Pressurefooted

It's amazing how satisfying pouring myself into a project can be.

I tend to operate at either 0-10% or 100% of my potential on any given day. Those bursts of total immersion are some of the most exhilarating times I experience. It's like being high without losing control of my faculties.

Yesterday I accomplished so much on my current project at work that I came home feeling like I had just conquered Everest. I felt relaxed, invigorated, and completely at ease.

Today, however, I've slipped back to that 0-10% mode. The pressure of the deadline was waiting for me when I got here, and, of course, it's Tuesday so we had one of our usual worthless meetings. There's nothing like meaningless chatter to dull the enthusiasm.

I still have a lot more to do on this current project, and the proponents are not exactly letting me forget it. I don't know how many times I have to explain to people that their "super important" update is on the bottom of my priority list, but somehow I guess I'm not getting my point across.

That's why sometimes I like to have people sit with me at my desk to see how much (or how little, depending on the person and project) work it is to do what they're asking me to do. Some people look at my monitors and bemoan the apparent tedium that is my line of work, but most are flabbergasted by the endless strings of HTML and tend to drift toward the exit.

If I had a dollar for every time I heard someone say, "I couldn't do what you do," drinks would be on me... if I drank.