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Blocking Time

In a new job while still learning the lay of the land, a person is often unable to decide which meetings they need to attend and which ones are okay to skip. This is specially true of places where chaos and churn are the order of the day. I found myself advising my mentee on the topic recently and it occurred to me that what applies to her ( a young person just starting out in her career) applies to older folks like me too. The new job stress is similar in many ways. If you take longer than a few months to establish control of your calendar, it is likely you never will. Being quadruple booked all times of day will just become the norm and you will find yourself overwhelmed every day. 

What is more with time zone differences that person who failed to claim their space and time will be starting their day very early and ending very late. I had one of my sales guys in mind as I was advising my mentee B. He is about my age and and lives alone. H works what appears to be round the clock and almost never takes any time off. He has been in this mode for decades and seems to be okay with it. Young people like B see someone like H and come to the misguided conclusion that his way of life is for everyone - they just need to work harder to become acclimated to it. It takes a decade and some serious burnout to realize that not everyone is cut out to be be an H and there is no shame in that. It is okay to need and want a slower pace, be unwilling to work round the clock, not respond to everything in real time. All of those people end up okay as well. B is a dancer and a pianist in life outside work and I hope for her sake that she sees her passions as things to invest in even more now that she is on a career track.

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