Wednesday, July 9, 2014

Inspiration for Work/Life

The end of our financial year is coming up at work and it's crunch time.  We're drowning in spreadsheets, letters, and phone calls; development at nonprofits is (or should be) consistent throughout the year, but there's always a push just before the budget closes no matter how well the department has been doing.  I scrolled through Pinterest last night in an attempt to escape from the numbers, but our goals and projections are filling practically every waking moment of my life these days and so I read each inspirational quote as though it were specifically about arts fundraising.

Here are five that I'll be keeping in mind between now and July 31.  Do any speak to what you do professionally?







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15 comments:

  1. Well my current work is housewife stuff and I have to say that the first one speaks to me when I get really stressed about if my house is as clean as it should be with me being home!

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  2. the way I do housework, the second is relavant too! that's probably not a good thing... haha

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  3. I think it's applicable always no matter where :)

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  4. "Don't mistake activity with achievement," is exactly the discussion I was having with my husband last night. I was saying how my job as caretaker of the home never truly accomplishes anything because the house constantly needs to be cleaned, even right after it has just been done, while when he works on a project for the house, he can see what he's accomplished and it's not just busywork. He was saying how my activity is just as important because we're not going to live in filth obviously, but I feel like I'm spinning my wheels when I could be sewing something or doing something for my side-life at Milo and Molly.

    So that doesn't really have anything to do with arts fundraising (sorry) but that one totally jumped out at me. Just being busy doesn't necessarily mean you're getting something done. I think I found my next blog post. :)

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  5. "Don't mistake activity with achievement" ... this is a bit hard to hear first thing in the morning! I agree with what Kristen says about feeling like we're "spinning our wheels" sometimes. This is good to be mindful of, but not very comforting! Best of luck with the busy times.

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  6. it IS hard to hear - that's why I need to remind myself of it constantly! I can play in Excel all I want, but that's not going to bring in the money. I have to be OUT there! (thank you!)

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  7. I think I was being more closed minded that I realized when I wrote out that question at the end! "Professional" or not, we all have jobs to do, and one job is not more important than any other regardless of salary (or lack thereof).

    But I totally get the feeling of constantly needing to be working on the same things - we have annual renewals at work, so that task never comes off the to-do list on my desk!

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  8. Ha! I didn't even see the question! Or if I did, it didn't register to me in that way! Anyway, right now professionally I don't feel like I'm spinning my wheels because I get to control when I work on the Etsy stuff. Right now it's more of a problem of abject non-motivation to do anything, so I don't!

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  9. All of them together make some kind of perfect statement about how to work hard but not to expect. Focusing on making progress and achieving through the doing, but also not just doing for the sake of doing but the sake of something... I'm currently in a state of feeling like I'm doing but never achieving and maybe it's time to change my perspective to make it feel like the doing IS the achieving. Thanks Betsy.

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  10. As a bit of a perfectionist, another saying that I have to keep reminding myself about at work is 'Done is better than perfect'. It's so easy sometimes to focus on details and making endless tweaks and edits, so knowing when to say enough is enough and to declare something finished is really important. Important but tough sometimes when you're keen to do an amazing job!

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  11. My dad has talked my mom, my sister, and I all off the perfectionist ledge several times, when we're approaching deadlines and feel like what we've done isn't good enough, that it needs more work, that it needs more tweaking. "Just hit send" has become a little bit of a family motto. All you can do on a project is do your best, but there comes a point where you just can't give it any more, where if you do, it'll consume your life. Then you just hit send.

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  12. YES "the doing is the achieving" LOVE THIS

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  13. very true! this is a huge problem for me with my writing - sometimes you just need to get it out there!

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  14. amen. AMEN. especially when there's a deadline :P

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