It occurred to me today that I really don’t like this week.

NOTE: I APOLOGIZE IF THE FORMATTING LOOKS DIFFERENT AND NOT TO YOUR LIKING; WORDPRESS MADE SOME CHANGES TO THE WAY THAT I CREATE THIS CONTENT, AND I AM STILL GETTING USED TO THOSE CHANGES.

I am the technology director for the school district where I work. While this might sound pretty fancy, it doesn’t really amount to much, other than I am the guy who fixes the technology when it doesn’t work.

Now, imagine yourself as the technology director for a school district. What week of the school year do you think would be the worst week for you, as you help people with their technology needs, as you are being pulled in different directions by different forces that are being brought to bear on you.

I’ll give you a hint. It’s a very special week of the year, for everyone in education.

* * *

Imagine the problem this way.

A man is in a boat and the boat is leaking. The rate at which the water outside of the boat is coming into the boat is two gallons per minute. The man is able to bail water at a rate of three gallons per minute. That doesn’t sound like a problem, right?!?! Except, when he got into the boat, there was already fifteen gallons of water sitting in the bottom of the boat. Bailing that water, and the new water that is coming in, becomes a math problem. At what point in time will the man in the boat have the water cleared?

That is what my job is like during hell week. I can’t ever seem to get to the point where I’ve cleared everything that was set in front of me to do. Honestly, it often ends up taking a couple of weeks for all of that work to get done. “Why does it take so long?” you ask.

Well, during this pretty simple process of bailing water out of a leaking boat, the person doing the bailing is also expected to quilt a blanket. And juggle three flaming chainsaws without dropping any of the three. And, recite from memory the complete Gettysburg Address.

Does it seem like too much?

Welcome to hell week.

* * *

The great thing about hell week is that each day is slightly better than the previous one. Once you clear the work that is in front of you on the first day, then there is that much less to do on the second day. If you are fool enough to believe that there isn’t anything else that will be coming in on Day Two, it wouldn’t seem that bad at all.

But, of course, Day Two will include its own challenges, which may keep you from emptying all of the water out of the boat. Which is what Day Three and Day Four are for. Even if you can’t clear a greater number of problems in Days One and Two than the number of issues that arise, you are really just fighting to be alive on Days Three and Four, when the rate of the influx of new problems will start to slow a little bit.

If you get knocked down six times, all you have to do is get up seven times.

* * *

Communication is very tough for me during hell week. In fact, when people are overworked, communication is one of the first things to go. I don’t have time to 1) read the email that tells me to fix something, and also 2) fix the thing, and also 3) email you to let you know that I’ve fixed the thing. So, guess which part I’m going to cut out.

The problem with cutting out the communication process is that it doesn’t assist you in cooperating with your fellows. When I don’t have time to tell someone that I’m working on a problem while, at the same time, I work on that problem, then they hear nothing from me. That can lead to a negative emotional response, when they person assumes that I am not working on the problem and they get angry or resentful. And that’s my fault, inasmuch as I can’t do what everyone is asking me to do and also spend time talking to people about what I’m doing.

The other thing that a lack of communication can result in is nagging. The users, when they don’t hear from me, communicate their problems to me repeatedly. So, my inbox gets more full because I have to empty out three emails from each of the users about the problems their having, instead of just one.

And, it’s not like the nagging is a big problem; sometimes, it is actually effective in getting me to respond to an issue. If you emailed me yesterday about a problem, and then I get fifty other emails after that one, it doesn’t even show up on my first screen of the inbox. Of course, you might ask yourself why it is that I’m getting fifty emails a day.

The answer is, “It’s hell week.”

* * *

Now, don’t get me wrong, my coworkers are great. They all understand that I am under a load of work that is difficult to bear, especially during these first couple of weeks of school. One of my coworkers said to me today, “Your job is one of the jobs in the school district that I wouldn’t want.” Part of the problem is that I am the only person who does any work on the technical issues. Because of that, every technical problem is a problem for Mr. Brackett.

While there always seems to be an increase in the discussion that the administrators have –annually, right around this time– about doing what is necessary to help the tech director so he can be as efficient as possible, their hands seem to be tied, for the most part.

I guess, if I have a parting remark to make about what life is like for me during this week of school, I’ll make these two. 1) The struggles that people go through in their lives are real and significant, and you don’t know, when you cut someone in line at the grocery store, or when you cut them off on the highway, what that person is going through when you decided to be unkind to them. So, be kind. Everyone is going through the own private ‘hell week’, at one point or another. 2) Find the strength to rise to the challenges in your life. You’re never going to find a way to avoid every challenge, so getting good at facing them is a coping mechanism for this thing we call life. Once you start to get good at challenges, they don’t end up seeming that challenging, when they come.

And, when you’re in the midst of the struggle, keep your perspective proper. It has been said that, “This, too, shall pass.” So, just keep your eyes on the horizon and weather the storm.

I guess that was three things.