Cranky and Irritable

[Gryffindorian]

I'm usually in a pleasant mood and am able to get a good handle on things, especially at work, but today is NOT one of those days!

I had told my boss that I was coming in late this morning due to a medical appointment. It wasn't really an appointment; I had to return some sleep monitor equipment to the respiratory clinic. Still, I had to use 1.5+ hours of sick leave.

So I got in around 9:45 a.m. and was just bombarded with questions, phone calls, e-mails, voicemail messages, and people asking me to do this and that. I was thinking, I just got here! That's when I figured, "Forget you people. I'm leaving at noon."

Ever had one of those days?

 

[Luckyflux]

All the time drone, all the time. I usually get pretty toasty after a hard day like that, maybe you can drown the bad day with a shot or two?

 

[Misfit Toy]

Yesterday. I took an annual leave day just because I didn't feel like going in to work. I'm paying for it today by following up on emails, phone calls, etc, but heck - I had the time coming so I took it. I guess I could have used sick leave instead (as a mental health day), but I'm more comfortable using my annual leave in that way.

 

[AstroSmurf]

I am having one of those days today. Actually I had one yesterday and most of last week. I am seriously thinking about giving my notice and finding something else. I almost walked out just before lunch, something I would never even consider under normal circumstances. These are the laziest mother fuckers I have ever seen and after a year I have finally had enough. My patience is at an end.

And I tried to take a "mental health" day today but they couldn't let me since there was so much to do. And there wouldn't be so much to do if these idiots would just do their jobs with a fraction of competency. I am beginning to think I am one of five people (our of thirty) that actual works around here.

 

[Finn]

For a long while at my old job, I used to dream of saying to myself "screw this" and walk away from whatever I was doing and head for home. After I was forced to resign, I was so glad about not doing that old shit. It has been a bit over a year now and I'm back in school well on my way toward a second degree and engaged to a beautiful woman I barely knew before going back to school.

 

[Shazam!]

as a mental health day

A what?

 

[Luckyflux]

A mental heath day is when you just don't feel like working, or you are burned out. You don't have to be physically sick to need a day to rest.

A mental health day is just as important to your overall health...

 

[Amaris]

Dell used to advocate that. They used to tell us "if the stress of work is overwhelming you, take a personal day and collect yourself". Of course, toward the end they were pushing away from that, and then when I was let go it was more like "go ahead, we dare ya. See what happens."

J.

 

[TwoTailedFox]

Dell used to advocate that. They used to tell us "if the stress of work is overwhelming you, take a personal day and collect yourself". Of course, toward the end they were pushing away from that, and then when I was let go it was more like "go ahead, we dare ya. See what happens."

J.

Very nice Dr. Comet image there. *stamps with seal of appoval*

 

[Amaris]

Dell used to advocate that. They used to tell us "if the stress of work is overwhelming you, take a personal day and collect yourself". Of course, toward the end they were pushing away from that, and then when I was let go it was more like "go ahead, we dare ya. See what happens."

J.

Very nice Dr. Comet image there. *stamps with seal of appoval*

Thank you. He's one of my favorites.

J.

 

[Holdfast]

as a mental health day

A what?

aka "duvet day", which I think is a more appropriate term for them in many ways. Good concept, if your workplace can contain the logistical problems that can result. Many lean businesses find that difficult, of course.

I don't get them myself because they're extremely difficult to cover in my line of work, but have a generous leave entitlement anyway and a fair degree of autonomy in how I arrange my schedule, so don't really need them.

When I have a lot of things to do at the same time, it's usually just a matter of prioritising and finding the critical path to doing as much as you can as efficiently as you can and nailing the time-critical/risky jobs first. I remember learning this pretty quickly back in my first job, when I was doing on-calls which included covering acute wards. They would constantly bleep you about a million different jobs that THEY all perceived as urgent but you had to take them all on board and determine which ones were immediately life-threatening, which could wait 20 minutes, and which could wait until you passed by later on a routine round. After your first shift, being run ragged bouncing from ward to ward, you learnt to prioritise and more importantly DEprioritise, very quickly...

 

[Amaris]

as a mental health day

A what?

aka "duvet day", which I think is a more appropriate term for them in many ways. Good concept, if your workplace can contain the logistical problems that can result. Many lean businesses find that difficult, of course.

I don't get them myself because they're extremely difficult to cover in my line of work, but have a generous leave entitlement anyway and a fair degree of autonomy in how I arrange my schedule, so don't really need them.

