As I walked in to sit down at my desk as the Office Manager for Trinity Baptist Church, I found a basket full of goodies and a card full of kindness welcoming me to my new position.
Throughout the week, people TXT to see how I was adjusting to the new role.
To be honest, I adjusted quickly and fell in love with every minute of my week. That’s partly to be expected. The honeymoon phase of any new job is always an exciting time.
But there were things I didn’t realize I would appreciate.
1. Accountability for Time
After working as a salaried employee for nearly two decades, I wasn’t sure I would adjust to punching a time clock. It turned out, the time clock was an accountability partner I had been missing. As much as I wanted to roll out of bed at 4 a.m. and head to my new job, I couldn’t punch in until 9 a.m. And as much as I wanted to stay until I was done with a project, I had to leave at 4 p.m. It was amazing. At the end of the week, everything on the “must accomplish” list was done. The things on the “need to accomplish” list were okay waiting until the next week.
I recognized God had placed a time clock in my path for the first 30 days of my new role (after which I will probably go salary) because He knew I needed help reprioritizing my time.
2. Work Life Balance
Every morning I got up and cooked breakfast, caught up on chores, and was present with my family. There was no sense of urgency to check emails, respond to missed messages from throughout the night, or monitor social media accounts.
I was home in time in the afternoons to play games with my daughter and cook dinner.
But the oddest part came on Friday morning, when we headed off for a 3 day getaway as a family. As we were walking through our state Capitol building on a tour, I realized I didn’t feel an internal guilt for not being focused on work. I didn’t have a phone in my pocket going off, which meant I never had to say, “Hold on kiddo, Mommy has to take this,” to a child who just wanted my undivided attention. Instead, I was just present.
3. Get Unlost with Focus
Life is full of paths you can take in the form of career titles and projects. It’s easy to get so busy saying “yes” that before you know it, you feel lost in the woods, overwhelmed with the multitude of paths you need to complete before you can get out. In doing so, you not only become ineffective, but you also lose your focus on your purpose.
My new boss sat me down on Day 1, and we outlined goals for the week.
Midweek, I brought my eight year old daughter into see my new office. She asked me what I did most days. So I showed her the graphics I was building that would be used in multiple areas and explained some of my responsibilities.
“Can I come help you Mommy, that looks fun?” she replied.
“It is fun,” I thought, realizing I was enjoying the process of what I do again.
Ecclesiastes 4:6 reads, “Better one handful with tranquillity than two handfuls with toil and chasing after the wind.”
