Absent-minded scared person trying to do an admin job
August 14, 2024 8:02 AM Subscribe
I started a job in a government department on 8 July 2024. I have worked for 5 weeks so far and I am terrible at this job and keep making dumb mistakes. I’d like people who have the same issues to tell me what they did to counteract the issue.
I came in to take up the responsibilities of another person who was leaving. The role is an administrative one. The department runs an educational programme for working women and the programme is lecture and project-based, so the women have to attend 8 lectures and also have to hand in a project. They are split into small groups to do the project.
The departing individual did a handover of the thing and talked to me about what they were doing. But I took 2 whole weeks before it connected in my brain what exactly I had to do, which is to make sure these people are on track to finish their projects. I just spent the time sending the odd email and doing bits and bobs of whatever the permanent staff asked me to do.
I also notice that when people give me instructions, I have a hard time storing the instructions away. Like if I don’t have a notepad and pen on me at the moment, I’ll just completely forget what was said.
When people say things to me, I seem to get a different understanding of what was said.
Also, I sometimes have to write documents, very basic ones like event plans and compilations of caterers quotations (for comparison). When I do these things, its always like 80% done because the details are the hardest things to nail down, and also because I think I’m scared that I’ve gotten something wrong (like copypasted the wrong price or something).
And. The last, worst thing: I arranged a meeting (online, thank god) last week between one of the groups and my boss. The sequence of events is that I suggested a time, which they said worked for them, then I sent out invites, then I had three days to confirm that the meeting was going forward until today. And then comes the meeting. Boss logs on. No one else does. Understandably, she’s angry with me and I’m very upset that I did something so stupid. I think, if I had to explain to her, this task just got lost in the shuffle because 1. I thought the meeting was happening, so I neglected to ensure that everyone else was on the same page. 2. When things are not directly in front of me, its like they don’t exist.
The only thing I can think of, to counteract these things, is to write what I have to do in a notebook and refer to it like the Bible.
If anyone else faced the same issues in a secretarial job, could you tell me what you did to not have the problems anymore?
I came in to take up the responsibilities of another person who was leaving. The role is an administrative one. The department runs an educational programme for working women and the programme is lecture and project-based, so the women have to attend 8 lectures and also have to hand in a project. They are split into small groups to do the project.
The departing individual did a handover of the thing and talked to me about what they were doing. But I took 2 whole weeks before it connected in my brain what exactly I had to do, which is to make sure these people are on track to finish their projects. I just spent the time sending the odd email and doing bits and bobs of whatever the permanent staff asked me to do.
I also notice that when people give me instructions, I have a hard time storing the instructions away. Like if I don’t have a notepad and pen on me at the moment, I’ll just completely forget what was said.
When people say things to me, I seem to get a different understanding of what was said.
Also, I sometimes have to write documents, very basic ones like event plans and compilations of caterers quotations (for comparison). When I do these things, its always like 80% done because the details are the hardest things to nail down, and also because I think I’m scared that I’ve gotten something wrong (like copypasted the wrong price or something).
And. The last, worst thing: I arranged a meeting (online, thank god) last week between one of the groups and my boss. The sequence of events is that I suggested a time, which they said worked for them, then I sent out invites, then I had three days to confirm that the meeting was going forward until today. And then comes the meeting. Boss logs on. No one else does. Understandably, she’s angry with me and I’m very upset that I did something so stupid. I think, if I had to explain to her, this task just got lost in the shuffle because 1. I thought the meeting was happening, so I neglected to ensure that everyone else was on the same page. 2. When things are not directly in front of me, its like they don’t exist.
The only thing I can think of, to counteract these things, is to write what I have to do in a notebook and refer to it like the Bible.
If anyone else faced the same issues in a secretarial job, could you tell me what you did to not have the problems anymore?
I do a lot of scheduling at my job, across time zones and countries. If I had suggested a time to another org, they agreed, and then I sent out a meeting invite to the appropriate parties, I would not expect to need to confirm again in advance of the meeting.
The need to confirm might be a quirk of the organization you met with, or how things are done in this government office, but in general, you acted in a very normal way
posted by raccoon409 at 8:15 AM on August 14 [23 favorites]
The need to confirm might be a quirk of the organization you met with, or how things are done in this government office, but in general, you acted in a very normal way
posted by raccoon409 at 8:15 AM on August 14 [23 favorites]
I also notice that when people give me instructions, I have a hard time storing the instructions away. Like if I don’t have a notepad and pen on me at the moment, I’ll just completely forget what was said.
I feel this acutely, and might suggest it could be undiagnosed ADHD.
As for the small mistakes, this used to happen a lot in my career in new jobs. I would develop checklists for some of the key tasks - literally written down in a spreadsheet or a document, like "check that finalized pricing is accurate" etc - and roll through everything before sending anything out. It's a pain at first and you may need to continually add things as they pop up over the next few weeks, but eventually you will start automatically double-checking stuff without referencing anything.
I forgot who said it but it can take anywhere form 3-6 months to fully acclimate to a new job and get "fluent" in everything that's going on. You're basically in a new country right now and people are speaking to you in their language that you're kinda-sorta proficient in, and with all their weird new customs that you're kinda-sorta familiar with - but you're not there yet and it's unrealistic to expect you to be. It's only been 5 weeks so try to go easy on yourself and trust the immersion process, if things aren't connecting in another few months then maybe revisit the possibility that it's not a good fit.
posted by windbox at 8:31 AM on August 14 [11 favorites]
I feel this acutely, and might suggest it could be undiagnosed ADHD.
As for the small mistakes, this used to happen a lot in my career in new jobs. I would develop checklists for some of the key tasks - literally written down in a spreadsheet or a document, like "check that finalized pricing is accurate" etc - and roll through everything before sending anything out. It's a pain at first and you may need to continually add things as they pop up over the next few weeks, but eventually you will start automatically double-checking stuff without referencing anything.
