Beginning at the Beginning
Nearly a whole month into my new job, I think I’m beginning to get my feet under the table. I won’t write too much about the details of the job, as a lot of what I do is confidential, and I also need to be careful not to breach the “acceptable use of IT” policy (one of many policies and procedures I’ve read recently!).
So here are a few things I love about my new job:
- I spend time driving around this beautiful county, which means that I might spend my lunch hour one day in Bodmin, another day at a National Trust property and another day on a beach!
- I’m working for a great team and meeting new people every day.
- I’m given time to read policies and procedures, attend meetings etc.
- I’m in control of my calendar. If I’ve got too much going on, I can say “no”.
- Staff wellbeing seems to be very important, and my boss has been very cautious about giving me too much to do initially as she doesn’t want to overload me.
And here are a few things I’m not so sure about:
- I don’t have enough to do! I’m looking at my calendar for Monday and I don’t have anything to do on Monday morning. Later in the week I’m jampacked with appointments, but on days when I don’t have any, I’m not sure what I can do apart from check-in with clients and make sure they’re okay.
- I can see ways to improve the efficiency of the service already, but because I am very new and at the bottom of the ladder, it’s really not my place to say anything.
It was very unnerving starting with no real idea of what I was going to be doing or what a week would look like, but I was at ease straight away with a couple of days spent sorting out technology and getting my head around the service, then getting logged on to all the different systems and getting mandatory e-learning done. I then spent two weeks shadowing colleagues and by the end of that I was desperate to get going. Now I’ve got started it’s easier to see what I don’t know, and to ask the right questions. I’m looking forward to getting started on the next phase this week coming.
Having more time available has a tendency to lead to more procrastination rather than less!
And in other news?
We had my lovely father-in-law to stay last week. My mother-in-law died in January and he’s been going through a very tough time so it was lovely to have him here and take him out for a potter around Charlestown and a trip to Padstow, as well as for him to spend some time with his grandchildren.
I’m feeling a lot more chilled out about life in general at the moment, partly because I have more time available. So I have washing on the line and it’s raining? Just leave it there, it’ll dry eventually! I’m loving spending time just chatting with my children, who are at an age where they really need someone to hear them.
Life is good!