Pick a phase

There have been a few things going on at work. I have been able to keep up with it this week and yet I still have a modicum of the getting ready to take time off slow down. I think that is just something that happens to everyone who has finally reached within a few days of knowing they will be taking time off.
I know I went through the need to cross as many to-do’s off my list first phase. I worked frantically to get the list cut down and accomplished early on. That is such a crazy statement to make because as soon as that list gets worked down more comes in at almost the same rate.
That is when phase two kicks in and I realize there will be things occurring when I won’t be around to take care of them. How much time do I spend on trying to prep someone else on the possibilities of how to take care of things that might come up? And then what if they don’t and I should have spent time showing them something else. That is when phase three begins.
I realize there is no way to show anyone all the things that could possibly come up. First of all I can’t think of all of them. Second, they would have to do my job for a while to be able to know how I do it. Even if I gave them a high level overview about the way I work most don’t work that way. People ask me how I know who to call if this happens or where do I have the information on how to do this. That’s the problem. I don’t have that kind of information written down or anywhere where anyone else could find it. It isn’t because I don’t want them to know but it would be constantly changing and I don’t have time to write myself job aides. It’s in my head. At lot of it is common sense and paying attention. Then there is the Radar factor that I can’t teach. You either have it or not. You know Radar…from movie turned popular TV show...Mash. The one that was always a step ahead of his commander and had the information before it was asked for. Or think of the executive secretary in any movie where the CEO asks her to do these impossible assignments. He, of course, will be in the next scene doing exactly what he had tasked her to do…impossibly. Like that. I can’t teach that in Phase three.
But by that time you reach Phase four. That is when you realize it is only a day before you go on vacation and you frantically try to get everything possibly done in a short amount of time.  Then you realize there isn’t enough time and there isn't much else you can do to make any difference.
So you smile and laugh and get through the last day and set up your e-mail and voicemail to say…I’m not here, won’t be for a while…and that’s phase five.
Isn’t Phase five terrific?
TT