Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity pdfdrive com

Our Jobs Keep Changing
The disintegrating edges of our projects and our work in general would be
challenging enough for anyone. But now we must add to that equation the
constantly shifting definition of our jobs. I often ask in my seminars, “Which of
you are doing only what you were hired to do?” Seldom do I get a raised hand.
As amorphous as edgeless work may be, if you had the chance to stick with
some specifically described job long enough, you’d probably figure out what
you needed to do—how much, at what level—to stay sane. But few have that
luxury anymore, for two reasons:
We can never really be prepared for that which is
wholly new. We have to adjust ourselves, and every
radical adjustment is a crisis in self-esteem: we
undergo a test, we have to prove ourselves. It needs
subordinate self-confidence to face drastic change
without inner trembling.
—Eric Hoffer
1. | The organizations we’re involved with seem to
be in constant morph mode, with ever-changing
goals, products, partners, customers, markets,
technologies, and owners. These all, by necessity,
shake up structures, forms, roles, and
responsibilities.
2. | The average professional is more of a free agent
these days than ever before, changing careers as
often as his or her parents once changed jobs.
Even fortysomethings and fiftysomethings hold to
standards of continual growth. Their aims are just
more integrated into the mainstream now, covered

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more integrated into the mainstream now, covered
by the catchall “professional, management, and
executive development”—which simply means
they won’t keep doing what they’re doing for any
extended period of time.
Little seems clear for very long anymore, as far as what our work is and what
or how much input may be relevant to doing it well. We’re allowing in huge
amounts of information and communication from the outer world and generating
an equally large volume of ideas and agreements with ourselves and others from
our inner world. And we haven’t been well equipped to deal with this huge
number of internal and external commitments.
The hurrier I go, the behinder I get.
—Anonymous

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