The First Quarter: A new kind of calendar
My new position began on the 1st of January. For the last three and a half years, I have been working as a supervisor in the customer facing advice team for the local office of a charity here in the UK. The charity is a household name and working for them has been the realisation of a mid-life dream. As a supervisor, I helped our team of volunteers navigate the stresses and strains of everyday life in the advice service - from checking their benefit calculations through to managing clients in emergency situations, it was never the same day. This massive variation meant for high stress levels but also a huge sense of reward when things came off well for clients. I worked hard and developed strong bonds with my team, each of us sharing the experience of having faced down an untameable and unpredictable wave of issues every session. After a while, though, the stress won. I had taken calls and managed the team throughout the pandemic, giving advice during lockdown and facing unprecedented ...