I forgot who said it but it can take anywhere form 3-6 months to fully acclimate to a new job and get "fluent" in everything that's going on. You're basically in a new country right now and people are speaking to you in their language that you're kinda-sorta proficient in, and with all their weird new customs that you're kinda-sorta familiar with - but you're not there yet and it's unrealistic to expect you to be. It's only been 5 weeks so try to go easy on yourself and trust the immersion process, if things aren't connecting in another few months then maybe revisit the possibility that it's not a good fit.
posted by windbox at 8:31 AM on August 14 [11 favorites]
I have a role that is very detail-heavy. I always have a notebook to write down any notes as they come up. At the end of every day, I review those notes and I write a to-do list for the next day, in order of priority, highlighting anything that is super important/urgent. I will include things like 'Fri meeting, confirm with participants on Weds', and I rewrite that same thing every day until Weds hits and I check that off.
For things like comparing costs, as soon as you receive those costs, enter them into a spreadsheet so when the time comes to share the comparison, you already have all the details ready and you don't have to go back and review to make sure you included everything bc you already did! Break it down into manageable chunks.
I am adding information to my to-do lists and spreadsheets, multiple times a day updating all the time as new information comes in. My rule is, if it takes less than 2 minutes (add a number to a spreadsheet, send an invitation or quick confirmation email, change a date or time on an event plan, etc) go ahead and do it immediately, and if you can't do it immediately, then immediately add it to your to-do list. Then revise, check off, revise, check off.
It can be a little slow and painful when you're starting a new role, and you might want to take extra time after the day is over or before your day starts to make sure you feel prepared. But good habits become easier as time goes on. Eventually it will become second nature.
posted by greta simone at 8:32 AM on August 14 [6 favorites]
For things like comparing costs, as soon as you receive those costs, enter them into a spreadsheet so when the time comes to share the comparison, you already have all the details ready and you don't have to go back and review to make sure you included everything bc you already did! Break it down into manageable chunks.
I am adding information to my to-do lists and spreadsheets, multiple times a day updating all the time as new information comes in. My rule is, if it takes less than 2 minutes (add a number to a spreadsheet, send an invitation or quick confirmation email, change a date or time on an event plan, etc) go ahead and do it immediately, and if you can't do it immediately, then immediately add it to your to-do list. Then revise, check off, revise, check off.
It can be a little slow and painful when you're starting a new role, and you might want to take extra time after the day is over or before your day starts to make sure you feel prepared. But good habits become easier as time goes on. Eventually it will become second nature.
posted by greta simone at 8:32 AM on August 14 [6 favorites]
Your ultimate destination for all the data you need should be electronic, but you can carry a notebook and pen as a transfer medium. I highly recommend keeping as much as you can in your calendar - presumably y'all either use google suite or office 365 for your mail and calendar? - and the calendar is your Source of Truth.
The other thing you need to do is make checklists for all the little tasks that always need to be done to complete a primary task. When you send out a calendar invite for your boss, for example, you need to check the invite for RSVPs every few hours after you send it and if the other people haven't sent a yes or no by the end of the day you need to bug them for a yes or no. (and look, it's me, I'm the guilty party who sees the thing on my calendar already and doesn't actually reply and people like you have to chase me. I swear I'm getting better.).
Make one or more checklists for keeping the project people on task for their projects. Use it every time, and refine the checklist every time so when you use it next time it's even better than this time. Every time you work on a new kind of task, start by asking yourself "what needs to happen for this to be a success?" and add those to the checklist.
There is no requirement that you hold any information in your head, and it sure sounds like you have ADHD so you should NOT plan to hold anything in your head. Notebook or phone to capture conversations, verbal requests, or random thoughts while you're on the toilet or whatever, Calendar as the final landing place, Google Keep or OneNote for your longer notes, writing yourself a job manual, and keeping/refining your master checklists.
I also have document-finishing anxiety and the only way to conquer it is to...do it. Make yourself a checklist that covers any proofreading tasks you know should be done - double-checking prices, spellcheck, formatting cleanup. Do those things. The more you do them the easier this all gets.
posted by Lyn Never at 8:34 AM on August 14 [5 favorites]
The other thing you need to do is make checklists for all the little tasks that always need to be done to complete a primary task. When you send out a calendar invite for your boss, for example, you need to check the invite for RSVPs every few hours after you send it and if the other people haven't sent a yes or no by the end of the day you need to bug them for a yes or no. (and look, it's me, I'm the guilty party who sees the thing on my calendar already and doesn't actually reply and people like you have to chase me. I swear I'm getting better.).
Make one or more checklists for keeping the project people on task for their projects. Use it every time, and refine the checklist every time so when you use it next time it's even better than this time. Every time you work on a new kind of task, start by asking yourself "what needs to happen for this to be a success?" and add those to the checklist.
There is no requirement that you hold any information in your head, and it sure sounds like you have ADHD so you should NOT plan to hold anything in your head. Notebook or phone to capture conversations, verbal requests, or random thoughts while you're on the toilet or whatever, Calendar as the final landing place, Google Keep or OneNote for your longer notes, writing yourself a job manual, and keeping/refining your master checklists.
I also have document-finishing anxiety and the only way to conquer it is to...do it. Make yourself a checklist that covers any proofreading tasks you know should be done - double-checking prices, spellcheck, formatting cleanup. Do those things. The more you do them the easier this all gets.
posted by Lyn Never at 8:34 AM on August 14 [5 favorites]
Lots of great advice already and I can understand why these things would all be upsetting but I also might suggest that you are being too hard on yourself thinking you ought to be able to keep everything in your head or hadn't connected all the dots. It's not a failing to have to write things down and in fact you are often protecting yourself from misunderstandings. My thoughts -
- The meeting where no one came - how did you schedule your meeting, did you send out calendar invites? I agree that that I wouldn't expect people not show if they had confirmed the calendar invite, so that seems org specific behavior that you'll need to account for. I think next time I'd schedule two things on the calendar - one the meeting and the 2nd a reminder to myself to confirm who's coming, track down the people that haven't responded to the calendar invite, etc. Also if they are swamped with work, etc. I'd also send an agenda so they know why it's important they attend.
