Biting My Tongue

All day, it's been a challenge for me to keep biting my tongue.  How easy is it to get sucked into the work vortex of negativity???   When a coworker voices a complaint, our first instinct is to jump in with our own agreement of whatever's wrong.   But that goes against what I'm trying to accomplish -- less stress at work!  So it was a morning of biting my tongue!

My coworker likes to voice things out loud -- and many of them are negative.  Today a vacuum was returned already assembled.  Of course, it won't fit in the box, but we do our best, take out the packing materials and stuff it back in as best we can.  But her first words out loud were "How am I going to get this f**& thing back in the box?"   That prompted me toward two things.  My first instinct was to jump in and help - to show her how it's done.  My other instinct was to voice how much I hate customers who do that!   Neither of them are a good responses.  Another case of biting my tongue! 

But on my overall goal of having a less stressful day at work, I think I achieved a level 3 on a scale of 1-5.  It was average, it was ok, but when I left, I didn't feel as if I was stressed.  And that's the goal.   I Googled and found a list of simple things to reduce stress at work: 

• Avoid Morning Stress.
• Understand Expectations.
• Avoid Conflict.
• Stay Organized.
• Be Comfortable.
• Forget Multitasking.
• Walk at Lunch.
• Control Perfectionism.

From this list, the ones I struggle with are multitasking and perfectionism.  And I know that the way I work the best to have a productive day, I play a "mind game" with myself.  If I pick it up, if I touch it, I have to deal with it.   So that piece of paper that needs to be filed, gets filed.  That piece of trash on the floor?  Nope, don't ignore it, pick it up and throw it away.  If I open a work screen on the computer, don't stop in the middle ... follow it through and finish it up.  I think the biggest waste of time is to pick something up, say to yourself, I'll do it later, and then put it back down.  Because you'll have to pick it up and deal with it at some point!!  NOW is the best time to do it.

I guess my point is now that I've made a goal, I'm going to work hard and try to make it a part of my daily habit.  Every day.