Due to the busy nature of this job, my sense of time is vastly different from most of my friends’.
I usually can recall something I’d heard either months or days ago and still remember it clear as day.
But, I’ve noticed that it makes it a little harder to recount such instances to friends because they might ask for specifics regarding when the moment happened and I come up fairly blank.
I think it’s probably because I don’t find the exact time or date as important information regarding the incident.
If it was pertinent information to me, I can guarantee that I’d designate it while telling my story.
Still, if it held no bearing or impact on the story, then it slips my mind completely.
This all comes to a head given the nature of the newspaper and how important timing is for getting information out to our readers.
Since we only publish once a week, we’re filling pages on Monday ahead of our 8 a.m. print deadline Tuesday – and that’s only for a few weeks!
More often than not, holidays tend to push our deadlines up even more so that we’re working through the entire weekend.
It’s pretty chaotic and stressful when juggling coverage and then writing and possibly photo editing before placing things on the digital pages.
Thankfully, Mike is in charge of laying out the majority of the paper and I can focus on my in-progress stories and keeping an eye on social media for breaking news.
Even then, sometimes things don’t make it to the page either due to spacing or timing – sometimes the item needs to be fleshed out further.
It’s a careful balancing act and has completely shifted my perception of time to allow me to keep from ruminating on a subject beyond my completion of the task at hand.
For me, that boils down to honestly keeping only the core information in my memory bank and letting the superficial bits fade into the background unless I need to bring it up for any reason.
But, most of all, I think I struggle with trying to give my friends grace when they finally stumble upon something that we have covered in the newspaper for months.
I get it, life takes priority in a lot of areas.
However, it’s become one of my pet peeves and I try to maintain most of my composure when I tell them that they’re behind on the news.
A bit of helpful nudging is usually my solution and I take the time to outline which specific print editions feature the news they’re looking for.
And, if I have time beyond that, I usually send them copies of the stories that are relevant.
Plus, it’s not just my friends; I’ve found myself pulling up articles on my phone in the midst of meetings where some folks in attendance don’t remember their meetings from one month to the next.
Doing this job has turned me into a veritable depository of random information and while that was unexpected, I think it’s helped me navigate everything from governmental interactions and entertainment venues to historical milestones and learning more about my fellow residents.
