Holy Hospice

I was told in a very loving way the other night that I glaze over my job (and how important I am of course) when people ask what I do.

This is true. I figure no one really cares, so I have a canned statement I use whenever anyone asks what I do. You may have heard me say it.

Someone else: "So Natalie, what do you do?"
Me: "I'm a project manager at a web development agency in Newton.

End of story. (I think this covers all the bases, but apparently it's a closed-book answer that doesn't engage the listener. Right Ky?)

Today, I show you a little more about what I do:

There she is. A lady about to die.

Well, technically she's the new model for the Hospice section of one of our new clients whose site we're building. Frantically. As we're behind deadline (again). The internet is a fancy thing you know--even Home Healthcare providers have websites these days. What will they think of next?

What else do I do at work? I field emails. Let me explain (since I so rarely talk about what I do) very briefly my email inbox methodology.

You know that hit song "Bills Bills Bills" by Destiny's Child? Maybe the Houston-trio should write a song for me entitled "Email Email Email." But here's the thing... all the emails I get are action-oriented; they're not sweet FYI's, they're "do something with me now--call, code, design, arrange, set-up, check-in, schedule, produce, whine, placate, etc." I'm a professional email wrangler.

How do I do it? I read faster than I talk, and I talk faster than I type. (This is like a GRE question; arrange the greater than, less than. Or is it 7th grade? I'm not sure. Either way, I think the answer is: read > talk > type. Right? Great. Now I'm self-concious that I'm dumber than a grad student or a 7th grader. Or somewhere in between. Grad student > Nat > 7th grader.)

This isn't very short (as promised earlier) is it? Bust. Tightening the reins...

I read, decide the importance and act immediately. Once an email is taken care of it gets moved from my inbox and into it's appropriately labled client-folder. This ensures organization as well. (This is why they they pay me the big bucks. I can sort well.) You'll see from my above graphic that I haven't done much with my 1-2pm emails. And since I took that screenshot there are nine more emails that need attention.

Back at it!

Baby > me > Hospice Hottie