- For things where people tell you something that results in tasks you need to do it's often good to send a follow up email confirming the details. 'meeting notes - Sally and I chatted Monday afternoon about project X. Next actions will be - and then you list the next actions for both of you. Please let me know if I misunderstood or omitted anything - thanks buhbye'. Should take 5-10 min to write and send. I found these types of emails to be immensely helpful in my last job to keep everyone accountable.
posted by snowymorninblues at 8:36 AM on August 14 [6 favorites]
- The meeting where no one came - how did you schedule your meeting, did you send out calendar invites? I agree that that I wouldn't expect people not show if they had confirmed the calendar invite, so that seems org specific behavior that you'll need to account for. I think next time I'd schedule two things on the calendar - one the meeting and the 2nd a reminder to myself to confirm who's coming, track down the people that haven't responded to the calendar invite, etc. Also if they are swamped with work, etc. I'd also send an agenda so they know why it's important they attend.
- For things where people tell you something that results in tasks you need to do it's often good to send a follow up email confirming the details. 'meeting notes - Sally and I chatted Monday afternoon about project X.
posted by snowymorninblues at 8:36 AM on August 14 [6 favorites]
Seconding what everyone said about the fact that I would assume that people who RSVPed to a meeting would show up. I also really like Lyn Never's idea to have a meeting checklist and include followups on it. One thing I would add--make sure every meeting has an agenda that specifies what, if anything, attendees need to do to be prepared. I have seen some work cultures where if there's no agenda, the meeting can be skipped.
posted by tofu_crouton at 8:41 AM on August 14 [2 favorites]
posted by tofu_crouton at 8:41 AM on August 14 [2 favorites]
Checklists for everything
And it's totally fine to say to someone "hang on, I need to write this down or I'll forget" and go grab a notebook
posted by Jacqueline at 8:53 AM on August 14 [5 favorites]
And it's totally fine to say to someone "hang on, I need to write this down or I'll forget" and go grab a notebook
posted by Jacqueline at 8:53 AM on August 14 [5 favorites]
I want to n-th carrying around a notebook and writing everything down. It's ok to say to whoever you are talking to "hang on, i'm writing a note" -- I even hold up my non-writing hand when I say this, on camera even, and lower it after I've written the thing down.
Also, find a way to visually separate out your to-dos from your notes. The way I do this is to use the right-hand page of my notebook for notes, and the corresponding left-hand page for to-dos. I draw a little box next to each to-do item, and I put a star after the box for urgent items. I'm careful to include a verb in every to-do item so I don't have to remember what to do. So it says "Send confirmation email about X event" rather than just "X event." I check off each to-do item when it is done.
I keep a post-it note in the notebook that says "this week" sticking out of the notebook, and I use it to mark where the most recent Monday starts. At the beginning and end of every day, I check the to-dos between my current place in the notebook and the post-it note and make progress toward completing them. Every Friday afternoon, I review all the to-do's and make sure all the starred items are complete. I also complete as many of the other items as I can. For those that I can't complete on that Friday, I draw an arrow through the box (this means "transferred to next week") and re-write the to-do item on a new left-hand page. Then I move my post-it note to that page. When I start work on Monday, I know that I have everything in front of me for the week ahead.
People will argue endlessly about whether it's a waste of time to rewrite to-do items like this. Don't get bogged down in other people's opinions -- do what works for you. Efficiency only matters when the work gets done. Find a way to get the work done first, then (if ever) worry about efficiency.
Also, a long time ago, I used to try and "save" paper by writing a single to-do list, but I no longer do that. I found that if I had to flip to a different page in the notebook to write a to-do item down, I either wouldn't do it, or I would get lost in my notetaking. I conserve resources in other ways but no longer try to save paper that way.
posted by OrangeDisk at 9:04 AM on August 14 [6 favorites]
Also, find a way to visually separate out your to-dos from your notes. The way I do this is to use the right-hand page of my notebook for notes, and the corresponding left-hand page for to-dos. I draw a little box next to each to-do item, and I put a star after the box for urgent items. I'm careful to include a verb in every to-do item so I don't have to remember what to do. So it says "Send confirmation email about X event" rather than just "X event." I check off each to-do item when it is done.
I keep a post-it note in the notebook that says "this week" sticking out of the notebook, and I use it to mark where the most recent Monday starts. At the beginning and end of every day, I check the to-dos between my current place in the notebook and the post-it note and make progress toward completing them. Every Friday afternoon, I review all the to-do's and make sure all the starred items are complete. I also complete as many of the other items as I can. For those that I can't complete on that Friday, I draw an arrow through the box (this means "transferred to next week") and re-write the to-do item on a new left-hand page. Then I move my post-it note to that page. When I start work on Monday, I know that I have everything in front of me for the week ahead.
People will argue endlessly about whether it's a waste of time to rewrite to-do items like this. Don't get bogged down in other people's opinions -- do what works for you. Efficiency only matters when the work gets done. Find a way to get the work done first, then (if ever) worry about efficiency.
Also, a long time ago, I used to try and "save" paper by writing a single to-do list, but I no longer do that. I found that if I had to flip to a different page in the notebook to write a to-do item down, I either wouldn't do it, or I would get lost in my notetaking. I conserve resources in other ways but no longer try to save paper that way.
posted by OrangeDisk at 9:04 AM on August 14 [6 favorites]
It is not weird that you are struggling in this situation, especially since you don't seem to have a lateral colleague to help train you in. My feeling is that it usually takes a full year before people feel truly comfortable in a role that is substantially new to them.
