November 28, 2006

Curing the Common Desk Rage

The Hamakua Coast Big Island of Hawaii, the sure cure for desk rage is this view

Have you ever had a sort of "Eureka!" moment when looking on the internet? I did when I saw this article on MSN. " Desk Rage: Workers Gone Wild. It discribed "Thisplace" my employer to a tee and frankly, I wondered if they had sent covert reporters into our office, since they cant get into the WalMart home office down the street from here to spy.

Today marks my 1st anniversary with the firm and everyday I find myself thinking how different working in the Transportation business is now than it was 11 years ago when I left. I remember then, fighting having to carry a pager, "the electronic leash" I called it, and highly resented getting phone calls at 2 am regarding this trailer or that box... What can I do about it from the comfort of my bed? One night I didnt answer my phone so the foreman came to my house, which was just down the way from my office there and pounded on my front door to my little house. He was of course told to never do that again by my boss, but still... I think having 24-7 survailance as we do now, with cel phones and GPS watching our every move... and so do a lot of people as stated in the article

And it's not hard to find something to be unhappy with in the modern workplace: heavy workloads, long hours and technology that keeps workers constantly on call. "They never get a break from their work responsibilities," says Enyeart.

With laptops, PDAs, cell phones, e-mail and pagers, there is an ever-widening gap between the amount of information people are expected to keep up with and the amount they can reasonably process, says Dr. Kerry Sulkowicz, a psychiatrist and founder of the Boswell Group, a corporate consulting company in New York City. "The technology is outstripping our capacity to use it," he says.

I feel the pain of this. I have thought that should I need to stay in this sort of job I am going to have to go back to school. But by the time I am qualified to do whoppdido spread sheets on Excel they will have replaced it with something newer faster and more complicated... sometimes I feel like I am faking it through my job, sliding through as I struggle to keep up with those that have managed to learn the skills I never did.

I think this leads to desk rage. Then as you struggle and fight and try and finally you think that you have arrived... you get a pink slip as a reward. Downsized, pushed out, un needed... that sort of thing makes me crazy and makes me vow to myself that as soon as I can I want to work for myself. This turns honest decent people into raging nutjobs pretty quick. I know... I are one.

Then its the little things. As you know, about a month or so ago I got transfered into one of the Dilbert-like cubicles with 6 other yakking females. they move us all of the time which I hate from the start, I so dislike disruption in my space... I couldnt think clearly and was sure that I was going to freak out. Well two weeks ago God took pity on my plight... impossible account to deal with on the phone and surrounded by nice but noisy Cube-rats that were making me crazy.. I think I just feel so closed in by all of that commotion... and I was moved to a new account.

I am now a one man show, handling some business for Thisplace that is somewhat temporory, 3-4 months perhaps then I will be on to something else. But for now I am in a semi private cube, little phone work, and that just answering questions and mostly data entry. I still am under my old boss but the playing field is a tad different, and she leaves me alone to work undisturbed. I am not overwelmed. I can handle what I am doing very well. I can hear myself think and (best of all) I can listen to my Ipod all day long. Bible on Pod, Prayer on Ipod, EWTN Podcasts,IHOP podcasts, plus I have music lots of music...pretty amazing. ( I also have some books on Ipod, but that hasnt worked out as well) So my mind is being fed and with all of the turbulence in my life this is a welcome change.

I think the other reason that people freak out at work is that they are bone weary. Parents... How do they do it? Work commute take care of the house and do kid stuff. I cant even handle my life with Woody and the cats... I amazes me and hats off to all of you especially if you are doing it alone as a single parent. I salute you!

We dont get enough sleep... I saw the sleep doctor today and will have a sleep study at the first of the year. I will make sure and write about that as I was facinated by the info the doctor gave me and a bit upset that likely I will be tied to a damn machine the rest of my life. But I am so weary, that right now I would take any cure offered to try to sleep better that I am trying to keep an open mind about it all. Woody needs this too and once I go maybe he will too and we might have a better relationship if we had the means to cope with us!

But back to my subject. A third of the people I work with either have this sleep disorder or have a significant other with it... and boy if your mate sleeps badly so do you right? I suppose its epidemic and like so much else in our modern world we push ourselves so far from what we were ment to be that no wonder we freak out and throw things, if only in our minds, when we are pushed beyond our limits...

I am praying that God will show me what He wants me to do... I still feel very unsure about the Jewelry Repair business. Woody had a horrible month and they are laying guys off at the car lot. I dont think he mad enough to cover his draw and December with its incomming ice and snow promises to be worse. I cant quit this job now. It would be dumb. Really dumb. I just need to accept what is. Release the resentments that I have about not being home taking care of my house, and go with it and be grateful that I have it as good as I have it. Certainly a heart filled with gratitude has to be a good prescription against desk rage...along with a sense, a good strong sense of the absurd....