Oh, I'm not doing that.

MY SISTAH!

My onerous task is a conversation I need to have with my boss, but I can't do that until she's out of meetings.

(a) That's what she said.

I'm glad I wasn't the only one who went there.

I'm busy at work. I don't have time to handle any personal onerous tasks. Does that count as doing one?

work = totally onerous

Or, okay, ideally not. But tying you up in the middle of prime Buffista cheerleading and blowing off work time? Yeah.

I started my grading, I'd say that counts as onerous.

Thanks, Vortex, I will be sure to ask for ~ma on the actual day of the appointment.

Three onerous tasks down. I was completely ready to blow them all off moments before JZ posted in Press, so this has been a roaring success for me.

Finished The Sound and the Fury! (That was my onerous task.) Avon "helped," but like I have done many times in the past, fell asleep while reading it. Poor uneducated kitty.

I have actually been doing some boring research, so maybe that counts after all.

Holy wow, it's a beehive of tasking in here!

First draft (it's wordy, but you have to throw in a lot of keywords or the job application program just boots you back as not suitable):

Attached is my resume for your consideration for the position of Clinical Research Coordinator in the Memory and Aging Center.

I have 17 years’ administrative experience in the divisions of Pediatric Cardiology, Pediatric Critical Care, and Adult Cardiology at __________. My job responsibilities have covered a wide range of administrative tasks: transcription, proofing, and editing of grant applications and IRB and CHR forms (both paper and online), journal article drafts, inpatient and outpatient notes for multiple services, and various items of academic and personal correspondence; travel planning and expense vouchers; general ledger reconciliation; maintaining faculty members’ academic and clinical calendars and division call schedules; academic and Medical Center appointment, reappointment and advancement processing; assisting patients with such issues as tracking down outside lab results, preparing and following up on specialty consult referrals, and assisting the MDs and nurses in processing medication prior auths; becoming adept at Excel, PowerPoint, UpToDate, Outlook, Entourage, Exchange and numerous other programs without which most of the UC faculty could not function; and learning to quickly and easily navigate the UC Library, Google, Medline, PubMed, and other on- and offline research resources to assist the faculty members I support.

In addition, in more than a decade and a half here I have been constantly challenged to master a variety of widely applicable skills: meticulous and easily-searchable record-keeping; managing complicated calendars; learning new word-processing, database and spreadsheet software on the fly as job scope and security requirements expand; medical terminology for multiple specialties; navigating libraries, online searches, and layers of bureaucracy to quickly track down critical information; multitasking and carefully budgeting my time with little direct supervision; dealing calmly and professionally with a broad range of personalities; and completing massive, highly detailed projects with deadlines looming.

On a more personal note, one of the things that has kept me at ______ for so many years is the knowledge that what I do, even the most trivial office management tasks, is in support of hugely important work and of people making a difference in the world and in other people’s lives. The longer I am here, the clearer it is that patient care and research support are the aspects of my work that really excite, engage and motivate me, and as my career at _______ moves forward I want to find a position where those are a central focus of my day-to-day tasks and responsibilities. The clinical and research work done at the Memory and Aging Center is difficult and heartbreaking but vital. I would welcome the opportunity to bring my experience, skills, judgment and enthusiasm to this position.

Thank you for your time and consideration. I look forward to hearing from you soon.