Your Four Work Rhythm?

1660 Views 6 Replies 7 Participants Last post by OrangeAppled, Sep 11, 2012

FastFour

Discussion Starter · Jun 1, 2012

Hi! I'm a 4w3 and I work in a creative industry although my personal role is more sales than creativity. There are days when my brain switches "ON!" and I get done the work of 5 people, and at 1 AM am still going strong, coming up with new ideas and super-managing everything. I am a marvel on those days if I say so myself! BUT....

Then, there are the Other Days...when a three-toed sloth moves faster than me. I find incomplete emails when I shut down for the day, I have forgotten important things (even if they were written on my To Do list) and I want to crawl under my desk and cry because it's all so overwhelming.

I work for myself. I usually work BY myself. I seem to not be in control of what sort of work speed I'll be operating in on any given day, try as I might with vitamins, Chinese herbs, Krill Oil, yoga, meditation, deep breathing, exercise, adequate rest, iron tablets, The Power of Positive Thinking, just trying to force myself through it, moving the blood to my brain by making my head lower than my body, etc., etc., etc.....

Anyone else feel like this? Any consistent solutions?

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ThornyBones

· #2 · Jun 7, 2012

Have you tried changing your schedule around a bit?

Maybe you're just trying to do too much in the alloted time frame and you need time to decompress and process everything. That is if it's possible for you. Or even just trying to go to bed/wake at a different time may help. Also if you don't go to sleep at a consistent time each night that can also contribute to difficulties concentrating.

Do you like your job?

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viva

· #3 · Jun 9, 2012

I can relate to this, to a certain extent... I am also a 4w3 in a creative/salesy position (my job title is marketing coordinator, but it's more accurate to say I am the company graphic designer who also writes a shit ton of stuff.)

Some days I am completely energized and getting stuff done left and right... and other days I just can't focus.

I always thought that had more to do with my MBTI and not my enneagram, though. And also with how much sleep I got the night before... haha.

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nádej

· #4 · Jul 13, 2012

This is me too. I'm at work right now, clearly not getting anything work-related done. I tried to start writing a report, but couldn't even get through the first sentence. My brain is just not thinking that way today.

I'm a social worker and some days I will churn out five service plans and have done four home visits and have returned all my missed calls and still have time to kill. When I actually work, I am extremely efficient. When I'm having one of those days (sometimes they extend into a few days in a row), I just try to get absolutely as much done as possible so that I don't feel so guilty when I have a day like today...I'm going to end up just doing home visits all afternoon today because there is no way anything is getting written.

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Man_With_No_Name

· #5 · Jul 14, 2012

Yes I have had fast pace jobs in the past and I hated them. Right now I am in a slow pace job that pays better than any job I have had. It is really sweet and I love my job. Sometimes when you feel overloaded maybe that means it is time for a career switch. That is what I did and I don't regret the decision. I get paid better now for doing less work then I did at my old job.

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DarkIceQueen666

· #6 · Aug 5, 2012

I find that when I am passionate about a job I can keep plowing forward and will crash later. If I'm not passionate or invested in what I'm doing I can push through, I just won't be as miraculously productive. I work at a theater costume shop during the holiday season, and I absolutely love this job! I will be going strong after 7 hours of straight work, say, and encouraging the other employees to push forward when they start getting tired.When I work at the school cafe, I push through and get done what I need to, but do not have quite the enthusiasm as at the other job.

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OrangeAppled

· #7 · Sep 11, 2012

I only work well in flexible environments for this reason. My job (graphic/web design) has a lot of deadline "cycles", so I often have enough downtime which allows me to recharge a bit & not get burnt out and overwhelmed. I also need to be left to do my own thing, which includes some thinking time which may look like "goofing off".

When I'm having a day where I am just not in a creative mood, then I may try also to handle stuff that does not ask a lot of me in a creative sense. That may be the day I search for stock images, make some minor changes to mundane details I didn't have the patience to correct when I was in a creative whirlwind, organize things, etc.

I also try and fall back on a few "self-motivating" tricks I have, although these cannot be abused nor are the fool-proof.

I also remind myself (and others, if needed), that when I'm ON, then I'm ON, and I get a LOT done too. I think it's okay to work in burst instead of "slow and steady". Many cultures may not value that work style, but it's efficient in it's own way & the bottom line is stuff gets DONE. If you can find an environment which allows & even appreciates that, then that's ideal...

FYI, a lot of this is "Pe issues" also. I'll post an article someone posted on another board about the Pe work style & its benefits, if I can find it & remember to

. It's useful in seeing your strengths & how to make the best of them (as opposed to the typical criticisms of the Pe style which misinterpret us as lazy or disorganized or whatever).

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