Starting to feel weird about my job. More conflict with my Manager, more doubts about what she's actually doing, less visibility in general from our management team and then conflict between team members because of it. Or, involvement without presence from our management team, which is just as bad. The list of grievances is growing and I'm starting to care less. Frustrating when your manager says thanks to a member of another department for work they did and not thanks to you and a coworker for working on the same problem. One nice thing was getting a Holiday card from the team at our Early Production Center. 2,500 miles away. Instead of one from my own team/manager. Yikes. Wondering how long I will actually be here or want to be here if the culture keeps drifting away from the more open, communal nature it had when I started. Climbing is fun. My shoulder hurts. Running is fun. My ankle hurts. Starting to work on vacation/travel plans for the year! One is already set, but hoping for a smaller trip to Red Rock Canyon and maybe Smith Rock. Most of my travel plans are related to outdoor activities at this point, but that's okay. Plenty of other relaxation options on a daily basis. Oh and I signed up for a CSA for the first time! So, so excited!!!
Sounds like you're in Stage 2 of the Five Stages of Work. I heard this talk given by a CBC (Canada's National Radio Station) radio engineer as she reflected on her job there: Stage 1. The Good Day: Your job gives you happiness, fulfilment, and meaning. Stage 2. The Bad Day: Your job starts to irritate you. Everything you overlooked during the good day begins to stress you. You begin to learn some really unpleasant stuff about your workplace. You become frustrated, confused, and apathetic. You feel powerless. Stage 3. Revenge: The bad days outnumber the good days. You become self-compensating for your stress. Self-compensation might range from taking home post-its to absenteeism to searching for or even doing a second job during your original job, and worse. Stage 4. Personal Re-Engineering: You realize that you do value your job. It is the job you’ve always wanted. You explore how you can change so that you can once again have the good day. Personal re-engineering might involve asserting your concerns, negotiating with others, changing your expectations, and much more. Stage 5. Redemption: Some of your days at work are so excellent, they redeem all the other stress involved. Anyway, bfx, good luck sorting it all out. We want to see you happy.
Thank you for sharing this. This is going to be helpful once I take part in real-jobbing.
lil, I love this. Wish the talk was available, or maybe it is, and I'm just not able to find it. Personal Re-Rengineering is a bit conflicting to me, though. Comes across as the onus being on the worker to change, with negotiations being secondary. This could easily lead back to Stage 2 or Stage 3.You explore how you can change so that you can once again have the good day.
The “bad day” tends to make us disconnect from our job. Personal re-engineering involves risking the pain of committing more deeply, engaging with vision and passion, and caring enough to work calmly and persistently to move the workplace in our desired direction. Sometimes it helps. Minimally, we clarify what we want and need and know that we tried our best. Btw, I copied here my notes from the talk. The speaker had a show called “Workology.” Her name is Jane Farrow. I have not seen this speech anywhere on line.
I'm having the equivalent of writer's block for making travel plans. I want to get back to Adirondack Park before winter ends, but somehow I can't get myself to book the trip. I think they got winter again this week after a bad melt. My leg hurts a little after running Saturday, biking Sunday, and running Monday and Tuesday. Today will be a cherished day off. My Saturday run was 13.1 miles and was less than 25 seconds off my best half with no support, carrying my own water, and a cool wind. I need to be careful about injuries, but I'm so optimistic about 2018.