Working full time is hard. Even this fluffy lil pinknose above looks a tad bit stressed manning those phones. I know everyone thinks their job is hard, but sometimes I wonder how different mine would be if I had a full staff for support. I have one girl who is fantastic with what she does, thank god, but my duties are that of both manager AND assistant manager, plus everything else in between. And days when I work alone, it’s all me. That’s a lot to put on one person’s shoulders, so I’ve been researching tips on how to deal with stress lately.
Some of the stuff I’ve found has been helpful, and some of it not. The tip I like most would probably be to set an alarm on your phone or computer, start work on a difficult project and when the time is up, drop your pencils. Take a break, stand up, stretch, take a fast walk. Come back to that project again refreshed. Have I done this one yet? Well, umm, no, but it’s on my to-do list! I also like the idea of taking one long deep breath and counting to four, then slowly letting it out as you count backwards from 4. This should be done in a stressful moment, naturally, but can be tough to remember when you are actually in those moments.
Probably least helpful are the suggestions like, “Find a new job!”. Thanks, hadn’t thought of that. Or the ones about visualizing “a beautiful field, and the sun is shining down on you and you are cradled in it’s rays…”. When I am seeing red, it’s hard to see a beautiful field. Unless the field is flowing with blood and guts from a brutal Civil War battle, then yes, I can visualize that no problem!
Anyway, until I sell so much of my jewelry that I can do nothing but that full-time, I will do my best to make the best of it and not have stress hives that put me in the hospital again. It’s all about your state of mind, and mine needs some TLC. Things will get better, and all we can do is ride it out and deal as best as we can. And have all the imaginary island vacations and rays of sunshine we can!
***update: Since writing this, my boss emailed me and told me and my fellow managers to take the rest of the afternoon off! I got to leave at noon, and it was the best thing ever. Positive thinking at work? :) Yay!!
little silver stars 