Seasons and Horizons

I woke up with a headache and more work waiting than I could finish in two ten-hour days.

I spent a couple of hours making progress in our tracking system. Then I went out to confirm whether a test had been completed. I found the tag I was looking for, which settled the question and showed that some work we thought might be needed wasn’t needed after all.

That was one item off the list.

My next stop was tied to a different set of issues I already knew about. I needed to look at the equipment and put a name to each problem so I could write it up properly. I thought I would find about three. When someone familiar with the area offered to walk through it with me, we took a closer look together.

There were closer to fifteen.

I stood there thinking about the time it would take to document them. I was already behind on the observations I had planned to write, and now I understood how much more was waiting. But I was also glad we had looked. The work had to be identified before anyone could get the supplies and make the repairs. Without a clear record, it would be too easy for everyone to think that part was finished and move on.

I talked with a coworker about it, and he offered to write up half the observations. I sent him the list. It was a relief to have help, and it reminded me that speaking up about what needs to be done can give someone else a way to step in.

There were other signs of change that day. We were invited into meetings so everyone could understand what was happening across the project. Someone called me directly to ask what I knew about another issue. Our team is being asked to take more of a lead in the work ahead.

I appreciate the trust. I also know what it asks of me. The days are picking up speed again, and I came home tired.

A colleague told me that in this kind of work, you never really catch up. I’m still hoping to make headway. But today showed me why the list sometimes grows even when I’m doing my job well. I went looking for the details behind three issues and found the work that had been waiting there all along.

Now it has a name. It has a record. And it has people working on it.

I can’t finish all of that in a day. I can show up, look carefully, tell the truth about what I find, and do my part to move it forward. Today, tired as I was, I did that.