Why so much stress? It's WORK! I am stressed at work, I forget things that are work related that are fairly (read VERY) important. It's not like me. One of the main reasons I was hired was because of my exceptional memory and attention to detail. Lately I find myself just forgetting to do things, things that should be on the forefront of my mind.
Just the other day I sent a shipment of something meant for California to New Jersey. Oops. It took me over 3 months to complete a file (a huge tedious mundane excel file with like 200 columns to fill in). I had a pile of papers waiting for my signature sitting on my desk for 2 weeks. I haven't submitted expense reports since APRIL....it's not that I don't care to do what I have to do its just that I have so much work to do that some things slip through the cracks. Of course the tiny tasks don't slip through the cracks, its the large tasks that do.
I'm beginning to feel jaded at work. I feel like I am doing the work of 3 full time employees when I am just one person. Our company seemed to just grow overnight and the work load became too heavy. Anyone who works closely with our office and saw what the girl before me did compared to what I do is completely blown away. I am (was) organized and efficient. What the frak happened? I don't want to use the excuse "baby brain" because D is now 18 months old. I should be back in the swing of things.
So my boss dragged me into his office today to inform me that he has been getting upset at my forgetfulness etc. Funny, I wanted to drag him into his office to tell him not only to I want or deserve a raise but I DEMAND one.....I somehow don't feel the timing is right now that I am being "scolded". I'm gonna be honest, I hate to hear that people are disappointed me in or that they feel I am not performing to my abilities. I hate it. I am a perfectionist...but this time I almost find myself not caring. I almost feel like saying "Hey, before you tell me that I'm forgetful etc why don't you sit at my desk for 3 hours and tell me how many things YOU can accomplish!"
So now to ask you some questions.
1. How do you keep yourself organized when you feel the world is about to swallow you whole?
2. How would you go about asking for a raise?
Are we living parallel lives?
ReplyDeleteYou have to take a step back, breathe and then find a way to delegate the smaller tasks in order to clear some time for the bigger tasks? Do you use Outlook? Maybe setting reminders for deadlines in Outlook would help you? Even setting a reminder on your phone might be helpful. After you figure out your new organization you might want to go to your boss and say soemthing to the effect of, "I see your point and in the effort to be more proactive I am setting up the following strategies to improve my performance even more. Can we review how this is going after a few months?" THEN when that time comes I would definitely ask for a raise if I were you!
I keep my myself organized by weekly and daily to-do lists and breaking down my day by hour! Also, the new planner has been a huge help!!!
ReplyDeleteI hope things get better soon - try to take it one step at a time!
I 3rd making a list. However you'd most use it... outlook, your phone, good old tablet and pen. Don't get caught up in being upset over it or you'll just clutter your brain with being upset. As for the raise part, I can't help you since I was never good at that, either. Lol
ReplyDeleteThis was a very interesting post. And it’s probably one that most of us can relate to.
ReplyDeleteThat being said, there are a few things that I’d offer up. First, just because your child is 18 months old doesn’t mean that you still don’t have some form of “baby brain.” However, what you probably have is “being a parent brain.” When you have a child, that changes your life in every way. And for parents that work day jobs, it’s a challenge. You deal with your own work stress during the day, then come home, get the child taken care of and have family time. But then, many times, you have more work to do. It’s a grueling cycle and many parents find themselves overwhelmed. Your schedule is your child’s schedule. They’re up and you’re up. They’re sick and you’re sick. So the bottom line is that you’re normal in that respect.
As far the work spiraling piece, I think there are a few things you could do that may help. First would be to reevaluate your organizational piece. Like others mentioned, do you use a notebook to take notes on. And if you do, maybe you should try something else. I tend to use Outlook reminders, because even if I snooze them, they’re still staring me in the face and I try to respond to them timely. Another thought if you don’t already do this is to flag e-mails in your Outlook based on importance. I’m notorious for flagging them all red, and have tried in recent years to truly note them accordingly. Or maybe something like the Stephen Covey system would help. I’ve used that in years past to. It’s all about the prioritizing and to-do list.
As an HR Guy, I will tell you that the world today is exactly as you described. We all work the jobs of three people, are still overwhelmed and it’s getting worse. It sucks that your boss noticed and called you in. But hopefully he was understanding of how your job has evolved. I’d suggest you tell your boss that you’ll work to get caught up, see if you can log a few late-night hours and get yourself organized. And then determine how to best prioritize the major needs moving forward. There’s always some work that we can fluff off and come back to, but you need to take care of the boss first and major priorities first.
I’m getting long-winded here, but as far as the raise. I’d suggest first getting caught-up on pending work. Then when you’re back in kick-ass mode and the boss knows it, it might be time to ask for the raise. Now might not be the best time if he just had to correct you on something. But when you do it, focus on the evolution of your role and don’t compare yourself to other people’s salaries (a classic misstep many folks make).
Sorry for the high stress level. Being a parent and working is not easy. It's a juggling act and a lot of it ends up on your shoulders. My boss once told me there are glass and rubber balls that you are juggling at all times with work (and life) and each one is a different task/responsibility. Let the rubber ones drop, they'll bounce back. Focus on the glass ones and you'll find time for the rubber ones later.
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