Slow In, Fast Out

Last week, my work started off at a reasonable pace. There were only a few meetings on my calendar and there were several open blocks of time for deep work. The deadlines, and there were a couple, were manageable, and I had a robust plan.

One of Monday’s meetings grew into three more meetings on Tuesday and Wednesday.

While eating dinner on Wednesday, the new crown on my tooth cracked. This led to visiting the dentist on Thursday. I was gratefully they were able to work me in. But then I worked till 9:30 PM on Thursday to make up for lost time from the dentist and from extra meetings.

Friday ended with a push to get work out. People were waiting for it.

In racing cars, when you try to corner, they tell you, “Slow in, fast out”. Brake before you enter the corner, accelerate after. This keeps the car stable and saves you time. However, there is no advice to negotiate a curve that keeps changing. This is what last week felt like — I though I had a plan until the track changed midway through the corner.

At the root of these hyperactive situations is an incomplete or missing process. Cal Newport gets into this in A World Without Email. Give it a read if this feels like your life.

Resurfacing

I did some heavy lifting at work in the the past two weeks. Busy work weeks leave little energy to pursue writing or photography. I managed to photograph two models in that time but I neglected writing completely and rarely edited photos.

With these two weeks safely behind me I am starting to reflect on how my photography has changed since I bought the medium format camera.

1. I focus mostly on photographing people, models in particular. Landscapes don't catch my eye.
2. I struggle holding the TLR camera level in my hand. So I shoot exclusively with a tripod, a first in my photography career.
3. I rely heavily on editing with Photoshop. The Wacom pen-tablet is working out well. My post-processing has slowed down but I think I am doing better work.
4. Even after a difficult day I find it enjoyable to edit one photo really well on photoshop
5. I am getting more picky with the models I want to work with. I am desprarate to get some variety of age and ethnicity in my portfolio. I want to get a variety of genders too but no luck with non-female models so far.
6. More models are willing to travel to Lakeland to work with me; even from an hour away. My work now must be improving from my previous portraits.

One more thing: I don't struggle to find things to write about. I do struggle to find the time and mindset to write. I am chalking it up to busy work days. It is important that I learn to appreciate the ebb-and-flow of my creativity.

Work Work Work Work

This weekend was particularly productive.

My wife and I went to a three hour painting class on Saturday, did an Ikea run for a bookshelf for our craft room, had dimsum, went to lunch with her father, among other things.

Outside of this, I probably put in four hours of office work each on Saturday and Sunday.

But I don't feel tired. I am ready for Monday. I even feel rested.
I shouldn't, but I do.

I think here is why:

1. I was not alone working, others including senior management were working with me.
2. We were working on crafting a story to tell our customer that best represents the work we have been doing, and the work we plan to do in the next few years.
3. We have been working on this project for several months now... and this powerpoint is the first time our customer will get to see what we have been producing.
4. We have produced a kickass deck of slides by the end of Sunday... it is relevant and meaningful, it flows with good cadence, and it is devoid of redundant detail.

I don't have to work weekends usually and I feel grateful for it.

In the off chance that I do, I have found it rewarding and meaningful.

And for this, I feel even more grateful.