Please put your paw up if you are a procrastinator. . .
Yes sometimes I procrastinate. I think most people have procrastinated at some point. Yet, then again somrtimes I just call it prioritizing items to the last possible minute.
As I said in my 2011 year end review sometimes you just need to have some time to reflect
As Dean said, taking time to reflect and being quiet can result in some of our most important work.
The reflection time helps me to make sure I have everything together and have thought through the entire process. It is a necessary step many skip.
So why am I mentioning this besides it includes funny cats?
I have heard many librarians lamenting lately that they do not blog enough or are not doing this it didn’t respond soon enough to a request. I know I have been guilty of this several times recently.
Also many librarians are the kind of people who want to help and do not know how to say no. Even when it means they are procrastinating prioritizing everything to the last minute. When I first started my career I did this too. I signed up for every project at work I could to get my name and the library’s out there. I joined committees, started projects, worked consumer health fairs, etc. trying to find my niche.
Well I found it. I enjoy technology and its applications to healthcare, which includes medical informatics and social media. I also enjoy developing order sets, evidence bases medicine research, and knowledge management as my boss calls it (organizing information and honing processes. Now I am honing these skills and passions at work and with my other professional activities.
I have even accepted the fact that I will probably not post to this blog everyday and that’s ok. When I do post though it will be quality posts with new information. This all took me reflecting and evaluating my priorities and aligning these with my institution’s priorities. Something I have been saying all libraries need to do continuously.
Why? Well you either over book yourself requiring you to prioritize everything, which is mot good, or you do the opposite and reject great opportunities. Yes I have heard of libraries rejecting opportunities to get involved in a big project at their institution due to other commitments that aren’t as important to their institution. I have been drafting this discussion for a while and will post about it soon when I address the ‘sad state of a hospital library’ discussion.
I am sure many of you have seems the Medlib-l discussion along with Jerry Perry’s post and Michelle Kraft’s follow-up. No I didn’t miss it. If you did then please take time to read the posts above. I haven’t posted about it yet because I am still reflecting. I will post about this soon from a front lines solo hospital librarian’s prospective who has been proactive at her institution and eagerly ready to help others jump in too.
Everyday I’m shuffling.
Ditch the retro– nows the time to be proactive.
Now for some Friday fun check out these procratinator’s online!
LibGirl09
January 21, 2012 at 6:59 pm
I’m laughing at “prioritizing items to the last possible minute” — that is so me! I’m working on it though.
I’m still in library school and still figuring out what my niche will be within health sciences. But I like your point about aligning yourself with your institution’s activities. I have heard this before. I visited a medical library a few months ago, and the librarians were telling me how they have changed some of their outreach efforts in order to participate more with the hospital’s activities. Like you said, they did not want to over-commit themselves, and they also wanted their energy to go towards those services that are most important to their institution’s current goals.
I’m looking forward to reading your perspective on this Medlib-L discussion.
alisha764
February 10, 2012 at 2:47 pm
Yep… everything is ‘prioritized’ so its not procrastination
The response to the medlibs-l discussion will come next week. I have been doing some research. I want to make sure I have the facts as straight as possible.