I can't speak to the ADHD piece, but one reason you're forgetting stuff a lot is that you're getting hit with new information all the time and every day is new - your brain is overloaded and you don't have a pre-existing scaffold for all the new stuff.
Certainly, keep a notebook and pen with you and take notes all the time. Also, send emails back to people after any complex meeting/significant task assignment saying "just to follow up on our meeting/email/zoom/whatever, my understanding is that I will [do the things]". This will allow you to check for understanding.
Does your email allow you to schedule emails? (Or have a snooze function?) I would not be able to be employed without these things. You know that you need to follow up on something next Tuesday? Snooze the email until Tuesday morning, or forward it to yourself with a scheduled send time of Tuesday morning. This is often better than a calendar because you can't forget to look at your email and the email that you receive is harder to tune out than one of ten million calendar reminders.
You can also set up a free Trello account (or some other project management software) to keep to-do lists. I have done this for a while in new jobs, but most of my jobs have recurring deadlines and I just learned them after a while.
It is not weird that you're struggling with stuff after only five weeks.
Also, if someone asks you a question you can't answer in the moment, don't feel that you need to try to pull together an answer - feel confident in saying "let me double-check that policy" or "let me look at the schedule". It's okay to do this even if the question is pretty simple and even if you've been in your job for quite a while.
I've definitely had a couple of jobs where I felt like I was the failure and decided to leave when in retrospect I can see that I was not trained enough and was not well managed - even when I liked the people involved! Someone can be a lovely person but not give you the support you need to feel good in your job.
I was an admin for eleven years, in - as I said on my resume - positions of increasing responsibility. I don't have a personality or learning style which makes this natural to me, but I was able to succeed over time. You can learn the skills you need.
posted by Frowner at 9:07 AM on August 14 [4 favorites]
I can't speak to the ADHD piece, but one reason you're forgetting stuff a lot is that you're getting hit with new information all the time and every day is new - your brain is overloaded and you don't have a pre-existing scaffold for all the new stuff.
Certainly, keep a notebook and pen with you and take notes all the time. Also, send emails back to people after any complex meeting/significant task assignment saying "just to follow up on our meeting/email/zoom/whatever, my understanding is that I will [do the things]". This will allow you to check for understanding.
Does your email allow you to schedule emails? (Or have a snooze function?) I would not be able to be employed without these things. You know that you need to follow up on something next Tuesday? Snooze the email until Tuesday morning, or forward it to yourself with a scheduled send time of Tuesday morning. This is often better than a calendar because you can't forget to look at your email and the email that you receive is harder to tune out than one of ten million calendar reminders.
You can also set up a free Trello account (or some other project management software) to keep to-do lists. I have done this for a while in new jobs, but most of my jobs have recurring deadlines and I just learned them after a while.
It is not weird that you're struggling with stuff after only five weeks.
Also, if someone asks you a question you can't answer in the moment, don't feel that you need to try to pull together an answer - feel confident in saying "let me double-check that policy" or "let me look at the schedule". It's okay to do this even if the question is pretty simple and even if you've been in your job for quite a while.
I've definitely had a couple of jobs where I felt like I was the failure and decided to leave when in retrospect I can see that I was not trained enough and was not well managed - even when I liked the people involved! Someone can be a lovely person but not give you the support you need to feel good in your job.
I was an admin for eleven years, in - as I said on my resume - positions of increasing responsibility. I don't have a personality or learning style which makes this natural to me, but I was able to succeed over time. You can learn the skills you need.
posted by Frowner at 9:07 AM on August 14 [4 favorites]
In the past I've relied on daily checklists a lot, but now I have a job that's really heavy on following up with people/keeping things on track. I keep an Excel spreadsheet of everything that I'm waiting for a response on with categories like:
A brief summary of what it is
What's been communicated so far (with dates)
What/who I'm waiting for
Most importantly, when to follow up!
Before I did this, I felt like things were floating above my head and I might catch them at the right time, now if they're on my list I know I will. I sort by date to follow up regularly and only focus on the 10 or so tasks that are "due" that day vs the entire list of 50+. I cannot emphasize enough how much this helped my brain not only remember things but RELAX about everything else. I do my follow ups, looping more people in, checking in more often, or changing contact methods as necessary and then I'm DONE.
posted by Eyelash at 9:14 AM on August 14 [3 favorites]
A brief summary of what it is
What's been communicated so far (with dates)
What/who I'm waiting for
Most importantly, when to follow up!
Before I did this, I felt like things were floating above my head and I might catch them at the right time, now if they're on my list I know I will. I sort by date to follow up regularly and only focus on the 10 or so tasks that are "due" that day vs the entire list of 50+. I cannot emphasize enough how much this helped my brain not only remember things but RELAX about everything else. I do my follow ups, looping more people in, checking in more often, or changing contact methods as necessary and then I'm DONE.
posted by Eyelash at 9:14 AM on August 14 [3 favorites]
Any meeting with a virtual component should be recorded and transcribed. You can then refer to the transcription if you are not able to make a note at that time. Your phone can also be used to take notes if you don’t have pen and paper handy. A voice recording can also help.
