However, after giving it some very careful consideration and weighing the pros and cons, I decided that the draft will stay just that, a draft. But more importantly, it's a draft that will stay within arm's reach, partly as a motivational tool and partly as a depressing reminder of what might be should I decide to take that step.
That being said (cryptically, he implies), I would like to borrow a post idea from fave blogger Granny Annie and ask you two questions that may give you a little insight (cryptically, he implies again) about the post that almost was.
Have you ever gotten so aggravated or disgusted with doing something that you gave serious thought about implementing the concept of "phoning it in" just so you could get it over and done with it?
or
Have you every phoned it in and either felt guilty for doing it or not guilty in doing it afterwards?
I had to look up what "phoned it in" meant. Sorry, I'm dense.
ReplyDelete"to put in a half assed effort at something, but complete it. Often pertaining to work which is complete and pretending to have worked a long time on, when in fact little to no effort was put into it. Derived from deciding to not physically attend a meeting in, but rather to be present by phone only."
What would I do without the Urban dictionary. :D
I can't say I have, but I've thought about doing it!
Sometimes you just have to "fake it til you make it," man. I think even Dr. Phil endorses that. It's something like "phoning it in" on one level, I guess.
ReplyDeleteJoe: Another version of the phrase would be "mailing it in". It's a old school phrase that people still use today.
ReplyDeleteI haven't either, but I've thought about it a lot. The one thing that stops me is that I'm a man of my word, and if you destroy your word, you really have nothing left.
Debra: I detest faking it, even though sometimes it does seem like a better path to travel.
I am temperamentally incapable of phoning it in. I feel that anything worth doing is worth doing well. That's not to be confused with being a perfectionist, however. Good enough is good enough.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry things seem to be sucking again...I, too, had to look up phoning it in.
ReplyDeleteI've had to hold it together at work before when everything outside of work is hell, but I know that's not always possible. Hang in there.
S.R.: I normally feel the same way, but lately, it seems like I'm spinning my wheels and not making any progress. I do my best and it seems like no one appreciates it anymore, so I'm starting to think, "well maybe, if i did the bare minimum, then that would satisfy the need to get it done."
ReplyDeleteSometimes, you can't catch a break if you don't play.
M: Thanks.
Certain things are not quite what I want them to be, so that negativity is starting to bleed into other aspects of my life.
Burn out is never a good thing, but it's starting to look really good on this end.
There are times when I've not been able to do my best job because of stress or just over demands, but I really don't believe I've ever written anything or taught a class with the attitude of just phoning it in. I may have done some household chores that way.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the shout-out:)
ReplyDeleteI try never to phone-it-in, but have worked along side many a skater and did not want to be on their team.
Try to make my slogan "commitment".
Charles: I think we've all done some household chores that way from time to time. :D
ReplyDeleteSeriously though, for a teacher to do less than their very best w/o good reason, and you listed two of the best, means that either myself or my children aren't learning what they need to know to survive in the real world.
G.A.: You're more than welcome for the shout-out. I always like your questions of the week that you post up on your blog, so I thought I would borrow it for this post.
I don't think that I've had the misfortune of working with slackers on a project, only at my job on a daily/weekly basis.
I'm sorry this has been such a bad year for you, G.
ReplyDeleteToward the end of my time as just a sales person only at the printing company - I might have been phoning it in just a bit. I got extremely burned out on making cold calls. I'm now working customer service there (using no part of my college degree), but I like that I'm busy all day. And I got to keep the customers as a salesperson that I already had. A win win for all of us.
Lynn: Thanks.
ReplyDeleteIt's only been bad in certain aspects, but man, its those aspects that bleeding into everything else I do.
Not so much here, but at work as well. It's tough working in the public sector where ingenuity and creativity are more or less squashed to the temple of comformity.
There are many times that I thought about phoning it in at work, and there were times that I did and had no regrets afterwards.
I'm sincerely glad that you're working in a win-win situation at your job. We all should be having that scenario at our given jobs.
I am going to go out on a limb here and guess that none of the people who know the phrase "phoning it in" are big sports fans...
ReplyDeleteAnd phoning it in never seems as good in retrospect as it did in that moment of despair
Darth: I would have to agree with you on the 2nd point. Not sure about the 1st, as "phoning it in" is definitely an old skool phrase from when I was a lad.
ReplyDeleteProlly should've used "mailing it in" or "going though the motions" instead.