New job teaches about change, balance and, most of all, patience

Three weeks into my new job, I’ve learned a few things.

First, I’ve learned that change is difficult, but it’s also exciting.

I’ve had moments since starting the new gig when I’ve felt completely overwhelmed. However, I’ve also found that I’m understanding more and feeling more comfortable every day.

Regarding the latter, it helps that the people with whom I’m working have been extremely kind and helpful. I truly appreciate them.

It also helps that I am sincerely interested in learning all I can about my new job. I find my team’s projects fascinating, and I look forward to working with them to build amazing new things.

Second, I’ve learned that work/life balance is still hard to establish, but in different ways.

Since I worked at the Deseret News for such a long time, I knew everybody there, and they knew me. Over the years, I earned a level of seniority and — I hope — respect. That also gave me a bit of flexibility.

For example, I didn’t feel guilty about meeting my wife and son for lunch every now and then, even if it meant I was going to be out of the office for more than an hour, because I knew — and the people who worked with me knew — that I would more than make up for that time. In exchange for the work/life balance sacrifices of spending time on business projects during nights and weekends, I was able to grab some moments with my family during the occasional workday.

I have not yet earned that respect in my new job, and I know it will take time to do so. I have absolutely no problem with that. But it does make for an interesting change in perspective.

On the other side of the ledger, my nights and weekends are now mostly free from work, other than reading I choose to do to try to learn my job more quickly. As I’ve expressed in earlier columns, this has been great for me and for my relationship with my family. I’m sure this aspect of my job change will continue to positive, though I expect work to intrude upon some of my off hours as I get more into the flow of my new job.

All of this leads to the third — and most difficult — thing I’ve learned: I’ve got to be patient.

As a rule, I’m not a patient person.

Actually, that’s not entirely true. I feel that I am fairly patient with people at work. At least, I’ve always tried to be.