4 answers
Savannah
Student
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What's the hardest part of your professional day?
When your at work, what part of your day do you find the hardest? Is it a project your working on? Or is it just a daily task?
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4 answers
Madi Martinez
Product Manager, Project Manager, Customer Success
8
Answers
Charlotte, North Carolina
Updated
Madi’s Answer
Hello Savannah,
The most challenging aspect of my job, I've found, is maintaining a healthy work-life balance, especially since I work remotely when I'm not on the road for work. With my office, computer, and cell phone always within reach, it can be quite a task to fully disconnect. However, I've learned that I need to be proactive in safeguarding my personal time, whether that's time spent with my family or time dedicated to working out. Sometimes, I even block out my calendar for workout sessions or make a point not to bring any devices to the dinner table. This has been an ongoing challenge for me for over a decade. I hope this insight is helpful to you!
The most challenging aspect of my job, I've found, is maintaining a healthy work-life balance, especially since I work remotely when I'm not on the road for work. With my office, computer, and cell phone always within reach, it can be quite a task to fully disconnect. However, I've learned that I need to be proactive in safeguarding my personal time, whether that's time spent with my family or time dedicated to working out. Sometimes, I even block out my calendar for workout sessions or make a point not to bring any devices to the dinner table. This has been an ongoing challenge for me for over a decade. I hope this insight is helpful to you!
Thanks for your encouragement!
Savannah
Karen Murray
Network Engineer
3
Answers
Winchester, Massachusetts
Updated
Karen’s Answer
Hello! Thanks for the question. I find one of the more difficult aspects of working is the ability to focus on a task while getting a constant stream of instant messages, e-mails, texts and phone calls throughout the day. I try to put aside time when it is generally quiet - for me fist thing in the morning - when I can really focus on an involved or complex task. During this time, I don't check my emails or texts and will sometimes put my instant messaging into Do Not Disturb. I find if I do this, I am so much more productive and creative in solving problems. For example, I can get done in an hour what would take a whole afternoon.
I also find if I set aside some time each day to prioritize what is important to complete for that day, it helps me work on the most impactful things vs. wasting time on doing thins that aren't really important.
I also find if I set aside some time each day to prioritize what is important to complete for that day, it helps me work on the most impactful things vs. wasting time on doing thins that aren't really important.
Thank you for the advice, Karen!
Savannah
Connor Adams
Technology Consultant
28
Answers
Provo, Utah
Updated
Connor’s Answer
Hi Savannah,
Personally, there are many challenges as a technology consultant where our client is facing a certain issue and I am not sure about a solution. I have been in my career for a little over 3 years and there are lots of things and questions people ask me and I don't know the answer and I have to invest a lot of time into finding the answer or figuring it out. It is true that lots of information is available online and we can simply search it. For a lot of my work this isn't possible so it takes a lot of collaboration with my coworkers and a lot of deep thinking. I have actually come to enjoy the task of figuring out hard things that I previously didn't know but the enjoyment only comes at the end once it is figured out.
I'd say an honorable mention here is communication. This can come with coworkers and clients. Due to the nature in consulting of working with so many different types of people sometimes it is difficult to figure out what exactly the ask or issue is and what that person wants you to do about it. We use words to communicate but sometimes when you are working with someone now that communication can be interpreted in various different ways. The better you are at communicating the better you will do at your work regardless of what you do or who you work with. A very underrated skill and definitely a challenge.
Goodluck!
Personally, there are many challenges as a technology consultant where our client is facing a certain issue and I am not sure about a solution. I have been in my career for a little over 3 years and there are lots of things and questions people ask me and I don't know the answer and I have to invest a lot of time into finding the answer or figuring it out. It is true that lots of information is available online and we can simply search it. For a lot of my work this isn't possible so it takes a lot of collaboration with my coworkers and a lot of deep thinking. I have actually come to enjoy the task of figuring out hard things that I previously didn't know but the enjoyment only comes at the end once it is figured out.
I'd say an honorable mention here is communication. This can come with coworkers and clients. Due to the nature in consulting of working with so many different types of people sometimes it is difficult to figure out what exactly the ask or issue is and what that person wants you to do about it. We use words to communicate but sometimes when you are working with someone now that communication can be interpreted in various different ways. The better you are at communicating the better you will do at your work regardless of what you do or who you work with. A very underrated skill and definitely a challenge.
Goodluck!
Thank you so much for your response!
Savannah
Ray Koch
Mechanical Reliability Engineer
29
Answers
Indianapolis, Indiana
Updated
Ray’s Answer
Hello!
I would say the hardest part of my day is remembering to take care of myself. By this weekend mean, taking breaks, even if it's just to get up and walk around although can often include taking lunch at a reasonable time or even to stay hydrated. I think there tend to be two reasons for this. (1) A lot of my day can involved meetings and unfortunately those meetings tend to be back to back to back and rarely stay on time. There have been days where I have meetings after meeting scheduled with no break to even use the bathroom let alone take lunch. (2) I have a bad habit of getting lost in tasks that require a lot of concentration and at times have simply worked through lunch or past quitting time without realizing it until after the fact. This is a personal issue and j have tried to work on it by doing things like setting timers or alerts for to get my attention and remind me to take a break. My fitness watch is great for this as it tends to alert me when I've been sitting too long.
One of the hazards of being a salary employee in many fields is that it's not just a 40 hour work week with an 8 hour day and set things like lunch and breaks. You don't tend to punch a timecard or track hours and as such breaks can often be forgotten or overlooked. Another difficulty is the "working lunch" that I feel like has become common where meetings or training will be scheduled at lunch time with the lure of free food so that you don't completely notice you are loosing the down time that come with a lunch break.
This has become a bit easier now that I work remotely. I have two dogs who's need to go outside or be played with/petted help to take breaks. Like many I have also started to block off lunch time in my online calendar to (1) stop people from scheduling meetings at that time and (2) remind/alert me to take the break.
Hope this answers your question.
I would say the hardest part of my day is remembering to take care of myself. By this weekend mean, taking breaks, even if it's just to get up and walk around although can often include taking lunch at a reasonable time or even to stay hydrated. I think there tend to be two reasons for this. (1) A lot of my day can involved meetings and unfortunately those meetings tend to be back to back to back and rarely stay on time. There have been days where I have meetings after meeting scheduled with no break to even use the bathroom let alone take lunch. (2) I have a bad habit of getting lost in tasks that require a lot of concentration and at times have simply worked through lunch or past quitting time without realizing it until after the fact. This is a personal issue and j have tried to work on it by doing things like setting timers or alerts for to get my attention and remind me to take a break. My fitness watch is great for this as it tends to alert me when I've been sitting too long.
One of the hazards of being a salary employee in many fields is that it's not just a 40 hour work week with an 8 hour day and set things like lunch and breaks. You don't tend to punch a timecard or track hours and as such breaks can often be forgotten or overlooked. Another difficulty is the "working lunch" that I feel like has become common where meetings or training will be scheduled at lunch time with the lure of free food so that you don't completely notice you are loosing the down time that come with a lunch break.
This has become a bit easier now that I work remotely. I have two dogs who's need to go outside or be played with/petted help to take breaks. Like many I have also started to block off lunch time in my online calendar to (1) stop people from scheduling meetings at that time and (2) remind/alert me to take the break.
Hope this answers your question.
Thank you so much! This really helps!
Savannah