Random Reflections while struggling to stay awake
Friday 9:30am
In the spirit of an assignment on acknowledgments due today
Last night we spent good times with our balikbayan friend Karon. I knew then that if we stayed up late I'd have a harder time waking up to be able to report at 9:30 AM, which is expected for Asia L2.5 DM. But I made the choice to spend that time because she was rarely in the country and she was our good friend. So now, in my struggle to stay awake, I was inspired to write a journal entry on a (+) note, for a change, and get my mind and energy flowing :p
I've written a lot of complaints in this journal. I don't make up stories; I simply narrate my experiences. And I'm not afraid to speak up and spread awareness (we shouldn't be).
My family (esp. my mom) and my fiance know the extent of my negative-thinking.
I've been accused of possibly spreading negative energy.
So in this refreshing change, I'm writing positively, specifically about being thankful for this aspect of my life - my semi-flex work schedule.
We went through elementary and high school with 7:30 classes everyday. We went through freshmen and sophomore year with block sections and with class timings we didn't have a say in, at least for the shared classes, and if we were unlucky we'd get assigned to a 7:30 class. I even had a judo class at 7:00 twice a week because I ran out of better P.E. classes at better schedules. But we managed.
I worked on rotating shifts for 3.5 years, with Asia shift as early as 5:00am or 8:00, and NALA shift starting at 12mn. That was coupled with my other roles. And I managed. All my teammates managed.
Now, my work schedule is 9:30am call time for Asia, 1:00pm call time for EMEA, and 10am call time for non-shift. Which is semi-flex because, for example, our Asia shift actually covers from 8am but we are expected to be in office not necessarily at that time but we can report by as late as an hour and a half. And that's not considered late - that was previously agreed upon. We never know when issues will arise - I just hope I'm already in the office when it does arrive. And if I had gimik after work I could go to the office as early as 8 or 9am and also leave earlier as long as I've completed my work hours. Gives us a sort of flexibility, right? ;-)
Given our history of ~12 years with 7:30 classes at school, my 3.5 years of 5am/8am Asia shift, being expected at the office at 9:30 or 10:00am, especially 1:00pm is a welcome change that I'm thankful for, and can be considered a luxury, even, if juxtaposed against my previous schedule. And just like any other luxury, I can only enjoy it while it lasts, because there's no guarantee that I will get the same privilege if I move to another role/team/company.
Given what I used to experience, I'm ok with my current work schedule. Naturally people on full-flex time have more control over their time, but a downside to that arrangement is that there is no supplemental pay for shifts. I, for one, can use the extra cash. I can only imagine working in an 8am-5pm company, where people insert cards on bundy clocks or prox ID's that record time in's and out's - totally not enticing especially given what I've been used to. But I don't need to worry about that now. Here, logging work hours in our official time tracking tool, or even leaves at our portal, is based on an honesty system, and works for us.
I'm not exactly a morning person, not the way my former roommate Geebee is. I wonder if anyone thought otherwise, but it's a personal struggle for me, too. I don't like having to wake up early, but if needed... As my manager would say during 1:1, it's simply "doing as expected." And it's more pressure as a team lead to be the example. And so almost everyday I have a personal battle with complacency. I almost always snooze my alarm and so I set it at an earlier time, so that even when I snooze it a couple of times I'd still have enough time to prepare and make it on time. But I know I don't have a perfect track record. I'm far from perfect. I can't always keep my emotions intact. I don't always see the good versus the bad. I'm sometimes late. My emotions sometimes get the better of me, and sometimes I don't even try to stop it. I can be really forgetful of things I should remember, while it can take me a long time to forget the things that I should. I can be impatient and selfish. I can go on and on about my flaws. But I know how to appreciate, and today I take the time to be thankful for what I have. I just remembered Ninoy's words from watching a video that George posted a link to before. Of course my situation is far from his, and is nothing compared to his, but I was reminded to remember God not only in times of despair.
There are a lot of things, aside from waking up early, that I don't like to do. Just like supporting ***. But I understand why we're doing it, why it needs to be done, who I'm supporting. Keep up, or get left behind. Soon, we'll go on rotating shifts for two months - a deja vu from the past. But I suppose if we survived it for a couple of years, we can do so for a couple of months. I was reminded recently that we choose what we do, and if we accept it then we give it our best shot. We don't necessarily have to like our decisions all the time (I distinctly remember a recent decision which I was so not happy with, hated even), just as long as we know why we're doing it. And remember that people won't know us from what we say, but from what they see us do. But I digress.
I'm certainly thankful for a lot of other things, not to be detailed on this post as this entry is simply about appreciating my work schedule and knowing this is not the norm. Sometimes I fail to appreciate that I'm lucky I have this kind of schedule, especially after experiencing rotating shifts for 3.5 years. I do recognize that we may have it easier than others, such as non-morning persons on 8-5 work hours for example, and I don't take that for granted. This is my personal reality check every time I have a hard time getting out of bed to go to work. And this why, every weekday, my alarm is my friend.
