playing with the other way

[fflo]

I've been experimenting this week with T's approach to a stack of reviews to be edited: she takes the one on top and does it, then takes the next, and does it, enjoying the surprise, no clue what's next, we shall see. I'd gotten into the habit of sorting 10 or 20 galleys, mainly so's to know whether any particularly narly-lookin' ones were in there. Then doing the narly first, the mildy narly next, the potentially "a breeze" last. Coasting to the finish. Picking up the pace. Pulling out a decent rate per hour on the whole, though it started out at maybe 2 or even 1.5.

So this week I'm trying out taking it as it comes.

In general, I think it's a superior method.

It's when there are suddenly nothin' but narlies, or nearabouts, that one has one's doubts.

But here's a way of looking at it: which is the approach of the hopeless manager, desperate & afraid, and which is the approach of the easy-going Zen accepting contented one? When I think about it that way, I think I was crazy to let myself resort to that other way---a habit not just coming from but contributing to bogus expectations & deluded hopes, and just a whole mindset that seems an unwise road to let yourself go down.

In related news, I'm thinking there's a tongue twister to be invented. Something like, "Narly galley, Darla?" 3 times fast. If we make Darla surly, or something like that... Tongue twisters are fun only if they're at least kinda hard.

"Surly Darla's narly galley"?

Comments

[shmizla.livejournal.com]

reminds me of my approach to grading, only i knew the students' names and could sometimes anticipate easily what was coming. this was obviously very unfair at the beginning, but turned out to be quite interesting in cases when i wanted to read the best ones' first, so as to get the sense of what the best ones were like.

then it turned out the best ones were really bad, and it turned into a very fair approach for the poor sods who couldn't do anything at all, who could pass relative to the best (and still bad) ones, but who would have totally zeroed had they had only themselves and the whole wide world for reference.

[schroederjt.livejournal.com]

I usually go with the opposite approach, and save the heavy-lifting work for the end of the day. This sometimes works, because then when I reach my "ugh - get me out of here" point, it is usually time to go. Other times, it hurts my concentration because I can feel future messiness just lurking out there in the distance.

[homovegetarian.livejournal.com]

always early darla knows galleys, but narly galleys make early darla surly early.

[homovegetarian.livejournal.com]

always early darla knows galleys, but narly galleys make early darla a surly early girlie.

[fflo.livejournal.com]

I like it!

Here's the (all trochees) one I had going at work:

Surely, Darla, surly Shirley's narly galley's hardly sorely suffered.

[sprig5.livejournal.com]

where i work we pretty much have to work by varying deadlines-- this program wants this back first because it's related to their making a court-ordered deadline. This other thing is nice to do, but no firm deadline, so to the bottom of the stack. This other agency gave a duedate of X for this report, which must be done according to Act of Congress, etc., so we must make that....an office above us calls and wants something yesterday, so drop all of the above stuff and do that instead.