Captain Productivity....Up, up, and away!

So, I have been out of town the past two weekends. It's resulted in my apartment being a general disaster all week, so I'm gonna clean up my mess, and then hopefully still feel enough motivation to apply for a job or two.

I've already loaded the crochet projects into their appropriate baskets, made coffee, sorted laundry, put the clean dishes away.

Right now, I've got the timer going for a load of laundry. I have four more lovely, color-coded mounds taking up the living room floor. It's a laundry rainbow, but I guess that's what happens when you wait 3 weeks to do laundry--towels, bedding, bathrobe, all the random extras need washed at once. I wore most of my jeans at least 3 times.

I've got a stack of receipts and mail next to me to sort and log. I will sort the mail into piles for filing, shredding, and responding. I log all my receipts into a notebook with categories of spending so that I can see how much I am spending and assess how I can improve my finances. My budget is pretty tight, so it's important to know where I stand. Right now I stand in a mound of receipts because I've been on the road a lot, and that happens. This will have been a pricy month. Hopefully October will be like August...surprisingly cheap.

After that, I think I will make zucchini bread to work as breakfast. I have a rule when it gets down to the last month-or-so before I move that I have to be very creative with my food and eat what I have. I ran out of cereal yesterday, so the baking supplies will be developing breakfasts for the remainder of my time here. I think when I get down to the bare bones of my fridge, freezer, and cupboards, I will buy 1 bag of  potstickers and 1 of edamame for my dinners. I will perhaps buy a few sale microwave box meals for lunch at work. Potstickers smell like feet when microwaved, and it's never a good idea to make your work environment smell like that.

Of course, the cat crawled into my lap while I've been blogging, and that always ruins my motivation to do anything. This morning she was curled up next to me on the bed, so I read the first 50 pages of Water for Elephants instead of getting up. I really do need to apply for jobs though, and I'd also like a relaxing bath to perhaps indulge in more reading about circus folks, so I'd best clean up this place. A serious vacuuming should be in order after the laundry rainbow is washed, dried, and folded and no longer on the floor.

"On Keeping a Notebook"

I just read Joan Didion's "On Keeping a Notebook," courtesy of my friend Brigit's blog (that's brig + it, not bridge + it).

As a side note, Brigit is the original source of my nickname Schurl. I owe her for it. It has become my unique identifier. The one separated out from family history and background. It's me, as the person I have made of myself, not defined by where I come from.

Anywho, back to "On Keeping a Notebook." I read it, and while some moments were so distant to me that I was only skimming and not absorbing, other's hit like a brain freeze, forcing a strange sort of self reflection.

Reading what Didion wrote about why she keeps a notebook was like reading about myself. It made me feel like an ethereal poet. Somehow above this world and removed from it in an empowering spiritual way. It also made me feel hollow, removed -- hopeless. I will never be enough in touch with reality to be happy with the way things are. I'm in my own little world, both beautiful and empty, toggling back and forth between pride and self-dejection.

This all sounds very melancholy, but it's this toggling perspective that drives me to do something meaningful, yet hopefully keeps me humble after I accomplish things. It's not bad, just difficult.

Productivity--Always Difficult to Define

So I've been pretty productive.

1. I cranked out a miniature crochet object that will remain mysteriously non-descript for now.
2. I have finished the basic form of the bluebird hat for my mom, complete with wing-shaped flaps. I also completed the white portion of one eye.

Well, really that's it, but a lot of time went into those things.

I haven't, however, applied for any jobs this week. I need to. Saturday, I better behave myself and commit to the time consuming process.

I will need to tailor my resume to each job. Research each company and write cover letters. Send it all off. I will probably be forced to fill out some of those tedious and redudant online applications, which are so hard to do well. I really do prefer a quality cover letter and a resume to those online systems. They strip away ones humanity, and really, it's a particular manifestation of humanity that makes a good documentation specialist.

I mean, to write something that communicates important information, you have to be able to get into the shoes of other people. Not everyone is good at that. Documentation specialists need to be attuned to the needs of others to increase communication. I'm not talking empathy here; I'm talking awareness, even logic. A strong sense of the social interworkings that make communication work is necessary.

I guess these systems could work if you're looking at experience, if you're relying on the resume to do all the work. I'm applying for entry-level jobs, the resume can't do all the work. The cover letter has to make the impression, and it's almost impossible to do so in those online structures--at least most that I've seen.

So please, cross your fingers that I don't have to fill out those things. They are not my forte.

Looking for Jobs

I'm not nervous. I mean, I certainly come across a lot of things I am not qualified for, but I come across a lot that I am qualified for. The prospects look promising.

KC is a great city to want to be in if you're looking for a job as a Technical Writer/Documentation Specialist, too. A lot of other cities don't have half as many options. I'm even seeing some positions seeking people with English degrees. Woohoo!

So far, a lot of the jobs are temporary and contract. That's one of the downfalls of looking in the tech writing field. However, I am a smart, efficient, detail-oriented professional. I know from past experience that people will be impressed with my work ethic and quality of work, so even if I move 13 hours away for a contract job, I may end up with a permanent job by the end or at least some productive experience to add to my resume.

It will probably be very competative, but the job I'm the most excited about is with H&R Block. They need someone to produce training documentation and to run trainings. That is my favorite part of my current job, and I think it's something that could be a lot of fun. Being in training is like being central to making an organization a well-oiled machine, and I think proper training and support materials can make a big difference in helping other employees to be happy with what they're doing. Frustration can ruin a workplace, and as a training documenter-editor-provider, I could really help alleviate some workplace frustration.

I dunno--we'll see if I actually have a job in a month-and-a-half when I'm done here, but I really do have a positive outlook. Any other outlook is a waste of time. If anything, seeing Big Cartel hire someone else when I really wanted that job was sad, but when I looked at the website of the person they did hire, I knew why. Her talent was immediately apparent in the web presence she had, and while I know I could have done a very good job, she was clearly going to be absolutely amazing.

If I don't get a job, it's because someone of oustanding caliber did. The only way to respond to that kind of rejection is to seek to be more awesome. Every time I am rejected, I will not whine about the system. Instead, I will review what I have and improve. Then I will try again.

Time to go to work. This evening, the application process begins.

When is there time?

It doesn't matter what someone suggests I do, I think the best response is "when is there time?"

I work, I tutor, I crochet. Life isn't bad, but then the last two weekends I have been forced to drive at least 5 hours away, taking Friday's off, and I'm behind on everything.

I need to do laundry. I need to work out. I need to make more progress on my crochet projects. I need to catch up on sleep. I need to make up work hours. I need to apply for jobs. I need to create a website.  I need to cook. I need to clean.

When is there time? I don't want to do any of it. I want to magically have a job, a cute apartment, a fitness routine, and energy to cook. At least, I am excited about the job potentials I am finding. I am just sad that applying is cutting into my crochet time.

Just so you know, I am not traveling again unless it's for an interview. I'm staying home with my silly cat to relax when I can.