Consider getting feedback from your coworkers on how you are doing. Odds are, they think you’re doing just fine! In my workplace, we do not typically expect people to be fully ramped up in a role until after 3 months. At 5 weeks, if you have done something (not everything, just something!) independently you are winning. You’re doing a hard thing. Manage your anxiety in the moment, take time outside of work for leisure, exercise, and fun, and come back the next day with a clean slate. You’ll get there.
posted by shock muppet at 9:20 AM on August 14 [1 favorite]
Consider getting feedback from your coworkers on how you are doing. Odds are, they think you’re doing just fine! In my workplace, we do not typically expect people to be fully ramped up in a role until after 3 months. At 5 weeks, if you have done something (not everything, just something!) independently you are winning. You’re doing a hard thing. Manage your anxiety in the moment, take time outside of work for leisure, exercise, and fun, and come back the next day with a clean slate. You’ll get there.
posted by shock muppet at 9:20 AM on August 14 [1 favorite]
I'm an absent-minded administrative assistant and a lot of your post was relatable to me. Here are some things that have helped me:
• I carry a notebook and pen any time I go to a meeting or need to ask someone a question about a task so I can write down anything I need to remember. Because of the nature of my job (I work at a church and often help out church members and volunteers), sometimes people will approach me unexpectedly to ask me to do something for them; in those situations I ask the person to email me the information or wait while I get a pen and paper, whichever works better for the situation. I try to be very warm and polite during these interactions so I come across as conscientious rather than dismissive or unhelpful.
• When people email me asking me to do something for them, I pin the email in Outlook so it doesn't get lost. I unpin the email after I finish the assignment and the person has received it.
• At my job I use Microsoft Teams for my coworkers to assign me work and keep track of what I'm doing. I like to add in extra information as I need it; for example, if a coworker creates a task asking me to make copies of something, and I later find out they need 50 pages on white cardstock, I'll add that to the Teams task. I also like to break tasks down into multiple steps. This helps me keep track of where I am in jobs that have more than one part, because I won't always remember what I have or haven't done yet.
I also use Teams to set up recurring tasks for things I do weekly or daily. I even add smaller things like "check printer toner levels" and "check paper supplies" so I don't forget.
(You can probably find a better app to help you with this. I kind of hate Teams.)
• Every day I write down the things I'm going to work on that day on a colorful post-it note and stick it to my computer so I look at it all day. I do this in addition to the Teams thing because I'll forget about things if they aren't in front of my face.
I also do this with information I need to refer to a lot. I have the number of the customer support line I call 500 times a day to complain about the printer and the printer id number written on a note. We had a large event last weekend and people kept calling to ask about the details, so I wrote those on a note too.
• It's really common at my job for people to ask me to do something for them but be really bad at explaining what they need. I repeat back my understanding of what they said to make sure we're on the same page. I'll say something like, "Okay, let me make sure I have it right. You want 3 copies of the 5th grade class roster with their parents' phone numbers and emails included. Is that right?" If possible, I ask for an example of what was done in the past, and make notes if I'll be changing something.
• I apologize a lot and take responsibility when I forget something or make a mistake. I always want the people I work with to know that I care about doing a good job. I say something like, "I'm so sorry that I didn't make those name tags for your class. I know it must have been a pain. They're in your classroom now, so you'll have them for next week. Please let me know if there's anything else I can do to help." I feel like I probably do 80-90% of my job correctly and on time, and being super pleasant and accountable helps people forgive me for the rest.
posted by birthday cake at 10:01 AM on August 14 [4 favorites]
• I carry a notebook and pen any time I go to a meeting or need to ask someone a question about a task so I can write down anything I need to remember. Because of the nature of my job (I work at a church and often help out church members and volunteers), sometimes people will approach me unexpectedly to ask me to do something for them; in those situations I ask the person to email me the information or wait while I get a pen and paper, whichever works better for the situation. I try to be very warm and polite during these interactions so I come across as conscientious rather than dismissive or unhelpful.
• When people email me asking me to do something for them, I pin the email in Outlook so it doesn't get lost. I unpin the email after I finish the assignment and the person has received it.
• At my job I use Microsoft Teams for my coworkers to assign me work and keep track of what I'm doing. I like to add in extra information as I need it; for example, if a coworker creates a task asking me to make copies of something, and I later find out they need 50 pages on white cardstock, I'll add that to the Teams task. I also like to break tasks down into multiple steps. This helps me keep track of where I am in jobs that have more than one part, because I won't always remember what I have or haven't done yet.
I also use Teams to set up recurring tasks for things I do weekly or daily. I even add smaller things like "check printer toner levels" and "check paper supplies" so I don't forget.
(You can probably find a better app to help you with this. I kind of hate Teams.)
• Every day I write down the things I'm going to work on that day on a colorful post-it note and stick it to my computer so I look at it all day. I do this in addition to the Teams thing because I'll forget about things if they aren't in front of my face.
I also do this with information I need to refer to a lot. I have the number of the customer support line I call 500 times a day to complain about the printer and the printer id number written on a note. We had a large event last weekend and people kept calling to ask about the details, so I wrote those on a note too.
• It's really common at my job for people to ask me to do something for them but be really bad at explaining what they need. I repeat back my understanding of what they said to make sure we're on the same page. I'll say something like, "Okay, let me make sure I have it right. You want 3 copies of the 5th grade class roster with their parents' phone numbers and emails included. Is that right?" If possible, I ask for an example of what was done in the past, and make notes if I'll be changing something.
• I apologize a lot and take responsibility when I forget something or make a mistake. I always want the people I work with to know that I care about doing a good job. I say something like, "I'm so sorry that I didn't make those name tags for your class. I know it must have been a pain. They're in your classroom now, so you'll have them for next week. Please let me know if there's anything else I can do to help." I feel like I probably do 80-90% of my job correctly and on time, and being super pleasant and accountable helps people forgive me for the rest.
posted by birthday cake at 10:01 AM on August 14 [4 favorites]
I've been an admin for 30+ years. In fact, I am on Day 2 of a job supporting the CEO of a health clinic as I type this. For the record, I also have not been diagnosed with ADHD.
