Teach them to fish and they will eat for a lifetime."
Typically I am overly helpful to my "customers" and do not only do my job, but theirs as well. I figure things will roll more smoothly and get accomplished in a much more timely fashion if I just do them myself. I can assume, thinking about this subject as I type this, that part of this behavior is me wanting to be in control, and part of it is me just wanting to get things done. Unfortunately, this behavior has led many people to take advantage of my willingness to help, and doesn't allow me to get my own work done.
Despite fearing being not liked, or being "suddenly uncooperative", when asked to create a contract today, I pushed back and said no. I explained to my "customer" how they could create the document themselves, and then signed off. In my head, despite feeling guilty, I kept telling myself, "I have to teach them how to fish...". Later, I was pleasantly surprised to read a thank you email from my customer and that also, she had happily created the paperwork she needed. Hopefully this is the start of getting my desk back in order instead of it looking like a mass grave where trees have come to die and turn into folders and paperwork.
No comments:
Post a Comment