This serene setting is literally the view from my girlfriends front door. We were sitting having coffee one morning, when I was so taken by the view that I quickly took these photos and added them to Facebook with the caption “it’s a tough life but someone’s got to do it.”
Life is unpredictable and that is what makes it great. If everything we did was the same everyday, yes it would be safe but also boring. One of the things I love about mental health nursing is that no day is ever the same. It’s the interactions with people that make the difference and change the course of the day. I see being unpredictable as adding the following to my life:
Uniqueness
Never boring
Passion
Richness
Enjoyment
Daring
Individuality
Change
Trust
Adventure
Brilliance
Learning
Experience
Unpredictability makes life more exciting, like the difference between riding the rapids or a calm stream. A mixture of both allows us to use all of our skills.
Do you thrive under pressure or crumble at the thought of it? Does your best stuff surface as the deadline approaches or do you need to iterate, day after day to achieve something you’re proud of?
When I have a deadline “keep calm and plan is my motto.” I plan my timetable to make sure the job gets done on time and I allow enough extra time for life to get in the way as it invariably does. I cannot work all through the night to get the job done as my head doesn’t work when I am tired—I need a plan. I break my task down into small achievable chunks that I can join together to succeed.
For me the secret is working out a way that I can look after myself by doing everything I want to and still meet the deadline. Recently I have been given a weekly deadline at work for one of my managers reports each week. As this was initially thrown upon me I struggled the first week but got the job done. Moving forward I plan my week around long and short days depending on what night I am attending Toastmasters. Each week the task is getting easier and I feel myself getting more organised as a result.
Another secret I have for dealing with deadlines is to complete the most difficult task first. I find this takes up the most time and once the difficult task is completed I am usually on the home stretch which motivates me to keep going.