Augi World - July/August 2008 - (Page 5) pacts you because you care. Here are some tips for finding relief. Take a break. Don’t let your day constantly be filled with other people’s agendas. Take a couple of short breaks to walk around and talk to others. Get out of the office if you are having a tough day. Don’t work through your lunch hour (admit it, you do this). Leave the building at lunch. Take a walk. Don’t take it out on others. Don’t take your frustrations out on the innocent. It may be tempting to vent around those who are not part of the problem, but keep your personal opinions to yourself. And do not let the office troubles overflow at home. You should be sharing your struggles with others, but not extending the possible pent-up anger at home. Don’t take it personally. It can get personal at times. This is because your whole environment is one of your creations. It is your baby. You built it (or inherited it). So when people start picking on some part of your CAD setup, it gets personal. But don’t let it get too personal. Let it roll off your back. Know your limits and respect them. You need to know just how much “stuff” you can do at any one time. You level of juggling may be higher than others; most CAD managers can multitask very well. But we all have limits. You need to know when to say “no.” This may be tough, so at least know how to negotiate your priorities and due dates. Don’t let too many deadlines come at the same time. Get Help. Maybe your firm needs to hire another person to help out with CAD support. Many firms do not want to do this. They see support hours as unproductive hours. You need to be able to talk up the reasons why support hours free up many others to be more productive and that it more than compensates for the hours spent. Work with the creative people in your office. The monotony of CAD management can sometimes leave you feeling like a robot. Getting creative can bring you out of this feeling. Go have a chat with some of the forward-thinking, creative, and technically adventurous people in the office. Just have a conversation about what you and they “wish” software can do. Discuss what is good and bad about your CAD platform. Talking about the future can help you get through today. Don’t overcompensate. Working too hard to recover may make you enter another brown out phase. When you are coming out of a brown out, ease back into full speed. Don’t come in the next day and pounce on every last thing you have been J u l /A u g 2 0 0 8 putting off. Take some time to prioritize your efforts and start moving again on the most important areas. Get out of the office. Take the time to go to vendor events, training, and other offsite functions. Just being face to face with others in your area of specialization will empower you to get going. Talking amongst a group of enthusiastic people can re-energize you very quickly. (Warning: this can also make you feel frustrated if you are in an environment that is not very progressive.) When you experience a brown out, work yourself back at a measured pace to full steam. Knowing when you are hitting a dip in your energy can help prevent you from slowing down too much. Watch for your warning signs and take action. Don’t let your work slip to the point that others no- tice. Keep moving forward and think long term. Identifying the problem is the beginning of the cure. Look for your high energy level to return eventually, and stay there. Mark W. Kiker is president of the AUGI Board of Directors. He is a National CAD Standards Project Team Member and team member of the National BIM Standard. Mark is general editor of BLAUGI and also publishes caddmanager.com, the CADD Manager’s journal, as well as the caddmanager.com blog. He is a returning faculty member at Autodesk University. He is currently chief information officer for HMC Architects in Ontario, California, USA. Seven distribution centers nationwide Industry experienced customer service Next business day shipping Easy online ordering For quick and easy CAD-related orders, go with a supplier who knows their cursor from their chamfer. Call MasterGraphics. We have more than 3,000 products, from bond paper, toner, and inkjet cartridges for all brands of printers and plotters including Xerox, HP and Océ, to quality drafting supplies and furniture. Trust us to understand your needs. Your equipment. And most importantly, your language. MasterGraphics | Making Design Data Work To order, visit our online store at http://estore.masterg.com/augi or call (800) 873.7238 today. (800) 873.7238 http://estore.masterg.com/augi 5 http://caddmanager.com http://caddmanager.com http://estore.masterg.com/augi
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