And I thought all that time I spent on LJ & the computer was a waste of time...
I had the feeling that all the time that I spend online at LJ and my computer in general was just a waste of time. Certainly it has been a great diversion, and it is fun, and writing and posting stories and commenting on other people’s posts and replying to comments to my posts has been very enjoyable.
But I realized recently that there are so many skills that I learned here at LJ and a few other online locations are what make me good at my new job.
Who knew that LJ could help me be a productive employee? Not me.
In my new job, I work for a non-profit company that has lots of products and each product is customized to each customer. When verifying information for people that call in it requires me to be able to locate information in a variety of locations the specifics for each product and benefit.
To compound that, my department also serves a four state area and each state has different regulations pertaining to ALMOST EVERYTHING.
There is so much to learn that the company’s training philosophy is NEVER to memorize the information because it can change daily. But to memorize WHERE to find the information and check each and every time so that current and accurate information is given out.
To do this it is common for me to have 15 or more windows open on my computer at one time. We have Google search windows in each application and it is actually very challenging, but at the same time I do get a sense of accomplishment as I am remembering exactly WHERE to find the information that I need, when I need it.
Additionally, they have set everything up for you to be able to figure everything out yourself. If you get stumped they have people who can help, but their first question is always, “Where did you look? What was your thought process?”
This is totally cool because I think that just working there for six weeks in an analytical and very regimented job that my brain is returning to the way that it was before taking all of the narcotic pain medications that I took for about six months when I had the neurological problems in 2007 and then finally had the neck surgery and got cured.
But when I stopped taking all of the narcotics I had insomnia and I also was very ‘fuzzy’ and couldn’t concentrate as well. I suffered from some intense ‘short attention span syndrome,’ (self diagnosed). This forced focusing has made me regain more and more of my left sided brain functions. And believe me, after over two years of not having that it is a tremendous relief to realize that it isn’t gone forever.
When I would know that I couldn’t do something that I could easily do three years ago I wondered if that was what it was like to get Alzheimer disease. To watch it slipping away and not be able to do anything about it. I have done Sudoku puzzles to try and get my left brain functioning again, but I had to go back to again start doing beginner puzzles. This is all the while I discovered that I could actually write fan-fiction and real life stories to post and share. Because that is all right sided brain stuff that I had been neglecting as a heavily analytical thinker.
That is so weird. Really. I used to read at least two or three books a week. In over two years I haven’t read a single book all of the way through. Isn’t that a horrible thing to admit? That my attention span is so short that I can’t read anymore? My best friend even gave me a book that has huge print and each chapter is maybe two pages tops and there is only a hundred pages in the book at the most, and I have only gotten through chapter ten.
But, this is all to say that just as I felt it slipping away, I am also capable of feeling it coming back. I am so happy about that fact that I can not adequately describe the joy that I feel.
I am attempting to try to read a whole book now. But I decided to be clever and take it in small pieces. I have the Stephen King book The Green Mile which when it originally came out was in six small parts. I am doing one at a time. I’m almost done reading the first segment and should finish that today.
To bring it all around full circle I can say that there are several things that are helping me get better with my left brain function.
My LJ Friends and the skills that I learned there and on the computer in general.
My Job and the way they set it up for the employees to succeed and be self sufficient.
My best friend who encourages me with each little victory that I have, who buys me books, and who I am starting to play chess with online so that I can exercise my brain.
I have much gratefulness and gratitude for having these things in my life. I am definitely blessed in ways that surprise me every day.
Without all of these things I think that I’d still be on the downhill slide instead of realizing that I have finally switched directions and now I am back on the upward swing. That I am going to be okay in the long run.