I hate documentation.
Spent nearly the whole day today trying to sort out documentation for a work project. Since I tend to get so easily distracted in the office, I thought I'd try to work at home. It all started OK, got some spreadsheet updates done in between the early morning email pleas for help, then after a short break for a site visit to fix a printer (which was a saga in its own right and took way longer than it should have), it started going downhill.
On reflection, I think this because things were too quiet. When there's no interruptions or jobs to persuade me to get up and stretch my legs, the adrenaline levels drop to a point where continued concentration becomes untenable. It's not uncommon to stare at a word or paragraph and feel convinced that it's wrong - yet be unable to find anything to change. The linguistic skills (poor though they are to start with) desert me, and it's a downward cycle from there on. Because I'm working at home, I refuse to indulge in those odd sidetrack opportunities that crop up in a normal day (usually technical or gadget queries that just have to be answered); it just doesn't seem right to get diverted that way when I'm on my honour to work the full day.
As we reach the end of the day, I can look back and say that I've done what I set out to do. There are some areas in the documents that will require further work, but that's mainly because I don't have the info immediately to hand - for instance, I'm not sure exactly where one of the telephone points terminates, so will have to get visual confirmation of that. Other areas now need input from other people, and I'm going to have to bargain to get that done.
However, it will be a while before I want to try this again. No matter how stressed the daily panic makes me, I think it's preferable to the frustration of looking at a page and thinking "Just what am I going to do with this"?
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