A few years back I sat across a table and talked to some people about my “strengths” and “weaknesses”. It was a job interview.
I can’t boast about having a whole lot of experience in that field of my life. However, the only advice I can definitely share with confidence is that honesty is always the best policy.
I used it – and I’m glad I was honest. I told these people – who were about to employ me – that I sucked at “admin”: Filing, filling in forms, logging whatever it is that I needed to log.
I would do what I was good at, no problem, but admin was (and remains) the thorn in my flesh that refuses to leave.
While I do not share an enthusiasm for admin related tasked such as paying bills, among others, I understand how necessary they are.
In my line of work, I am due what we refer to as a “performance review”.
This measures whether I am doing exactly what they need me to. It also helps me to discover the areas where I need to improve or change for the better.
As part of the process, we have an online form that needs to be filled in. It is a long form – truly tedious work, but necessary.
While working on my form, it got me thinking about how many of us feel the same way.
Forced into doing the mundane, unglamorous, behind the scenes work, where no one will know or remember what you did, can be disheartening – but is very necessary to our development.
It is only once we begin to see the results that we can quietly smile to ourselves and understand why we had to go through what we did.
I am generally an active person, and recently I decided to step it up a bit because I wasn’t happy about my waist size (can I get a witness?).
In an attempt to rectify this size matter, I decided to spend at least four days of the week on the road – running!
Painful stuff – unglamorous, and often done early in the morning when no one is there to see or acknowledge. It’s a different form of “admin” that is painful but necessary.
I often laugh at myself because just as I start running, I usually whisper to myself how much I hate this, but I know the satisfaction I get from just completing the task.
I am happy to say I am much happier with my waist size than I was at the beginning of the year!
Perhaps you have an aspect of your life you consider to be mundane admin – but I want to assure you that nothing is wasted.
These painful “watching-paint-dry” activities are not there just to punish you, but to build you. Stay the course and build some muscle.
You can’t determine how far you have run if you don’t actually start running and you can’t work out what to change, if you don’t fill in your performance review form.
The admin is painful, but necessary.
Put in the work!