It doesn’t happen that often, but work has been stressing me out lately. I’ll be the first to admit that my work isn’t at all that strenuous on a regular basis, but lately it’s been far more trying on a daily basis than it regularly is, and I’m finding myself actually dreading going to work in the mornings as of late.
Amazingly, my work anxieties lately don’t have (as much) anything to do with the insistence of people in stuffy office America using PowerPoint, but simply the fact that people lack consideration.
It would be too easy (not to mention narcissistic) to simply declare myself smarter or more considerate than other people, but frankly I don’t always think that is the case in either application. Sure, I call people dumb all the time, but really I have to guess that people just aren’t paying attention. Or maybe I’m just trying to be generally nice about the whole thing, but the bottom line is that I frankly do believe that people lack a lot of the little social considerations of others that I seem to think that I don’t, and it usually leads to lot of judgmental observations of what I think are the shortcomings of society in general.
Currently at work, I’m dealing with numerous projects from various internal clients that all seem to have conflicting deadlines. I don’t miss deadlines, plain and simple, but the fact of the matter is that only so many projects can be superficially requested due on a single date before it gets to a point where there simply isn’t enough time in a day to accomplish them all, regardless of capability. Long story short, my workload is huge, and the deadlines aren’t loose.
The thing is, a lot of this sudden work flow stems from a whole lot of people rushing to get their projects in and out the door prior to the holiday period, so the project managers could go on their cushy vacations with clear consciences. And while they’re on their cushy vacations, their work queues build and backlog, so when they return, it’s yet another clusterfuck as they try to play catchup to the rat race. Except it’s numerous people doing this exact same exercise in futility, and ultimately the only ones that truly suffer are us slave designers.
I’m a stickler for procedure and protocol, and I don’t hesitate to remind those that try and (unreasonably) operate outside of it of what needs to be the case so that everyone goes home happy. I feel like I’m balancing on a tightrope of how much I can tell people to get their shit together and play by the rules (AKA ask for more reasonable deadlines, AKA more than just 24 hours), before they personally decide that I’m apparently “difficult” for sticking to protocol and not caving into their bullshit, and eventually circumvent me to try and get what they really want.
When everything is deemed a rush job, then nothing is a rush job.
I can defend my actions and the fact that I have the balls to tell people to stick to protocol, but it doesn’t change the fact that I think I’m developing, if I don’t already have it, the reputation of being “difficult” sometimes. Fuck me, for wishing that everyone follows the rules like they should be, right?
Such behavior doesn’t exist if people were actually considerate, or intelligent enough to have fail-safes in place. Like checking their email periodically to see if anything is on the horizon, or to have someone cover for their projects while they’re on vacation. Or light bulb, actually communicating with one another so that dates don’t have so much conflicts on them. Whether or not consideration or intellectual decision are even capable, the end result is the same; people trying to cut in front of the other, all having the same wah-story about how their client is more important than someone else’s, and how they need their shit before everyone else. RIGHT NOW!
“Feast or famine” is the mantra that is often said about how things operate, and it unfortunately is, too much to ask that people try and get their shit in order more efficiently, and communicate with others, to prevent such instances where everyone is making requests at the same time, or all sitting on their asses simultaneously.
This feast will ultimately pass, as they all do, leading to another eventual period of famine. Perhaps the fact that it had occurred all throughout the holidays, which has up until this year, been known for a more relaxing time of work doesn’t help the anxiety, because it was not as expected. Or, the fact that my team is short-staffed currently on account of some reassignments of members has the rest of us stretched a little thin. Perhaps a little of both. Either way, it’s making me not enjoy coming to work as much, and become short with the world when I’m on my way here. Like really, I’m getting back to my pessimistic mentality that when you have to ask yourself if someone is that dumb, the answer is the obvious yes, again.
Fuck it, too many people are stupid, don’t pay any attention, and have zero consideration for others. Everyone who falls into these categories sucks. The end.
