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Ask Ella: How To Document Your Work Life

First A Thought


	Ella Kallish is a nationally syndicated columnist with 17 years experience marketing candidates directly to decision-makers inside business organizations throughout the United States. Her "Ask Ella" column now offers you personal, strategic and tactical advice on all your workplace questions. E-mail Your Question To Ella

Well, I don't know about you, but I'm more exhausted than ever by the work I do. It seems that no matter what I accomplish, I never feel like I'm doing enough to keep up with the new work pace evolving technology is setting for us. Why is that?

I caught a glimpse of the answer recently when I had to review boxes of old work files before discarding them. Work I had preformed prior to the use of computers and e-mail. I was dazzled at my work output level then. "Wow!" I thought. "I really had a better work ethic before the computer age -- or did I?"

Seeking further clarification, I examined old tax returns for this period. To my surprise, I made considerably less then than I do now even though I was using the same fee structures to bill out my work. How could that be if I felt, based on my review of all this hard copy information, that I worked harder and longer then?

And then it hit me -- it's the lack of hard copy evidence in the work place that's leading me astray in my opinion of my professional prowess and myself (for I believe I am what I do for a living). The evidence of all my hard work in today's technological age is now buried on my hard drive. No longer do I have physical, hard copy reminders of my accomplishments scattered about my office and desk that used to let me know what I was up to, the progress I was making, and the work I had succeeded in bringing to fruition.

Memos, documents, directives, correspondence, invoices now sent via e-mail have taken the tangible evidence of all my work out of the workplace equation. The old saying "out of sight out of mind" has been sabotaging my off-hours existence by creating a subliminal angst that continually nags at me and tells me that I could be doing more, accomplishing more, earning more -- making more of a difference.

Doing more? Wait a minute. Wait just a gall-darn minute here. It's not uncommon for me to wake up in the middle of the night to check my e-mail, and then send replies and then fall back to sleep thinking about what I've just done and how I need to follow-up on my follow-up. AGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGH!

I mean, think about it. How many of us find ourselves working around-the-clock now because we can only to go into the office the next morning and find the only thing sitting on our desk is a sleepy computer. Calendars, list of things to do, sent information, follow-up reminders and the like are now hidden away in stored files on a hard drive. I'm not less productive, I'm more productive, but now I have a lower opinion of myself as a professional. Doesn't seem fair does it? Doesn't seem right. This has got to stop or I'll be working in my sleep to catch up with a work-output standard that will forever, because of technical advances, move beyond my grasp.

Employers need to acknowledge that this "run amok" pace must be harnessed, managed and not left to lead by default. They must realize that while it may be possible to get more work output from employees in the short term, the "burn out" employees will eventually experience will increase the attrition rates of valuable, experienced professionals across the board.

What can I do? I'm not sure, but at least now I am beginning to get a sense of why I feel so exhausted and unproductive. From now on, I'm going to make sure that every now and then I take a step back from my work and make a physical list of all that I have accomplished -- today, this week, this month -- so that I can do what my parents use to be able to do: Work to live, not live to work.