I STILL 100% NEED to write shit down. The sheer volume of information that you need to act on, possess, forward, or otherwise handle is simply not possible for even neurotypical people to handle without outside assistance. The demands on your time are too great, the things that people think are vital are too pressing, and the human brain simply cannot keep up. By writing things down you are 100% doing things normally, in my opinion, and the vast majority of people should expect that (and if they don't they can go pound sand).
Another thing to try - a lot of calendar reminders for yourself, especially for recurring tasks. One of the first things they told me in training yesterday was that they would like me to check the coffee maker first thing - as soon as I could I set up a recurring reminder for myself every day to "check the coffee maker". Yesterday I had to put a pause on a thing and follow up with a call today - as soon as I hung up the phone I put a calendar reminder to myself to "call X back" for this afternoon. This morning I was in this ungodly stupid situation trying to log onto a web site that locked me out after too many failed login attempts - it said I could try again in 20 minutes, so I made myself a calendar reminder for 20 minutes in the future to "try that damn web site again".
Think of it as that your brain has a finite capacity for Stuff. And if there's any Stuff you can offload onto a piece of paper, a calendar reminder, a text message on your phone, etc. then that clears the way for other stuff like "oh crap can you look up what day Christmas is next year" or "where are you with that project I gave you" or suchlike. And if all else fails, and they say "hey, remember to blahblahblah" but you can go to your notes and say "hang on, I wrote down here that you said to 'blahBLEEblah', can you clarify", then you have some kind of backup that maybe THEY'RE the ones who goofed, and that's always fun.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 10:31 AM on August 14 [3 favorites]
I STILL 100% NEED to write shit down. The sheer volume of information that you need to act on, possess, forward, or otherwise handle is simply not possible for even neurotypical people to handle without outside assistance. The demands on your time are too great, the things that people think are vital are too pressing, and the human brain simply cannot keep up. By writing things down you are 100% doing things normally, in my opinion, and the vast majority of people should expect that (and if they don't they can go pound sand).
Another thing to try - a lot of calendar reminders for yourself, especially for recurring tasks. One of the first things they told me in training yesterday was that they would like me to check the coffee maker first thing - as soon as I could I set up a recurring reminder for myself every day to "check the coffee maker". Yesterday I had to put a pause on a thing and follow up with a call today - as soon as I hung up the phone I put a calendar reminder to myself to "call X back" for this afternoon. This morning I was in this ungodly stupid situation trying to log onto a web site that locked me out after too many failed login attempts - it said I could try again in 20 minutes, so I made myself a calendar reminder for 20 minutes in the future to "try that damn web site again".
Think of it as that your brain has a finite capacity for Stuff. And if there's any Stuff you can offload onto a piece of paper, a calendar reminder, a text message on your phone, etc. then that clears the way for other stuff like "oh crap can you look up what day Christmas is next year" or "where are you with that project I gave you" or suchlike. And if all else fails, and they say "hey, remember to blahblahblah" but you can go to your notes and say "hang on, I wrote down here that you said to 'blahBLEEblah', can you clarify", then you have some kind of backup that maybe THEY'RE the ones who goofed, and that's always fun.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 10:31 AM on August 14 [3 favorites]
I second everyone else that this sounds normal, you are not expected to remember things without paper (I don't), and it's really early and natural to feel overwhelmed. You will need to develop systems for these things.
For receiving instructions, I would develop a habit of repeating back your understanding of the task to someone once delivered, and/or (especially for more complicated things) emailing them a written description afterwards. Asking questions is important, even if you're 90% sure you know what they want.
E.g.
As per our discussion today, I will do x, y, z. I am assuming A is already completed and I don't need to worry about B. I understand you need this done by [DATE]. Please let me know if this is incorrect or if you have further instructions.
posted by lookoutbelow at 10:50 AM on August 14
For receiving instructions, I would develop a habit of repeating back your understanding of the task to someone once delivered, and/or (especially for more complicated things) emailing them a written description afterwards. Asking questions is important, even if you're 90% sure you know what they want.
E.g.
As per our discussion today, I will do x, y, z. I am assuming A is already completed and I don't need to worry about B. I understand you need this done by [DATE]. Please let me know if this is incorrect or if you have further instructions.
posted by lookoutbelow at 10:50 AM on August 14
I am a "horizontal filer". I like to have all the tasks laid out on my desk so I can see them, so I don't forget any task (and ideally all the task "bits"). Obviously, this doesn't actually work if your job has too many tasks or tasks with too many "bits".
Once I realised I need to see the tasks physically, I made a couple of changes:
1) physical paper work for a task is clipped together and hung from hooks screwed into the bottom of a shelf over my desk. I can see the groups of paper (tasks) and move them around as part of my work flow.
2) I use a white board and coloured post-it notes to list all the tasks I am responsible for. The white board is sectioned "Do today", "do tomorrow", "due this week", "due later (with date written)", and "done" style. I will layer the post-it notes to list out sub-tasks, and move the post-it notes each day to make sure I am completing all the smaller tasks before the deadline. Sometimes they move as a stack, sometimes only one or two subtasks get promoted and completed.
3) for tasks that I have to complete cyclically, I can refine the subtask post-its with reminders or edits, or reorder them to be more efficient. My process is evolving as I gain familiarity and experience.
4) at the end of the day, I place the next day's post-its in the "do today"section and I prioritize then numerically. So when I get into work the next day, I review the priorities and just start working on priority 1. When my time budget is done, I either move the post-it back to the "do tomorrow" section if it needs more work the next day, or I move it to the "done" section if done. Or if it needs another block of budget time later today, it is moved to the bottom of the "do today" section. I usually budget either 30 min or 45 min time blocks. Then I work on priority 2, and so on. The trick here, is that you are emotionally less invested in "future you", so can be more dispassionate about prioritizing work for tomorrow. Then "today you" doesn't have to make decisions in the moment, "today you" just chips away at the established priorities as each time block opens up.
posted by Sauter Vaguely at 10:57 AM on August 14 [6 favorites]
Once I realised I need to see the tasks physically, I made a couple of changes:
1) physical paper work for a task is clipped together and hung from hooks screwed into the bottom of a shelf over my desk. I can see the groups of paper (tasks) and move them around as part of my work flow.
