Library Web Chic

This morning while I was having a mocha in the coffeeshop across the street from the conference center where IL is being held, I ran into Scott Brandt who commented about how much work he was getting done while he was on the road. It made me think about myself and my productivity levels. When I’m at conferences I always feel very productive. I write more, code more, and get more “real” work done than when I’m in the office. This is especially true since I took the job at UH. Why the heck is that? Do I loaf all day at UH? Hell no, it is just the nature of the daily work at UH Libraries often doesn’t produce a tangible product. I spend a lot of my daily work time doing administria, pushing paper around, writing policy, managing projects, and informal and formal meetings. For someone who likes to see results, this makes it feel like I’ve done nothing. This is both amusing and frustrating all at the same time. So I have to keep reminding myself that my departments projects are my projects and I should feel a sense of accomplishment when we (my staff) finish something, even if I didn’t work on it. I also have to tell myself that the administratia needs doing, that the department and the web site will not operate smoothly if I don’t do it.

However, some days I just want to create something REAL! This is probably why I’ve been doing more cooking in the last year. Because when I come how from a day of administria it is nice to do something that produces actual results. My favorite days in the office are still when get to work on real code or install something and test it. It doesn’t get better than this because even though it is frustrating when stuff doesn’t work it is SO gratifying when it does work. I also like planning projects and systems because this also results in something tangible. However, these are just two components of my job and it varies how much of them I get to do while I’m in the office. At conferences the administratia disappears and I get to do the parts of my job I like best. So even though things are piling up at the office when I’m away, I feel more productive when I’m on the road because I’m creating real things.