It is very interesting to me to see people slowly slip into that state of workable frustration. What I mean by this is that point where you can still function at work (getting the job done), but are so close to the edge that you may snap at any moment. Long gone is that state of happy bliss (and I don't mean Montana. Montana will never be gone. In fact I believe that do to "global warming" (Save those penguins! You heartless jerk.), we will soon have more usable land in Montana. Once all those useless glaciers are gone (Boo ya!), but I digress).
Happy bliss at work is important. It leads to contentment and longevity. Lack of happiness leads to stress, job turnover and is one of the leading causes of shootings in the work place. The funny thing is that it doesn't have to be your on happiness to cause these problems. Working in an environment filled with unhappy, stressed out, frustrated people (or one really out spoken person) can cause your own frustration level to rise to the breaking point.
Why do I bring this up? Well, I'm starting to see things. Things like people making important decisions based only on what will get it off there plate. Or making the choice to do nothing until someone else is brought in to take care of the need. Each of these frustrate me.
Now I'm not as frustrated as I was on Black Thursday (The Wall Street Crash of 1929, also known as the Black Thursday, was the most devastating stock market crash in the history of the United States, taking into consideration the full scope and longevity of its fallout. Thank you Wikipedia!) That was bad. I was, at the time, still rolling in green backs do to my recent investment in sliding windows for high rise office buildings.
Needless to say, I lost my shirt. The real problem is that when things are down it is the aggressive, fearless investors that can make money, as the old saying goes, "Real players make money when the market is down". This ranks just behind, "I'll be back", and "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!" as best quote ever. So in applying this principle I held on to my Apple stock and that has paid off. Vista what?!? I have also tried to apply this to my work. Never wanting to just ride out the low times, but to remain aggressive and push for progress. Sadly I see that this has cast me as the odd man out in a world that just wants TPS reports turned in on time. So back to frustration. I have found that in order to deal with frustration you need to have a mental escape every once in a while. Something that takes your mind to that happy place and refreshes your mental web page.
This is not a waist of time, but a vital part of office wellness. Let me suggest a few things.
10. Coffee runs
9. Slap fighting in the break room
8. Nerf guns
7. Changing the presets on your friends radio
6. Watching "The Office" on thursday night
5. Line dancing
4. Plant a tree
3. Wander around mumbling to yourself
2. Wii or Xbox party with a group of 5th graders
1. Write a blog
Well I don't know if this has help you at all, but I feel much less frustrated.
I'll be back!
