Tuesday, March 19, 2013

It Feels Like So Much More

I work 6 days a week - or at least parts of those 6 days. Sometimes it feels as if I get up, go to work, go home and go to bed, get up, go to work, ...

When I total the hours that I work each week, though, it's not 40 or even 35.

There are other factors, however, that make it seem as if I'm working all the time. One is that many of the work days are not "full" as in 7.5 or 8 hours. The remaining hours get absorbed by unmemorable things like food shopping or running other errands.

Also, prep time for the Information Organization class is several hours and then I arrive on campus early so that I can do some photocopy and get set up before the students arrive. I spend time on "background professional stuff" like reading AUTOCAT posts so that I can keep up with what's going on in the cataloging world.

And there are the senior exercise classes. Only 2 hours each week, but again I arrive early to set up the room and stay until it's put back together again. Even with exercisers always helping, I feel that it's my responsibility to make sure it's done well.

Other activities to remember include serving as Chair of the Hatfield Library Board of Trustees (monthly meetings) and serving on the Board of the Friends of UMass Amherst Libraries (meetings twice a year). Both of those offices involve more than just attending the meetings. As Trustee Chair, I spend some time preparing the agenda and making sure it is posted according to Massachusetts Open Meeting Laws.

All-in-all, it looks as if I easily work (including volunteer work) a full work week.

So that's where all the time goes!

No comments:

Post a Comment