Remove R Comic [home]-Champions

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Champions by Gary Marks

2008-01-23

Remove R Comic (aka rm -r comic), by Gary Marks: Champions
Dialog:
Panel 1
Caption: Sometimes it's just the few that are crazy, not the whole world.

101

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The few, the proud, the overworked.
Gary
Recently I was asked about how busy work was. For me, that's a loaded question. Work is almost always busy. There are always emergencies, production issues, code that needs to be done ASAP, data corruption that needs to be fixed, etc. I am almost always busy. As is quite understandable, when you're always busy, you start to wonder why. I'm a problem solver. If I hear of a problem, I do my best to solve it ASAP, especially if that problem adversely effecting a client. At some point I guess I deemed myself champion of the company, a mantle that people shouldn't wear. This personality trait has lead me to be a good problem solver, and a very busy person, a go to person.

Now the first time I noticed this was happening, I blamed the department I was in, and since my life was suffering, I asked to be transferred. I was transferred, but I quickly picked up the systems in the new department and was once again swamped. At this point I blamed the company I was working for. The company had been downsizing a lot, and was in the middle of going under. Eventually I decided to leave. At the time I changed jobs, I was a part of 4 different departments, and rather burned out.

When I arrived at the next company, everything seemed good. I was learning a lot, things seemed slower, and I had more time for my life. In under a year, that all changed, and once again, I was swamped. I had picked up the systems, and was a go to person when something needed to be fixed quickly, or hacked, or redesigned, or designed initially. For a while I reveled in the rush of it, it was new and exciting, and I became extremely good at problem solving. Every now and then it would frustrate me, but then I'd find a balance for work and life. This went on for years. Eventually, you end up burned out close to 24/7, and that becomes more than one can handle. At this point I blamed it on the size of the company. After all, I had only ever worked for large companies, so I set forth trying to find a smaller company. I found one, and left my job for it.

Unfortunately, I quickly learned that the size of the company doesn't change the value of problem solving. The company I went to preached about giving a higher quality of life, when compared to larger companies, but in the end, my work weeks were 70+ hours. I had no time to do anything I enjoyed. It left me angry and annoyed, almost wishing I had never left my previous company. I couldn't however wish that, for I met Jen at this company, and made a good friend there too. (Something I realized a long time ago, if you enjoy or value any of your life, you can have no regrets, for any piece you would change of your life would make you a different person) So I left that company, looking for a better mix.

Everywhere I go, I end up getting burned out, over working to solve problems. It's not a good thing, but when I look back on it, I realize that it's not related to outside forces. In all of the companies, there were people in similar positions that simply decided that work had a timeframe, and problems didn't need to be solved. They found a balance, using the job to pay for their life. They found a way to see that the company was not theirs to save. If they didn't save it, someone else would, and so enters your champion. The problem was never external, it was always internal. For those of you who are always burned out, you may have to look around and see that the majority of the world isn't in that state. It's a choice for which I don't know the correct answer. You have the choice to let things fail and save your life, or to try and save the world at the expense of yourself. Just something to think about.

So, is my job/department busy? Yes, if you choose for it to be. No, if you can realize that if probably doesn't matter.

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