One Week In: The New Job

Firstly, thank you so much for your kind words on my somewhat surprise announcement last week about my new job. If you know me IRL you have definitely heard me talk a lot about my work situation in the last six months or so…if we are only Interwebs friends, I’ve tried really hard to keep all that stuff quiet, as you do. But! Here we are! One week in to my new position at a new agency and I have SO many thoughts and feelings. Because it’s work, most of those thoughts need to stay off the Interwebs, but there are some I’d like to share:

    • I forgot how much I love being with other people. I work for a small agency, and there certainly are plenty of quirks per capita, but HUMANS! I am with OTHER HUMANS all day long. Quirks aside, it is glorious.
    • I miss my Salt Lake co-workers something fierce; my team there is amazing.
    • I don’t mind the commute, I’m between 40 and 50 minutes each way, in heavy traffic. This is about four times longer than any commute I’ve had, and–so far–I really don’t mind. I listen to audiobooks and I know there isn’t any way for me to get there in 15 minutes in the best of traffic, so I sit and listen and try to zen out a little.
    • I do miss being off work at 4:00 pm, working Utah hours made for delightfully long evenings getting a TON of stuff done. (Arizona doesn’t do Daylight Savings time, so half the year it’s in the Mountain time zone and half the year in Pacific.
    • The office I moved into had sat empty for quite a while, it was dark and dusty and jam packed with big, black, metal furniture. I’ve managed to get rid of two of the big file cabinets, include the massive one that blocked HALF of the window and I keep the blinds pulled up to let in as much light as possible. That one change has made it feel so much bigger and brighter, my coworkers keep commenting that they had no idea my office was so nice, so not-cave-like. I’ve scrubbed and Clorox wiped everything, I’ve brought in plants and a not-flourescent desk lamp and a little art (more to come).
    • I don’t know if I’ll ever love it as much as my home office, which has already had a little makeover, of sorts, and will continue to transform over the coming months.
    • Officey clothes! Officey shoes! I have missed this part of my wardrobe! It’s been fun to resurrect my pencil skirts and peep-toe pumps. (Also? Fitting into so much more of my closet makes it easier to give up leggings and fuzzy slippers. Ahem.)
    • I am getting used to having an involved boss again. It’s been a little bit of a do-si-do dance for me, I’m trying to both do my job as effectively and efficiently as I can, but also not assert authority that absolutely isn’t mine. I know I will like having some larger guiding principles and a long-term plan for growth, those are things I definitely was looking for in this job change.
    • I feel like I should be totally overwhelmed; but I am not. Not at all, actually. Granted, it helps a LOT that I am in the same industry, and at the same type of company (state agency). There are a lot of similarities, and while I’m learning a ton of new things, I feel like I have a solid framework to hang all this new information on, I don’t have to build the framework while simultaneously juggling all the New Info at the same time.

I really think I will like it here. And that is a really fantastic feeling. Have you started any big new projects? How is it going? Are you swamped? Or do you feel like you’ve got this!? Tell me, tell me, tell me!

Harriet sig

13 thoughts on “One Week In: The New Job

  1. mydangblog

    I went back and read your last post (I was away on holidays) so now I’m caught up. Congratulations! I had to do the same thing myself a couple of years ago (intolerable work situation) and the move to a new workplace ended up being the best thing imaginable for me. So, well done you!

    Reply
  2. Lacey Bean

    I get what you’re saying about not being overwhelmed. I felt that way when I started this job because it was a very similar position and the same field. I’m glad the first week was a success!

    Reply
  3. Kelli

    Congratulations on the new gig! Leaps into the unknown are HARD but this sounds like it’s going really well so far. Plus – pencil skirts and peep toe pumps for the win!

    Reply
  4. Pingback: I quit my job and found my sanity – Feisty Harriet

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