Today starts my four-day weekend. It was a long day at work and around the house. I ended the day outside next to the fire reading and brainstorming ideas to allow my team to improve next year. I talked to the director yesterday and figured out a way to work with the agents and give them a two hour break each week to work on their process of resolving issues. People get complacent on how they do things and do not try to improve their process or sharpen their tools. Starting next year, I am going to improve my team and have the training and methods being used for the rest of the teams across the Americas.

I have started the Wiki for my team this morning. Other agents that are not on my team reach out to me with process questions and wanting to expand their knowledge. I have opened all the training materials I developed for my team so other agents can learn. Next week I am going to clean up the format and make it more accessible to everyone.

 ⛅ 48°F – 44°F 😐| Seattle 
 

Last day in the office for the week. Meetings went well and I got everything done. Christmas is coming up. All the presents are under the tree except for Santa’s. The kids are excited and so am I. Next week the kids have time off from school. I might have to go in the office for a day but hopefully not. I will be the only manager in the building for next week. It should be slow and not much to do.  It will be interesting.

 ☀️ 51°F – 43°F 🙂 | Seattle 

I handed out all my presents to the agents I am responsible for. They were a big hit. They deserved it.  Today’s productivity went up and everyone was talking and having fun. Even after the weekly one on ones.
The rest of the day was work as usual for me. When I arrived home it was my typical household duties for Tuesday. For dinner we ate leftovers.

It rained most of the day and I didn’t start a fire to get through the wood pile. It was just too wet outside to enjoy it.

 🌧️ 45°F – 40°F 🙂 | Seattle 

 Crazy day at work. Meetings, meetings, meetings… At the end of the day, I was informed by the director that an agent didn’t reply to a customer for 5 days. So, I had to rush and find out why before I left the door to pick up the kids from school. It’s becoming apparent that everyone wants to talk to me, or needs something from me at the end of my workday. Tomorrow I am going to block the last hour of the day for this. This can be my ask any question or social hour for me. All I need to do is get all my work done in a shorter period of time. I must automate more of my job somehow.

At home, I made spaghetti and garlic bread for dinner. I forgot to include the kids in preparing dinner. They need to be included so they can learn to cook for themselves. I just got caught up getting all the things done before 6 pm.

 🌤️ 47°F – 37°F 🥱 | Seattle 

 I had fun at work today, spent most of the time talking and ordering pizza and cake. The company is doing monthly birthdays to celebrate everyone who’s birth was in the month. Very corporate, but it is a nice gesture. I got all the team’s Christmas gifts in the office. That took a bit of effort. 19 bottles of 2lt bottles of soda and the rest of the present into the office in the pitch of night. I am way behind on work, so tomorrow I must hunker down and get it all done as fast as I possibly can.

After work I picked up another 2lt bottle of soda. The box held 19 bottles but had room enough for 20. So, I went to the grocery store to purchase another bottle to make it even and fill the box completely.

The rest of the day was nice. Me and my son played Mario cart for an hour then read a short story before bedtime.

Overall, it was a nice day.

 ⛅ 48°F – 39°F 🙂 | Seattle

There was an accident heading into work today. It took 30 minutes to arrive at work. Luckily, I left at 5 am and had plenty of time to get to work. It was heavy rain and the freeway had puddles covering it. With poor visibility and road traction it was inevitable.

Work was the same old thing. The meeting was like the one before it. We need to do the same things without a framework to put all the information. So, it goes now were. I am coming up with a framework for my team. It will be our home of all things, until they put up the new Wiki sometime next year.

Time seems to be going faster and faster. Days go by with a blur. I don’t feel like I am spending quality time with my family and my parents. I need to create experiences, go outside and do things, especially during the holiday season. It seems we spend too much time at home. I’m going to slash expenses and use that money to go out and have fun outside the house.

 🌧️ 57°F – 50°F 😐 | Seattle 

Another crazy day at work. My trainee had his first call with a customer. He was very nervous and did poorly as expected. Everyone does poorly on the first call. I helped him as much as I could. He seemed really rattled so I gave him the rest of the hour off to recuperate. Tomorrow he will need to do the full hour. After this week he will need to do 2 hours. This will allow him to be more comfortable with calls. It’s a skill he will need to learn. I remember my first call I took, I was scared and couldn’t answer his questions. But after a few calls, it got better and better. After two weeks, it was natural. It just takes time to get your voice and to be comfortable.

After work, at home, we decorated for Christmas. Tree is up and all decorated. The house is lit and windows adorned with decorations. It looks good. We all had allot of fun.

 🌧️ 55°F – 40°F 🥱 | Seattle 

Another hectic day at work. Just a lot of work to do. The rain was heavy and there were a few wind gusts. The kids had the day off at school and played games for most of the day. We planned this week’s breakfast and dinners so we could put together the grocery list for tomorrow’s shopping.

We played Out Foxed before we went to bed. It is a fun co-op game.

 🌧️ Heavy Rain 46°F – 43°F 🙂 | Seattle