2) I use a white board and coloured post-it notes to list all the tasks I am responsible for. The white board is sectioned "Do today", "do tomorrow", "due this week", "due later (with date written)", and "done" style. I will layer the post-it notes to list out sub-tasks, and move the post-it notes each day to make sure I am completing all the smaller tasks before the deadline. Sometimes they move as a stack, sometimes only one or two subtasks get promoted and completed.
3) for tasks that I have to complete cyclically, I can refine the subtask post-its with reminders or edits, or reorder them to be more efficient. My process is evolving as I gain familiarity and experience.
4) at the end of the day, I place the next day's post-its in the "do today"section and I prioritize then numerically. So when I get into work the next day, I review the priorities and just start working on priority 1. When my time budget is done, I either move the post-it back to the "do tomorrow" section if it needs more work the next day, or I move it to the "done" section if done. Or if it needs another block of budget time later today, it is moved to the bottom of the "do today" section. I usually budget either 30 min or 45 min time blocks. Then I work on priority 2, and so on. The trick here, is that you are emotionally less invested in "future you", so can be more dispassionate about prioritizing work for tomorrow. Then "today you" doesn't have to make decisions in the moment, "today you" just chips away at the established priorities as each time block opens up.
posted by Sauter Vaguely at 10:57 AM on August 14 [6 favorites]
You've gotten lots of good advice above, and I wanted to agree with others that while I definitely use electronic stuff and electronic reminders, I definitely still write things down, both on notepads and in an appointment book/calendar, and on to do lists, etc..
Also, I always wear something with pockets so I can carry a pocket notepad/mini pencil along with me that way. If you don't, they make mini notepad/pen or pencil sets with lanyards. There are also memo wristbands/bracelets that are erasable; example.
posted by gudrun at 11:42 AM on August 14
Also, I always wear something with pockets so I can carry a pocket notepad/mini pencil along with me that way. If you don't, they make mini notepad/pen or pencil sets with lanyards. There are also memo wristbands/bracelets that are erasable; example.
posted by gudrun at 11:42 AM on August 14
I work in an admin job for a large university and support two different departments.
Don't beat yourself up about the meeting too much. If I understand this correctly, the meeting involved your boss + a small number of working women who are enrolled in an educational program? This is now your first lesson that students will assume everything is optional unless you explicitly specify otherwise (and if you did, well, that's on them and your boss is being unreasonable to be mad at you).
Ignore this part if you already did this, but with meetings, I always have to:
-use ironclad language
-give a deadline for them to respond, and
-follow up with them repeatedly if they didn't reply by the deadline.
"This is a required check-in with [BOSS] and therefore we need all group members to attend. Please RSVP by Wednesday end of day, and let me know as soon as possible if you have an unexpected conflict." (and then email everyone who isn't responding).
In general, more communication with the Boss is better than less; they can always tell you if they feel like you're checking in with them too much. "Hi Boss, so I have three out of four RSVPs for the group meeting tomorrow, I've been trying to contact Student X but so far they have not replied. Do you still want to proceed if I can't reach her?"
I also follow up with an email if I've been given a lot of to-dos in one meeting. "Hi, I just want to confirm I didn't miss anything from our meeting this morning. I should be doing x, y, and contacting z, and Y is the first priority, correct?"
I have a similar system to Eyelash in Google Sheets (Excel spreadsheet works too). I have a big list of every single task I've been given. I color-code the tasks depending on urgency (Red = overdue or urgent ; Yellow = Do Today; Green = Not Urgent) and I have the columns after where I indicate if I'm waiting on anyone to get back to me, when did I last contact them, when will I follow up with them, any other notes, etc. This is my "Cover Your Ass" plan if my boss is getting nervous about something and wants to know where we are at: "I contacted Denise about the approvals on Tuesday and she hasn't responded yet; I will follow up with her right after our call." I also have a big celebratory "DONE" column so I can reassure myself that I have been doing things.
posted by castlebravo at 8:49 AM on August 15 [2 favorites]
Don't beat yourself up about the meeting too much. If I understand this correctly, the meeting involved your boss + a small number of working women who are enrolled in an educational program? This is now your first lesson that students will assume everything is optional unless you explicitly specify otherwise (and if you did, well, that's on them and your boss is being unreasonable to be mad at you).
Ignore this part if you already did this, but with meetings, I always have to:
-use ironclad language
-give a deadline for them to respond, and
-follow up with them repeatedly if they didn't reply by the deadline.
"This is a required check-in with [BOSS] and therefore we need all group members to attend. Please RSVP by Wednesday end of day, and let me know as soon as possible if you have an unexpected conflict." (and then email everyone who isn't responding).
In general, more communication with the Boss is better than less; they can always tell you if they feel like you're checking in with them too much. "Hi Boss, so I have three out of four RSVPs for the group meeting tomorrow, I've been trying to contact Student X but so far they have not replied. Do you still want to proceed if I can't reach her?"
I also follow up with an email if I've been given a lot of to-dos in one meeting. "Hi, I just want to confirm I didn't miss anything from our meeting this morning. I should be doing x, y, and contacting z, and Y is the first priority, correct?"
