In my last few posts I’ve talked about my recent stresses and how I’m slowly making things better. While some of those stresses are related to my daily life and creative work, a few of them have been Day Job-related—though again, I won’t be talking about them here for Day Job-related secrecy reasons.
What I have been doing, though, is talking to some coworkers I trust (both Japanese and Western) about the problem. Talking to people I work with about work problems has a few benefits, including:
- It makes me feel better
- It lets my coworkers know about the problem so it’s not a secret anymore
- It lets me gain their perspective and hear their advice
As a result of Benefit Number 3, I’ve been hearing different ways that my coworkers deal with their own stresses, one of which I’d like to write about this week…
I Had Two Coworkers in Two Days Tell Me That When They Encountered Stupid or Absurd Situations at Work They Shut Themselves Off
This is no exaggeration—over the course of two days I had two different Japanese coworkers tell me how they dealt with completely different kinds of work problems, and each one responded in the same way.
When we’re at our Day Jobs we often have to deal with Things That Don’t Make Sense. Sometimes these Things That Don’t Make Sense are Rules, sometimes they’re Bosses, and sometimes they’re Orders From Someone Higher Up. These Things That Don’t Make Sense are often absurd, nonsensical, stupid, or simply don’t apply to our current situations—in short, they Don’t Make Sense.
Dealing with Things That Don’t Make Sense is frustrating, and it interferes with our ability to do our jobs well since we can’t invest actual thoughts or energy. The Things That Don’t Make Sense might make us feel angry, confused, overwhelmed, or confrontational—all of which have lingering effects when the workday’s over.
Both of my Japanese coworkers explained times when they’ve encountered Things That Don’t Make Sense at their jobs—and how, after trying to fight or argue against the Things That Don’t Make Sense, they decided it was easier to just shut their brains off and deal with it.
That’s right—they accepted that there was nothing they could do about their work problems and adopted a defense mechanism of not caring. When they were involved with the Things That Didn’t Make Sense, they followed orders and did their jobs on autopilot. This, they explained, prevented them from getting frustrated at work, and helped them save their energy for things that were more important for them.
They did this, they said, because it made them feel better about their situations.
Depending On Your Personality, Shutting Off Be Either Beneficial or Disastrous
I realized over the course of the second conversation that after years of encountering Things That Don’t Make Sense at different Day Jobs, I too have adopted the defense mechanism of checking out. I also realized that it makes me feel sick.
In the short term, I find that not caring about Things That Don’t Make Sense helps a lot, especially if the thing is temporary or can be circumnavigated later (perhaps because everyone pretends to forget about it). Short-term shutting off, I argue, is beneficial and helps us overcome difficult situations.
Over the long term, though, too much shutting off, especially in situations that aren’t likely to change, makes me start to hate my Day Job or feel like huge chunks of my time are being wasted. It leaves me feeling listless, depressed, and frustrated that I’ve let the Things That Don’t Make Sense beat me—and I don’t like being beaten.
A few years back I talked to a guy who assembled technical copy for electronics at a large company—which he described as an excruciatingly boring job that required near-zero brainpower. He worked that job solely for the paychecks he needed to feed his family and support the lifestyle he wanted outside of work—the work he did was just a source of income, and he checked out so he could focus on other areas of his life.
A year or so later, I too found myself working an Office Day Job that required minimal effort, but where my boss was exploiting his employees by systematically breaking overtime and tax laws. Things reached a point where I couldn’t stay silent anymore and fought back at the risk of losing my job (which I kind of sort of did). The experience made me realize that spending my time in an environment where I can do meaningful work and people are treated fairly is really, really important to me, and accepting workplace injustices in exchange for a paycheck isn’t something I can deal with.
Of course, the problems I’m dealing with at my current Day Job aren’t anything close to that severe—but they still give me reason to pause. In my case, shutting down isn’t a viable option because of the sense of defeat it brings me—but I’ve also accepted that overcoming the problem could very well be beyond my control.
Instead of shutting off, I’ve been thinking of ways I can continue to speak out, deal with my Day Job problems, and make them better in small doses. These tactics might not completely get rid of the Things That Don’t Make Sense, but experience has shown that these little actions can do some real good—over the short term, at least.
What Perspective Should You Take About Your Job?
This, in many ways, is the central question of this blog. When you’re at work, do you give work your complete attention and devote your passion and energy to it, or do you check out and wait for five o’clock? Or are you somewhere in between?
Deciding what perspective you want to take about your Day Job is a conscious choice that’s going to look different for everyone, and is worth considering when you’re making longer-term plans—including whether you want to stay or work somewhere else. Not only can it keep you saner at work, it can help you understand how you really feel about where your life and career are going. It’s something we all have to decide for ourselves, so it’s better to make your own choice rather than having it forced on you.