Chapter 2
Too many Dependencies
"Toni, we cannot meet. I have to work this evening 😔." Sarah looks sadly at her phone and presses the send button in the chat app. "Hey, stop!" Toni replied almost instantaneously. "Why?" "Two reasons. Number one: The whole work day, I could not concentrate on finishing my presentation for the next all-hands meeting on Friday. Between the meetings, I had reserved enough time. But then, a colleague from the other department called me on the phone. I got two emails with "urgent" questions from 🥸 and 👹."
"And, Lucy sent me a quick meeting request. She called me to find a common time slot for the next big meeting and was desperately asking everyone for their availability." continues Sarah. "She said it had now taken her 20 minutes to find a free slot. Not really surprising. With 8 people, the chance is almost zero..."
Toni laughs "😀 Yes, that's true. But calling everyone is not really efficient to do this either."
Sarah writes: "True. Finally, I had 30 minutes in sum to work on my presentation. But these 30 minutes were divided into four chunks of about 5 to 10 minutes. No chance to focus on it at all 😓!" Toni replied: "As every normal work day 😭. Recently, I read that your IQ declines by 10 points when you are constantly distracted. That is like having had a night without sleep or having smoked more than two joints 🚬 in a row!"
"Ha ha, perhaps it makes me now as creative as smoking pot! Would be good for my presentation! But I don't think so 🙁" Sarah jests desperately.
"🤣. You said there were two reasons not to meet. What's the second one?" asks Toni curiously. "Yes, in five minutes, I have to interview a colleague of mine about the financial data I need for my report. She was busy all day in meetings and had no time to document them well. This evening was the only free slot she could offer me. One more meeting to go 🥱." yawns Sarah.
"What a pity! I wanted to tell you a bit about Simon's reply to my questions about his ways of working. It's really interesting! They have clear agreements in their team on response time and distraction-free work slots to allow them to do more "deep work' as he calls it. I will send it over to you. He has made a video to explain it to me and allowed me to forward it to you!"
"That sounds great. Again, sorry I couldn't make it today. Next time perhaps at Da Mario? I love his antipasti!" Sarah daydreams. "Yesss! And, I will ask Simon and Marie if they will come with us!" proposes Toni. "Good Idea! But, now, I have to switch to the video call! CU and have a good night with sweat dreams 🛏 😙!"
time to work
a true fictional story about async work
a true fictional story about async work
Part I - The Beginning
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Chapter 2 - Too many Dependencies
Part II - Hard Times
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to be continued...
time to work is a true fictional story about async work. If you want to start changing your work style to more asynchronous ways of working, this is for you.
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