I have a similar system to Eyelash in Google Sheets (Excel spreadsheet works too). I have a big list of every single task I've been given. I color-code the tasks depending on urgency (Red = overdue or urgent ; Yellow = Do Today; Green = Not Urgent) and I have the columns after where I indicate if I'm waiting on anyone to get back to me, when did I last contact them, when will I follow up with them, any other notes, etc. This is my "Cover Your Ass" plan if my boss is getting nervous about something and wants to know where we are at: "I contacted Denise about the approvals on Tuesday and she hasn't responded yet; I will follow up with her right after our call." I also have a big celebratory "DONE" column so I can reassure myself that I have been doing things.
posted by castlebravo at 8:49 AM on August 15 [2 favorites]
BTW a general recommendation for anybody struggling with the visibility aspect of keeping up with everything: for the past year I've been using an old iPad with a crap battery as a Heads-Up Display on my desk where it can stay plugged in all the time, I've got it split-screening my calendar and inbox. That works very very well. I also just rearranged my technology so I have 3 monitors for work (27", laptop screen, 15" portable monitor) with the portable monitor dedicated to half-Slack and half the spreadsheet Action Log I now use for expanded requirements details on everything I need to do.
Monitors are cheap, so if you don't have enough screen real estate to make yourself a sort of dashboard, ask for another monitor if your computer will support it.
posted by Lyn Never at 9:13 AM on August 15
Monitors are cheap, so if you don't have enough screen real estate to make yourself a sort of dashboard, ask for another monitor if your computer will support it.
posted by Lyn Never at 9:13 AM on August 15
I have similar problems, and have often wondered if I should get a formal ADHD diagnosis. When I get on my bike to run an errand, and my family start telling me requests for things to do when I get there, I always hold up my hand and say "text me the details or it won't happen."
The thing that helped me the most was the few years during which I was studiously following the Bullet Journal system. I wrote a comment back then about how a coping mechanism for cognitive disability had been co-opted by style influencers, but I found that the little bulleted lists helped me keep context on everything.
The most important part of the Bullet Journal method is that you keep copying entries from yesterday to today until they are no longer needed. This seems mad at first, like you're just telling yourself how little you got done, but it's kind of funny to look at something you've been carrying forward day-by-day for two weeks and realise "actually this was never that important" and just strike it out!
That plus the One Important Seasonal Calendar Page helped me just...keep context on everything I needed to do. I'm going back to university for a one-year MA programme next month, and I intend to set up a new journal to make sure I don't lose the plot.
posted by rum-soaked space hobo at 10:58 AM on August 15
The thing that helped me the most was the few years during which I was studiously following the Bullet Journal system. I wrote a comment back then about how a coping mechanism for cognitive disability had been co-opted by style influencers, but I found that the little bulleted lists helped me keep context on everything.
The most important part of the Bullet Journal method is that you keep copying entries from yesterday to today until they are no longer needed. This seems mad at first, like you're just telling yourself how little you got done, but it's kind of funny to look at something you've been carrying forward day-by-day for two weeks and realise "actually this was never that important" and just strike it out!
That plus the One Important Seasonal Calendar Page helped me just...keep context on everything I needed to do. I'm going back to university for a one-year MA programme next month, and I intend to set up a new journal to make sure I don't lose the plot.
posted by rum-soaked space hobo at 10:58 AM on August 15
Agreed: the newness of the job, and needing time understand how discrete tasks contribute to the whole, is part of the problem; toting a notebook/bible is helpful, as are checklists; and it's possible you have ADHD.
Make document templates where you can (event planning, caterer quotes, etc., might benefit from this approach).
BUT: "When people say things to me, I seem to get a different understanding of what was said" caught my eye, and maybe you need a hearing test.
posted by Iris Gambol at 1:27 PM on August 15
Make document templates where you can (event planning, caterer quotes, etc., might benefit from this approach).
BUT: "When people say things to me, I seem to get a different understanding of what was said" caught my eye, and maybe you need a hearing test.
posted by Iris Gambol at 1:27 PM on August 15
You got lots of good advice, and I'll add:
- If you can find a way to relax, this will go much more smoothly and you'll remember better. Try to keep the attitude that you are a qualified professional doing their best while not being overly serious. The meeting can be rescheduled and nobody will remember it in two weeks.
- Related: slow down, don't multitask, set a reminder if something needs to be handled in the future. If you aren't sure when it needs to be handled, pick a day you're sure is early enough and set a reminder to review it then.
- As an admin, your job is usually mostly making your boss happy. Check your boss's calendar for the next few days every morning to catch things like the dropped meeting invites. Figure out how your boss likes to communicate and do things and make it easy for them. You can even just ask them if you aren't sure, it's better than discovering a misunderstanding later.
- Find other admins in related roles and see how they do things, they probably have systems they'll be happy to show off and know the weird quirks about your particular workplace.
posted by momus_window at 10:41 AM on August 16
- If you can find a way to relax, this will go much more smoothly and you'll remember better. Try to keep the attitude that you are a qualified professional doing their best while not being overly serious. The meeting can be rescheduled and nobody will remember it in two weeks.
- Related: slow down, don't multitask, set a reminder if something needs to be handled in the future. If you aren't sure when it needs to be handled, pick a day you're sure is early enough and set a reminder to review it then.
- As an admin, your job is usually mostly making your boss happy. Check your boss's calendar for the next few days every morning to catch things like the dropped meeting invites. Figure out how your boss likes to communicate and do things and make it easy for them. You can even just ask them if you aren't sure, it's better than discovering a misunderstanding later.
- Find other admins in related roles and see how they do things, they probably have systems they'll be happy to show off and know the weird quirks about your particular workplace.
posted by momus_window at 10:41 AM on August 16
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keep a notepad & pen with you whenever you head to an important meeting, or loose paper & a pencil, or even post-its & a crayon. i've found paper & pen brands that i enjoy using: this makes my day more pleasant & functional. good luck!
posted by HearHere at 8:10 AM on August 14 [10 favorites]