coping with pressure at work
 

curious ideas on how to cope with pressure at work. I got one boss everythings always urgent. In my drinking days i'd always jump stress myself out to the max trying to keep up then just drown myself in booze at the end of the day to calm myself back down.

Now i dont play that game. now lucky for me they've left me alone a lot oddly hte last year or so. So thankfully its been a little easier. But currently its a here we go again thing going down.

My strategy since sobering up has been to more or less try and stomach it and push through and if i miss deadlines and such cause I'm unable to scramble anymore oh well. This appraoch has worked but i've noticed they've backed off with that sorta stuff good and bad they could be loosing confidence in me. and they have been giving some of my work away to others so i mean I could be on my way out for all i know because i dont bow and jump all the time anymore. But sorry my sanity is more important to me.

I did one time run it back up the flag pole and state that a project was out of my league and it would take me too long to get done well longer then there expectations anyhow. I"m sure that didnt go over well but again it was that or panic myself senseless over it and not be very productive anyhow.

getting a new job isnt an option at the moment but yes idealy thats the ultimate solution.

any ideas on how to handle this kinda stuff with a job yet still maintain face and employment status?

Hi zjw I haven't had such a circumstance due to the different nature of my work, just wanted to show support and I expect someone will be by who can offer something.

yeah drives me nuts at this juncture i'm just trying to push through the current situation thankfully I think they are realizing the scope of what they are asking for FINALLY and are like gee ummm. So i'm like whew yep might take longer see ! which is a bit of a relief. its that interim period tho where its like YOU PEOPLE!!! and really in the end the boss could easily turn aroudn and expect OT out of you to jsut get it done and no we dont get paid for OT so its not like i got that going for me lol.

zjw, I got nothing because I've been in your shoes. Jumping to fulfill unrealistic expectations unfortunately sets the bar. Then, when you're so exhausted and mind screwed you try to backtrack to show them that they're being unrealistic and they just don't get it.

I have no suggestions, you're doing exactly what I did. Eventually, they understood. Not only that but because the timeframe to complete tasks was made realistic the quality of work was better. So they backed off a bit.

The best I can offer is some humor because if you live in the same work world I do you'll laugh. Some might find this video odd but you and I both know that it's definitely not off the mark!

ladyblue that is pretty spot on with how my job is. I swear everyone in the room is a raging moron only acting like they give a damn. And i swear i'm the only on in the room just laughing at them all thinking what a big joke this all is.

and thats how the stuff is they want me to do at the moment. its like are you kidding me does this even matter?

i find it very easy to just play dumb tho anymore. You think i'm stupid ? AWESOME leave me alone then.

In my job there are sometimes as many as 4 different authority figures who think they are my boss and give me conflicting directions. My real boss is usually too busy to mitigate the situation for me (talk about cognitive dissonance).

My only strategy is something I call "spiritual detachment" which I have down to 4 simple steps;

1. Recognize my part (as well as my limitations)
2. Do my part (only my part)
3. Trust some Higher Power to do it's part (for me it's the Tao)
4. Detach from the outcome

Doesn't work 100% of the time, but at least when it fails, I don't feel like a failure or victim. I have the satisfaction of knowing that I did my part.
:Meditate:

And if it appears to fail:

1. Recognize my part (as well as my limitations)
2. Do my part (only my part)
3. Trust some Higher Power to do it's part (for me it's the The Father Of Light)
4. Detach from the outcome

And one step closer to 100% - progress.

Your right bolero instead of getting so wrapped up in what ever future possible outcome I gotta remind myself it doesn't really matter it just is what it is whatever. I needed this thread today to help me get more grounded.

ZJW I feel your pain and I'm glad you posted. I've had a crappy week at work and like you, I used to turn to alcohol for solace and as a reward. I've worked at a big law firm for about ten years now. Everything is due yesterday and every t must be crossed and i dotted. At one point I took two and a half years off to work at an animal shelter which was a huge learning experience. But I had to go back to law for the money.

