Work - One Thing which never ends

Work - its an unusual type of thing. Its importance is diluted once there is more of it & on flip side its importance becomes clearer when there is none of it.

Most of people reading this blog will agree to the fact that I am & always be an workaholic. The basic point is I cannot stay unoccupied or in other words I like myself busy.

Straight of Engineering college, i joined Schlumberger Asia Services Ltd. - a leading Oil & Gas Services provider.

As you all know, with the first job, everyone generally wants to create an impression on the operations of the company. The only goal in mind is to make oneself indispensable. There are many factors which work together in creating this behavior - can be family issues, peer pressures, market conditions or self esteem.

Family Issues - making money is important, but in this case making money every month is even more important.

Peer Pressures - People from peer group are moving ahead & creating impressions - no one likes one's own friend moving faster than he/she himself is. Thats the truth.. .. ya.. believe me.. !!! - its human tendency.

Market Conditions - As observed last year, with bad market conditions everybody in the industry wants to hold on what one has in hand

Self Esteem - Very few people are motivated by this factor.. but believe me.. these are the people one should look upto. These people feel low or incompetent.. if they are not able to solve a problem on hand.. they strive for excellence - as baba Ranchoddas would say :)

A combination of the above mentioned factors or in some cases overdose of a single factor.. creates a mindset for the burning desire for making oneself "indispensable" in the organization.

Same was the case with me when i had joined Schlumberger, i used to work like hell.. even on weekends.. :(

I had a strange mentality at that point of time, i used to think,... "Yeh thoda sa baaki hai.. chalo kar lete hai - finish karte hai - kaam khatam karte hai"

This continued for quite some time.. & there are side effects also... personal life, social life.. & fitness.. all tend to get secondary attention..

I remember a quote of one of my mentors - he used to say..

"Age of 18-30, is a fountain of energy & one is always oozing with the same.. In this period, one's body can handle all kinds of stresses & lack of attention.. it wont complain.. but once you cross 30.. the same body tends to play a foul game & starts interfering with your normal life"

How true is that.. i have seen real life examples.. after age of 30, most of professionals end up with blood pressure, diabetes or cholesterol problems. Its all the result of crimes which one preforms on the body during the golden period - age of 18 to 30.

Remember one thing... "Khud khatam ho jaaoge.. kaam khatam nahi hoga" - "One's own self will get finsihed.. but work will never be finished"

There are some cases like me,, who on a sunday.. when there is no work.. take up writing a blog as a work... :P

But still take time off to do things which u like.. i like writing blogs... i take time out for the same..

As an experienced candidate from industry.. an advice to all the people joining the corporate world.. please take care of yourself - strike a work-life balance.. at least strive for it..

Take out time from your busy schedule.. now being a manager.. focus on smart work rather than hard work..

Please do drop in with your comments.. your tips & techniques for maintaining Work-life balance... :)

BEST Bus - Recession & Bailout Explained at its "BEST"

Recession - the term which held hostage the newpapers for a long time seems to be on its way out. I am carefully using my words, because these economic terms never follow predictions. It seems that recession is on its way out, but many are still skeptical about the same. Fuelled by increased government spending & stimulus packages, the industry has shown signs of recovery, but many experts still believe we are still not out of the blocks.

Here is a small analogy for you all... Imagine the following...

BEST Bus - Economy of America

Conductor of the Bus - Government of USA / Federal bank

Driver of the Bus - Fundamentals of the Country

Speed of the Bus - GDP growth

Passengers on the Bus - People of the country

Confused.. Please bear with me.. things will get clearer as we discuss further.. :)

BEST bus drives its way through ups & downs on the road, makes stops & depicts the journey from underdeveloped to developed state of economy. Pre-recession period can be attributed to BEST bus being running on Western Express Highway, growing at great speed. Everything is running fine, somewhere down the line the BEST administration starts offering tickets on Credit. The trend comes in vogue & most of people stop carrying cash & board the buses with credit cards..

Somewhere down the line, credit buildup becomes unmanageable, the speed of the BEST bus slows down. GDP growth falls, liquidity gets squeezed out of the system. The conductor doesnt have much cash in its kitty.. declining revenues, & expenses on the BEST adminnistration the same.. Here comes the recession season into the picture..

Now visualize some people in the bus with bad credit cards on their pockets.. the credit cards not accepted by the BEST conductor.. but still they have to purchase the tickets..Now comes the case of bailout... the conductor on the bus gets its cash from the passengers on the bus who purchase the tickets in cash..ie... taxpayers of the economy.

Some who could not impress the conductor with their credentials.. had to get down from the bus..i.e. file for bankruptcy.. e.g- Lehmann Brothers & many other banks..

Some who could impress the conductor.. were bailed out. given credit by the conductor.. allowed to stay on the bus.. e.g- Citibank & may others.. From where does this bailout money come from -- obiviously from the cash from taxpayers...

Will the bailed people pay back to the conductor ?? - Presently there seems hope that they will pay back.. if they do.. the conductor can be credited to have done a extraordinary job.

This type of bailout approach comes in from the keysenian economics.. which says that government can intervene & change the course of the economy growth & cyclical nature of the economy can be diluted so as to make the impacts of the cycles in the economy bearable..

There could be many anamolies in the analogy assumed here, but for the sake of understanding, i think explains the "Recession & Bailout" in the "BEST" possible way... :)

Please do drop in with your comments & also let me know what you think of the "BEST" buses ... :)