What are you thankful for? ;-)
P.S. This is where lack of sleep gets me :p
In the spirit of an assignment on acknowledgments due today
Last night we spent good times with our balikbayan friend Karon. I knew then that if we stayed up late I'd have a harder time waking up to be able to report at 9:30 AM, which is expected for Asia L2.5 DM. But I made the choice to spend that time because she was rarely in the country and she was our good friend. So now, in my struggle to stay awake, I was inspired to write a journal entry on a (+) note, for a change, and get my mind and energy flowing :p
I've written a lot of complaints in this journal. I don't make up stories; I simply narrate my experiences. And I'm not afraid to speak up and spread awareness (we shouldn't be).
My family (esp. my mom) and my fiance know the extent of my negative-thinking.
I've been accused of possibly spreading negative energy.
So in this refreshing change, I'm writing positively, specifically about being thankful for this aspect of my life - my semi-flex work schedule.
We went through elementary and high school with 7:30 classes everyday. We went through freshmen and sophomore year with block sections and with class timings we didn't have a say in, at least for the shared classes, and if we were unlucky we'd get assigned to a 7:30 class. I even had a judo class at 7:00 twice a week because I ran out of better P.E. classes at better schedules. But we managed.
I worked on rotating shifts for 3.5 years, with Asia shift as early as 5:00am or 8:00, and NALA shift starting at 12mn. That was coupled with my other roles. And I managed. All my teammates managed.
Now, my work schedule is 9:30am call time for Asia, 1:00pm call time for EMEA, and 10am call time for non-shift. Which is semi-flex because, for example, our Asia shift actually covers from 8am but we are expected to be in office not necessarily at that time but we can report by as late as an hour and a half. And that's not considered late - that was previously agreed upon. We never know when issues will arise - I just hope I'm already in the office when it does arrive. And if I had gimik after work I could go to the office as early as 8 or 9am and also leave earlier as long as I've completed my work hours. Gives us a sort of flexibility, right? ;-)
Given our history of ~12 years with 7:30 classes at school, my 3.5 years of 5am/8am Asia shift, being expected at the office at 9:30 or 10:00am, especially 1:00pm is a welcome change that I'm thankful for, and can be considered a luxury, even, if juxtaposed against my previous schedule. And just like any other luxury, I can only enjoy it while it lasts, because there's no guarantee that I will get the same privilege if I move to another role/team/company.
Given what I used to experience, I'm ok with my current work schedule. Naturally people on full-flex time have more control over their time, but a downside to that arrangement is that there is no supplemental pay for shifts. I, for one, can use the extra cash. I can only imagine working in an 8am-5pm company, where people insert cards on bundy clocks or prox ID's that record time in's and out's - totally not enticing especially given what I've been used to. But I don't need to worry about that now. Here, logging work hours in our official time tracking tool, or even leaves at our portal, is based on an honesty system, and works for us.
I'm not exactly a morning person, not the way my former roommate Geebee is. I wonder if anyone thought otherwise, but it's a personal struggle for me, too. I don't like having to wake up early, but if needed... As my manager would say during 1:1, it's simply "doing as expected." And it's more pressure as a team lead to be the example. And so almost everyday I have a personal battle with complacency. I almost always snooze my alarm and so I set it at an earlier time, so that even when I snooze it a couple of times I'd still have enough time to prepare and make it on time. But I know I don't have a perfect track record. I'm far from perfect. I can't always keep my emotions intact. I don't always see the good versus the bad. I'm sometimes late. My emotions sometimes get the better of me, and sometimes I don't even try to stop it. I can be really forgetful of things I should remember, while it can take me a long time to forget the things that I should. I can be impatient and selfish. I can go on and on about my flaws. But I know how to appreciate, and today I take the time to be thankful for what I have. I just remembered Ninoy's words from watching a video that George posted a link to before. Of course my situation is far from his, and is nothing compared to his, but I was reminded to remember God not only in times of despair.
There are a lot of things, aside from waking up early, that I don't like to do. Just like supporting ***. But I understand why we're doing it, why it needs to be done, who I'm supporting. Keep up, or get left behind. Soon, we'll go on rotating shifts for two months - a deja vu from the past. But I suppose if we survived it for a couple of years, we can do so for a couple of months. I was reminded recently that we choose what we do, and if we accept it then we give it our best shot. We don't necessarily have to like our decisions all the time (I distinctly remember a recent decision which I was so not happy with, hated even), just as long as we know why we're doing it. And remember that people won't know us from what we say, but from what they see us do. But I digress.
I'm certainly thankful for a lot of other things, not to be detailed on this post as this entry is simply about appreciating my work schedule and knowing this is not the norm. Sometimes I fail to appreciate that I'm lucky I have this kind of schedule, especially after experiencing rotating shifts for 3.5 years. I do recognize that we may have it easier than others, such as non-morning persons on 8-5 work hours for example, and I don't take that for granted. This is my personal reality check every time I have a hard time getting out of bed to go to work. And this why, every weekday, my alarm is my friend.
What are you thankful for? ;-)
P.S. This is where lack of sleep gets me :p