Anyway here's some perspective that helps me. My brother is a police officer and when I hear what he endures on a daily basis I realize how ridiculous it is for me to stress about work. An average day for him is getting cursed out and maybe even shot at. He has pulled children out of wreckage and has had someone commit suicide right in front of him. When I think about my little brother I feel ashamed to obsess over my job where I essentially push papers for "the man." I am guessing your job is similar to mine in that if we make a mistake, no one is gonna die over it. However I can also totally relate to the stress of tight deadlines, difficult Co-workers and tedious assignments. I do try to take pride in what I do but like you I definitely hit the wall sometimes. Try to hang in there, don't drink and buy lots of lottery tickets :)

Yea Daisyforever my dad was a cop for over 20 years hated every second of it and the stories he tells me i'm constantly baffled why he kept doing it he hated it too so it not like even liked what he did he just kept going back why? kids to feed had to do what he had to do etc... My story is the same but a different field and i get annoyed I dont wanna spend my lifetime working a job i despise lifes to short for that I dont wanna be his age going heck did i do that for. But for now it is what it is and at least i got money flowing in .

Now and then i do buy a lotto ticket lol just being excited about the possibility of winning is fun i run around joking how the following day i'm calling in rich screw them lol. Course then i always loose but it was fun while it lasted lol.

Theres a lot of crap jobs one can enjoy tho. I"d imagine working in an animal shelter hs its not so pretty side as well but can be rather rewarding all at the same time. That being said in my case its not like i'm not willing to roll up my sleeves and get my hands dirty and do stuff i dont wanna do. But i do like to end my work day with a sense of reward / achievement.

its funny too i watch pro runners and think yeah i'd like to do that wake up jsut run all day make enough money to fund the hobby that is now a good paying job. then i got to thinking yep then they will dump a bunch of expectations down on me and it will no longer be fun to go running but rather work and then i'lll hate it then i think on second thought i dont wanna be a pro runner lol.

My brother hates it too. He likes helping the community but the community does not always seem to like him so much. It is sad.

About the animal shelter, I literally traded in my dresses and high heels for scrubs and shoveled poop for two and a half years, among many other things which were richly rewarding and heartbreaking at the same time. I still continued to drink heavily through that job too though which led me to realize the common denominator in all this was me, and not work.

I totally understand what you mean about wanting a sense of reward and achievement at the end of the day. I do too. Especially now that I am not drinking. It would be nice to make a difference. I just want you to know I can totally relate with everything you've said here. Best of luck to you ZJW.

Good questions.

Life sure was different with a chemical to drown our stresses in after work. Been there done that too. Obviously that turned into disaster.

Back to sobriety and work. I just have a few things that I think I've done differently at work since I've been sober.

1. Separate work from non-work life. Maybe easier said than done but I've become comfortable thinking "that's above my pay-scale" when it is. I have a job to do and the boss has a job to do. If the building catches on fire that's ultimately his worry, not mine. If I wanted to worry about that, I'd apply to be the boss.

2. When I do fail now, I'm pretty much okay with it because it was a human fail rather than an alcoholic fail where it was most likely because I was hungover at work or drunk at night or rushing in the morning and late. I was hungover every day at work.

3. I have coworker who is OCD and the only way to describe her is like a chicken pecking all over the place, like Chicken Little. I've purposely become less OCD because of her. One day the boss was frustrated with both of us and made it clear. My coworker was nearly in tears and I told her "don't sweat it. He won't even remember in the morning. We just won't do that again." I was right. It was for a problem that was, again, "above our pay scale."

If these examples make me seem lazy or careless at work, I'm actually not. I have a strong work ethic and I get excellent reviews.

I think my main motto is "If I wanted to be the boss, I'd apply for the job." I'm not the captain of the ship. I don't control that much. I do my job and go home.

I am in a union which probably makes all of these examples easier.