Die A.S.A.P D-I-E!!
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Qatar Exhibitions, Qatar Conferences, Qatar News, Qatar Press, Qatar Blog
I'm so against this four-letter word. And I'm not kidding about it. |  |
Date:
11/19/2009 | |
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My name is Wairimu and *hic* I’m an ASAP addict. Explains why this blog is three weeks overdue. When the blog manager asked me “When do you plan on submitting your blog?” in that I-have-a-better-chance-getting-Obama-to-dress-in-drag-than-getting-your-blog-up-within-the-next-fortnight look, I decided to invoke the dreaded “ASAP!!!” and with it came my Cherie Blair cartoon exaggerated grin. ASAP is the reason (excuse) why this blog comes late, after weeks of saying yes to every task under the Doha sun because I’m the girl being graded against all these guys and I wanted that A. I got two A’s actually thank you very much: Anxiety Attack.
A plague on the bootlicker who came up with ASAP. As Soon As Possible?? Thanks to that genius, many bosses (I do miss the one boss I have had who was the exception to the rule) around the world are impotent when it comes to setting priority levels for work they assign their subordinates. “Hey, can you get me the SWOT analysis we worked on this morning, ASAP?” Uhmm do you want that before or after the Management Information system report for the month, the productivity report for the AJB project, the activity sheet of the operations department for the last week ooooooor the progress report on the ongoing projects because you asked for all of them, ASAP, in the last four minutes. Now because of ASAP our stress levels are higher, we’re all knifing each other in the back, racing each other with great tidings of bare hands to wipe the boss’ bottom and essentially running up our own backs trying to meet impossible deadlines in times that wouldn’t even give a person a chance at a decent sneeze.
No, I like ALAP so much better. As Late As Possible. If the report is due Tuesday morning 8:00 a.m. have it on the boss’ desk by hmmmm 7:40 a.m.? And please not the previous week, that very day. Yes I can sense a few of your boss’ pets gasping. You don’t want to give your boss the morbid idea that you can’t finish tasks as fast as Venus can whack that ball? Hate to admit it but I’m a boss pleaser. Please can you give me more work, boss please? Please can I do your work too? Please can you ignore me while I have a nervous breakdown? Jack(lyne) of all trades, master of none. One of our greatest enemies in the workplace is being pulled in a dozen directions doing everyone else’s work and then when we’re all exhausted putting overtime (for which there is no pay, unless you consider eye bags payment in kind) trying to summon our energies to produce a report that’s needed ASAP, we find that report is the same one your boss is now using as a coaster for hi cups of coffee.
The point I am getting to in a round-about-really-wondering-what-my-point-is way is that there needs to be a healthy balance between being excessively productive and procrastination. Do the work, do it well but don’t try to impress the boss by beating the deadline by 2 weeks. Because all that’s going to happen is you will have more work slapped onto you and when you do begin coming apart at the seams, your boss and your colleagues will be at a loss to figure out why this lady who could have in a report a minute is now crumbling under pressure.
So slay the ASAP dragon. Embrace ALAP. At the very least, you’ll save on the eye bag creams.
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