November 2008 - The Art of Ignoring Envelopes

Another month has gone by, and it felt more like about a week. There is SO MUCH going on in the Next Gen office these days that I can't believe a whole month has gone by. Maybe this just supports my theory that the more one's metabolism slows down, the faster time seems to go. But that's a discussion for a completely different kind of blog!

So as I said, lots going on. We have been re-working our Terms of Reference, a vital document that unfortunately isn't captivating, especially on the tenth or eleventh read. These changes have taken a few months to do - first the Committee recognized the need to make some changes, and then a number of meetings followed to make changes and then review them. Hopefully the new TOR will be all done by 2009! I've been here long enough that this makes me very happy!

The Events Working Group has been working hard to plan Pecha Kucha Night 3. This means meetings about every two weeks, and various forms of coordination taking place in between. The volunteers that have been a part of the previous two events are pros at planning this super interesting event so although it is a major item on Next Gen's plate, things are running smoothly.

In order to fill some gaps and to broaden our volunteer base, Next Gen is taking on a number of new volunteers. I have been finding time between time-sensitive projects to work on a Volunteer Handbook. I think it's pretty safe to say that I almost have the whole thing memorized cover to cover, due to the numerous changes and additions that I've made. I'm lucky enough to have the City of Edmonton's Volunteer Coordinator as my cubicle-neighbor, and she has made some great suggestions on my little project. I was particularly excited when the binders for the handbooks arrived - they have all sorts of tabs and slots to insert logos and cards. I realize that it is somewhat pathetic that I am getting excited over office supplies, but you would be too if you saw these exceptionally functional binders! Well, maybe not.

At the end of October I dedicated significant efforts to planning a Mixer that would involve Next Gen, members of the Edmonton Youth Council, and members of the City of Edmonton's Boards and Agencies. Due to a number of unforeseeable events (or perhaps divine intervention) the Mixer could not go ahead in mid-November as planned. Since then I have taken this event under my newbie wing and have been working hard to plan a Mixer in the New Year involving the same groups, but in a bigger and better way. This is a huge opportunity for me, and I'm having a lot of fun spear heading this event! It is planned for January 14th, so fingers crossed that everything goes as planned.

Through all of this (and everything in between, this is really just the tip of the iceberg), I have been struggling a bit with time management. In a day, I would estimate that I receive on average 50-75 emails. Usually, about 80% of these require some kind of response beyond a one-sentence reply, usually with some form of research required, or emails to other parties who are better able to answer the questions. Constantly checking and responding to email makes it hard to work on larger projects, such as writing meeting minutes, working on the volunter manual or adding to the newsletter. After speaking with my supervisor and brainstorming with friends, I've come to the conclusion that it's a good idea - no - NECESSARY to at times ignore email for half an hour at a time to ensure that my larger projects can be completed on time. Although it would be nice to deem one or even two-hour periods as "email-free" that is usually just not possible. Ignoring the little envelope in the bottom right corner of a screen for even just half an hour has helped a lot in ensuring that I finish my projects with time to spare!

December is promising to be another busy month, and I am very happy that it will not be my final month with Next Gen! There is a lot of great stuff coming up in the New Year, and I'm really excited about being a part of it all.