Don’t get me wrong, but I think new projects are like flypaper– they stick too me way to easily and are impossible to get rid of! Over the course of this summer, I was appointed to two new committees, bringing my total to five– yes, that’s five committees, to generate ever more projects for me.  I hope the two newest committees are temporary assignments as my library implements two major, yet interconnected software applications, RFID and floating collections. These committees are on top of a new committee generated from a consultant’s recommendation for my department last fall and two permanent, longstanding committees I’ve had for a number of years. None of them were optional, so opting out wasn’t possible.

In addition to the two new committees, my library is evaluating CONTENTdm (digital project management software). I’m heading up this evaluation and trying to get my cataloging staff trained and on board to use it (at no cost to the library). To complicate matters, I’ve lost one employee this summer and her workload is now shared among the cataloging staff until replacements can be hired later this fall. And this week, one of my most productive catalogers is on vacation. Can you say too much work, too few people?

I’ve spent the last several months working overtime way more than I wanted to, sometimes as much as 7 hours per week. Do I earn more money for this? Nope. Does it get me farther ahead? Probably not, although at the time, it seems like the right thing to do because a deadline looms or my mind is fired up about an assignment following a meeting. Will I ever learn to stop working overtime? Who knows? I wonder if other people in similar positions in other professions are as overloaded as I am.

I’m starting to feel the squeeze of too much to do, day after day, unrelenting and overwhelming. Pushing my brain and my body to keep working on a project long after everyone else has gone home and the sun hangs low in the sky isn’t good for me– I know that in my heart. It’s just hard to turn off my stupid brain, because it enjoys working on creative and challenging things until it’s exhausted. Problem is… I’m feeling as though I’m moving towards burnout or a meltdown…unless I can figure out how I can delegate some of my routine tasks to my cataloging staff. With the current situation in my department and library, I know they’ll be thrilled to receive one more thing to do.