Navigating Fear and Priorities Around a New Job

Photo by Bonnie Kittle on Unsplash

I'm trying to build new habits. In November I'm starting a 3-month full-time temporary position. I'm scared because I haven't worked a traditional 8-5 day in over 3 years.

I'm excited to work with a communications team that is working towards common goals. I've never been on a team like that before. In my previous office jobs, I was usually a team of one with some help from other departments. I could get help editing or completing tasks, but the work wasn't collaborative.

I didn't love those situations for a variety of reasons. Those experiences made me bitter, and are part of why I wanted to freelance. But, I have to admit that working completely on my own, while I've loved it, can be a bit frustrating and lonely.

I've been reading the book Laziness Does Not Exist by Dr. Devon Price. Last night I came across a section that includes questions to help you evaluate your skills. One of the questions was:

How have my skills grown in the past year?

It's a question I can't answer. Because I work at arm's length with my clients, I don't get helpful feedback. I don't know what areas of my work need improvement, or where I'm getting better. I had one editor that did give me good feedback when asked, but she's on maternity leave right now. God, I miss her.

I'm hoping, that working in a team again will give me a chance to get more feedback like that. So I can answer a question like that. I don't know if my writing skills have improved over the past year. None of the editors I work for currently are actually professional editors. They're content managers or strategists. They don't have the professional editing experience or training to give me feedback.

So, I'm curious to see what it's like to work with a team towards common goals instead of being completely siloed. I'm excited to work in a collaborative environment so I can learn from others in my field. Luckily, the position is remote, so I’ll still be at home with my dog.

I also feel relieved that the position is only 3 months. When I first found out it was a mat leave, I worried about having to stay with a job for an entire year (Thanks ADHD). But, 3 months is perfect. It'll give me a sample without the scary commitment of a whole year. I know you can always quit a job, but I would feel bad leaving partway through a mat leave cover.

I'm attempting to settle into a new habit this week before the job starts. Waking up at 6:15 AM, do my morning pages, and then write 500 words for my own blog before I start work. This is also a concept I've taken from Dr. Price's book. They talked about restructuring their day to focus on doing the things they loved first. Since I start the temp job at 8:15, I'm going to get up early and do my own writing first.

Cheers to learning new things. Fingers crossed I can become a morning person again.