I know I am going to ruffle a few feathers, but I am going to take on. I am qualified to speak about this, because this is my 10th year in the IT industry and I have had more than my share of ups and downs. We all have a grueling schedule at work, which sometimes wakes up the philosophers within each of us, and we question things like “Destiny”, “Why only me”, “ Importance of Money”, “ Karma”, “ Family”, and so on. (Please add whatever you feel, to this list.)
Your mind is engaged: You constantly keep thinking about ways to refine your work. You have so many pending things, that need to be done. You prioritize your schedule. You plan on what to tell your manager who does not understand the nitty-gritties involved in your work. You need to schedule a long-pending customer call. And the list goes on. All this helps to keep your mind engaged continually, which will otherwise lose its optimal efficiency.
You unwind from home: You forget the morning spat that you had with your spouse, because there is an even nastier mail. All that your mother-in-law kept bugging is now out of the window, as your colleague beats your MIL at bugging. You want to forgive your child’s crankiness, because there is someone else more cranky in office. You forget the pending things at home, because you have way too many pending work in office, that need to be done immediately. Imagine if you had no stress in office, you would still be thinking about home and its nonsense even in office.
You stop imagining unnecessary things: I know how I spent my break of 2 months, during a job shift. There were days I would simply Google for a minor health issue, and end up diagnosing myself with a terminal illness. I would imagine myself in situations which will never happen. I will start worrying endlessly, if my son’s van driver is late by even 5 minutes. Finally when I joined my new office, under a bossy manager, I had no time to stress about unnecessary things even at home.
You learn to manage people: There was this very good friend of mine in office for more than a couple of years, but one fine day a series of events in office, had us standing at opposite poles. And there was this customer support guy, who was my managers favorite, carrying tales about the rest of the team. Another content writer, would weave stories about others and add to the grapevine. The senior management was very accommodative to one particular team. You know, it is endless. And there are so many people in office, who teach us the value of our very own people at home.
You learn the art of survival: When you are stressed beyond a certain point, you identify that ONE manager in the senior management, who will listen to you and resolve your issues. Stress levels make you compare the different people and different organizations that you have worked for. You find your own way out, and learn to do what you want.
All of us are stressed in office, and we constantly keep cribbing about it. We wish for that perfect office, so that we can be more efficient. But I am not sure, how it would be, if we didn’t have managers to bash, colleagues to gossip about (He always bags the best performer, she keep traveling abroad, that “HOT” manager, ……), friend turned foe, the incorrect work that was escalated by the client, and so many other stress related to office.
Have you ever been in a situation, wherein you felt the previous organization was better in spite of the bossy manager, instead of the current office, who don’t give a good hike. That’s how it works! You would still crib, if you were your own boss, if you don’t learn to manage your stress.
Raining clouds 