All Those Little Annoyances
3 Comments Published August 27th, 2007 in advice, choices, employment, happiness, jobs, life, motivation, self improvementHere’s another great article from Chuck at I Hate Your Job: Death by 1000 Cuts: Annoyance at Work. The little things that annoy you are often the worst things. Remember the straw that broke the camel’s back? It seems like it’s never the biggest thing that you feel worst about.
This quote is a really good one to think about:
When you find yourself at a place where the sound of your cell phone ring stresses you out, the overwrought signature of a co-worker really annoys you, or the thought of your company’s widgets makes you want to scream, you know a change is needed.
Sounds a lot like what I was talking about in Emotional Feedback and Discomfort Is A Call To Action. It’s a message that we could stand to be reminded of more often and Chuck makes the point very well with his characteristic sense of humor. Check out his post and see if there are some things in your life that are telling you that change is needed.
Oh yeah, my job is one big pile of little annoyances like this and needs a major overhaul. Its funny though – this post reminded me of my friend who works for a major auto insurance company and gets twitchy every time he sees a particular lizard on TV.
Thanks, Ray. I enjoyed looking at those articles of yours you referenced, by the way.
Pam, your friend’s twitchiness is a dead-on bullseye for what I’m talking about. In a strange way, I am fascinated by these annoyances we develop. When I thought I was going to go into academia, I used to hope to work in a cubicle at some point in my life so that I could better appreciate the strangeness of it.
Well, I got my wish. : )
Hi Pam and Chuck. LOL! I know about that twitchy feeling! I once worked for a very big stock brokerage house and every time I heard their commercials I would almost break into a cold sweat! I even had nightmares about the place.
Chuck, thanks for checking out my articles. I think this is a big thing that we’ve sort of stumbled on that would really help people if they only realized it first and then took action. Most people realize something is wrong, but believe they just have to accept it…
As far as the cubicle: I feel ya, brother!