Monday At The Zoo

So it's been a week after another of looooongggg full day meetings at work. I am starting to pick up the habit of taking cabs for early morning meetings and when returning home at night. Not that I'm complaining - it's good exposure for me in an industry entirely foreign to me. It's the quickest, and most practical way of learning about the business. My only complaint is it zaps you physically, and i find myself mentally blanking out like a zombie. Sitting through a full day of meetings in business planning for programs, countries AND summarized meetings of these day long meetings to people from other departments and updating them, getting their buy-in, etc etc etc can be trying. AND make you claustrophobic. Today, we sat through a day long meeting in a room where there are no windows, and where one side of the wall is made of glass. So anyone and everyone walking along the corridor can see the bunch of us cooped up in the fish tank bowl. I have a good mind to start learning how to blow bubbles to add entertainment value to all those who pass by and stare. Some even wave like they are visiting a zoo or museum and we are subjects of observation.

Yes, I do feel claustrophobic. It does get difficult to breathe at times. The irony is that while I fight claustrophobia in the fish tank meeting room, it only gets difficult to breathe when I finally am released to return to my desk at 6 pm in the evening to start my REAL work. I have so many unread emails that all sender names and subject topics are blurring into one unrecognisable list of unreal communication flags. What makes those emails more unreal is that while I have been given the job of co-leading with my boss on marketing programs for our department, many automatically assume everything falls under my responsibility. Uploading of files into common access area, announcements to the entire department of changes that individuals have made, requests for weekly meetings that track item for item from individual countries, as well as training in the SOFTWARE that we are using for our presentations for consistency's sake, yada yada yada ... are suddenly perceived as my responsibility.

And I have gotten feedback from my boss that I am too nice and need to make people stick to their deadlines. Argh. My ever fatal flaw. Not that I'm such a nice person, but I when I pile people with work, I get guilt pangs about taking their time away from their family and kids, potentially the cause agent of hypertension, heart problems, stress disorders.... ok, so I'm neurotic.

So at the end of the day when I am done with my day long meetings, at 6 pm in the evening, I have a document I need to complete for my US office for a meeting due in Aug, 3 newsletter launches due NOW, and corresponding internal websites due TOMORROW, and one external product brand site for relaunch in Sept. My colleague who's the e-administrator for all my web and online projects started worrying last week, and I'm sure is panicking now. Having only slept 3 hours last night, I decided to make my way home after replying the few critical emails in my inbox.

There passes one Monday in the life of this busy executive. Oh, how i have missed blogging.