciate crossing the finish line of a project if you are on your hands and knees by the time you get there?

if I said “pace yourself” would this aggravate you? Yep! Me too! but mainly because I know that the advice giver is right! Grrr! … My SatinWood was nigh on perfect having eaten before its application …