In sickness and in health - my marriage to my work.

I blurred me cuz I look terrible!

I'm not feeling well, a terrible sore throat which woke me up because even in sleep the pain was too much.  I think it's my immune system reacting to a drop in stress. My body has been on active alert with its flight or fight hormones fully engaged for some time.  Now that I'm feeling better mentally my physical body reacts by getting sicker.  I find that interesting, points to the truth of evolutionary biology really.

My man has asked me to get rest, pointing out I only have two more weeks to get through before I become a part-time employee.  He need not fear, I once worked with a bad case of H1N1, overly committed am I.  This weekend I have spent some time in bed with my new MacBook Pro and instead of watching porn I've been busily working on stuff for my soon to be old job.  Suddenly I have a renewed interest in its success, perhaps freed from the constraints of total responsibility I have once again been able to pour my creative juices.  My brain is firing on all cylinders and I'm developing a detailed strategic plan for the new guy.  I am a planner by nature and know he is too overwhelmed to begin the process.  This plan will set him up for the next year to three although what he does with it is anyone's guess.  I don't have particularly high hopes he'll employ it because he seems a rather fly by the seat of his pants type.  In fact he said he enjoys crisis.  I on the other hand left my last lengthy employer because in my words, "I'm a fire preventer, not a fire fighter."  Organizational planning is critical and a significant reason why I'm leaving this position is because the owner failed in surplus years to put away for the lean.  My salary reduction as well as allowing critical positions to be cut to save money whilst significantly increasing risk was too much.  In order to 'sell' our product I had to believe in it and I no longer could, especially in the absence of a plan.

Why you might ask am I going to the trouble if the likelihood is it won't be used?  It gives me peace of mind for one thing.  I know the organizations' strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats like the back of my hand.  The new guy has never worked in this sector and it will take months for him to educate himself. I don't want to see the company fail because I withheld key information or failed to provide a framework.  A strategic plan will be his wisest place to start.  He can build on or scrap my objectives as long as he has some.  Secondly the exercise is well worth it for my new business.  Managing my departure like a project gets me in the frame of mind to do new ones.

I've worked on organizational goals, but it's important to have my own.  The short-term goals I'm setting for myself are simple.  Finish work with pride intact, leave room for long-term contractual relationships, have an enjoyable, pleasant home workspace  and take time to enjoy new freedoms.  The last part will likely be the hardest, but I'm damn well going to give it my bestest.

I've cleaned out a spare bedroom to make way for my first ever home office! Mind you today I've chosen cuddling under comforters with my Mac rather than finish painting.  The picture on the left is a picture from FlavaHomeDesign.  I like the simplicity of it's minimalist design.  Truth is my finished product will have bold colour, dark rich wood and quirky art, like the one lower down, but this image spoke to me.  Likely speaking to me because my current desk has been buried for far too long and although I have a huge window it overlooks a boring street, not green foliage.

I'm sick but well and I know you guys know what I mean.