You will meet 2 types of people in a workplace, those who make their work appear smooth and effortless , and those who make it seem like they had to move mountains to do the same thing. The quality of output is largely the same. The former tend to be more relaxed, fun people to work with. The latter will talk about how much effort it took to make the results happen and how stressed they were the whole time. In turn, they will pass this stress on to others on the team.
For most people who will read this post, their core job involves sending and receiving emails. It’s not that serious. Talking constantly about how stressed you are doesn’t really move the needle in your career. If anything it makes decision makers think you’re not cut out for more responsibility. People want to work with people who get stuff done and they like being around.
Everyone is stressed, in some way or the other no matter how calm and effortless they make their output look. My father used to tell me “Stress is always going to be there. As you grow in your career, stress will only go up. Learn to embrace it and be grateful you get this opportunity.” I never thought much of it growing up, it was one of those things parents say that make you roll your eyes. Fortunately, I absorbed it and I’d like to think I do a pretty good job of absorbing stress and not passing it on to people.
Most people need a baseline stress level to be productive, for the visibly(and audibly) stressed workers it seems more like an outlet to let everyone know they are working. Words have power, by constantly talking about how stressed they are, it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. If you can’t handle the stress of your existing roles and responsibilities and want to move up the ladder, it’s only going to get worse.
The next time someone asks you how it’s going and you’re tempted to say “Stressed” think twice.
Post 6/30