I spoke a month or two ago about burnout and what I was going through. I said my friends called it and they were right,
I’ve been successful at cutting the traveling down a little, delegating some work and enjoying weekends off. I still find the motivation a little difficult to come by at times, but I do have some great people around me.
As far as the traveling goes. I was supposed to be in Wichita next week, but there is way too much to be done in Everett this week. The return trip to Japan has been postponed, obviously.
The work is split into three areas, my leaders, the other leads and my group. All three are very supportive of what needs to be done and being there when I need help.
The leadership understand what is going on, they understand the pressure that is on all of us on the program and have done an excellent job in supporting the leads and engineers. There is understanding that there is more work to be done than we can realistically do. Priorities are set, communicated and then we are left to get it done. If help is requested or a roadblock needs moved we get the support we need.
One of the tasks on my plate is a capacity planning exercise. It’s been an interesting exercise, we have far more “non-scheduled” work than anyone imagined. Work that as a group we don’t get hours for. IT’s the first time I’ve done one of these for a few years and it’s been illuminating to share the results.
My peers form a very supportive group and I think we’ve been doing do a great job at pick up the slack for each other and together understand where we are going. The work is hard, never ending and there will not be time to get all that needs to be done, but we come close.
As for my group, a couple of those working for me have stepped up and give me the space to take care of the process, travel and org wide stuff which is important to tomorrow, yet rather time consuming today.
The last few months have been some of the most professionally rewarding of my career. I feel part of a great team that are making it happen and believe we will deliver the best airplane possible when this is over.
There is no secret to this stuff, it’s about communication and keeping each other informed. This has been particularly important among the lead engineers, and extra meetings suck time, but the results show their value.
A second part was getting more and better sleep, I said that for me a large part of this resolution was taking a conscious decision to spend 10 minutes relaxing before heading to bed.
Reading something that does not involve engineers usually works. I’m not one for “self help” books that are piled on bedside cabinets all over the country, but I have enjoyed the Hugh MacLeod book “Ignore Everybody”, It is about infusing your day with a little creativity. Something I’ve been striving to do for a while. It’s very good and I’ve got his next book “Evil Plans” sitting in the stack to be read.
I’m working on reducing my stress and working less, and I think it’s a made a difference to how I feel. Friends have said I’m doing better, and that’s a way better barometer than anything else. Thanks guys.
It’s not easy and these changes take practice to get right. I’ve felt a difference, it’s worth it.