Learnings from a micromanager while on vacation

There are certain characteristics about ourselves that we accept, fight against or simply learn to live with over the passage of time.

- DEVINA SENGUPTA

But then, there are those uncomfortable ones that creep in and linger until you desperately try to peel them off. Last month, I spotted one such trait in me while I was on leave. And here goes the story, with approximate time stamps.

Before going on leave, I left a schedule of reporting work for my team, with details of expected report arrival times marked and mailed to the editor and desk. My aim was to ease workflows and processes of coordination in my absence. Until then, I had labelled this practice as being organized.

That belief changed over a few days, but we will come to that later.

On a Friday, after sending out that mail, ideally I should have logged out for the next two weeks of leave. But I did not. I kept a close or very close tab on the stories filed, called the desk when there was any delay, checked with reporters on the status of their stories and used phrases like, “In our field, there is no work-life balance, there is just work-life integration.”

Two weeks went by, and the work happened on schedule. There were no surprises or shocks when I joined back. And why would there be? I already knew of all the hits and misses. However, it also meant that after 15 days of leave, I returned to work a bit foggy. That is because micromanaging is exhausting, which was exactly what I was doing. A trait that I am desperate to get rid of, now that I have identified it and experienced what it does.