When I have a lot of things to do at the same time, it's usually just a matter of prioritising and finding the critical path to doing as much as you can as efficiently as you can and nailing the time-critical/risky jobs first. I remember learning this pretty quickly back in my first job, when I was doing on-calls which included covering acute wards. They would constantly bleep you about a million different jobs that THEY all perceived as urgent but you had to take them all on board and determine which ones were immediately life-threatening, which could wait 20 minutes, and which could wait until you passed by later on a routine round. After your first shift, being run ragged bouncing from ward to ward, you learnt to prioritise and more importantly DEprioritise, very quickly...

I can imagine! Essentially you have to do instant triage every time you get beeped.

J.

 

[Holdfast]

I can imagine! Essentially you have to do instant triage every time you get beeped.

Yeah, and without half the facts you need to do it.

I'm glad I don't do that kind of work (or hours!) any more, that's for sure. My solution was to arrange a routine round all the wards when I was covering them on call and not deviate from that round unless something truly life-threatening occured. Almost everything else could be postponed until my routine arrival, and that framework meant I could give the nursing staff an approximate ETA for when I'd be on their ward next.

That actually stopped them paging me about non-urgent stuff all the time, since they knew when I was on duty that I would automatically come at some point during the shift anyway (unlike some of my colleagues who ran more haphazard patterns of work on shift).

And lo and behold, they often found that the problems they thought needed solving actually solved themselves by the time I got there on my routine visit.

Setting boundaries by managing expectations in a subtle way like this is useful in stopping workloads building up, by reducing the amount arriving in an uncontrolled manner, I found. That's a lesson I learned from that sort of work, that I now apply across a range of fields.

 

[RJDiogenes]

I can usually maintain no matter how much stress I have going on, but I did get snippy once around 2002 or so. The co-worker I was talking to is still a friend of mine and she still mentions it with awe from time to time.

 

[AstroSmurf]

Oh my... reading my earlier post makes me cringe. I was so foul earlier! But I came home, decompressed, had a shower, ate some cookies, watched a movie and worked on my Halloween costume. I feel much better now.

Normally I am usually very passive and chipper. I might have one cranky day a month. But work has been really getting to me lately. I just need a vacation. I haven't had one in more than a year.

Tomorrow is a new day. I am going to try and make it a better one.

 

[Kestra]

I'm usually in a pleasant mood and am able to get a good handle on things, especially at work, but today is NOT one of those days!

...

Ever had one of those days?

Once a month. I find myself thinking everyone is horrible and mean, the whole day. The next day I usually wake up and go "Oh, I was the one who was being a bitch all day ..."

Then I'm embarrassed and I have to go around apologizing. I'm starting to be a little more self-aware, though.

 

[sidious618]

If I'm in a bad mood I just go outside and say, "Get off my lawn you damn kids!" even if there aren't any kids out there. I always feel better.

 

[Amaris]

If I'm in a bad mood I just go outside and say, "Get off my lawn you damn kids!" even if there aren't any kids out there. I always feel better.

If you don't have a lawn, can you lean out the balcony and say it?

As for me, you can always know I'm either very angry or just in a very bad mood if I'm ultra polite. I won't smile, but I will be exceptionally well mannered, particularly in a situation that does not call for it.

J.

 

[KiraDax]

Lately I've been trying to actively remind myself when annoyed at work that being grouchy and short-tempered doesn't make the idiots any less idiotic, it only makes them more inclined to aggravate, and for the most part I think I've done well at reigning myself in...but every now and then (like yesterday), I still walk around screaming silent profanities at people.

Mental health day? We can't even take a physical sick day without needing a doctor's note and the implication of notation on our performance record. Some people don't know how good they've got it.

 

[freak]

You know what I don't get? Cranky people in parking lots and grocery stores!! Let me give yall about three examples. First of all, today Dad and I went out to do some running around for my Aunt's resturant. We were in the parking lot of Krogers and this guy was turning left to go out. Well, Dad was on his side of the road like he was supposed to be, stopped at a stop sign. This guy gets all pissed, making rude hand gestures at us and looking at us in a pissy sort of way. Well, Dad does something that makes me laugh inside. He actually rolls down his window a bit and says something like: "if you don't know how to drive you need to get on home and stay there"..VERY calmly does Dad say this, mind you and then this guy screams at the top of his lungs: "GO TO HELL!!!!!!!!" Dad almost said: "after you, sir, after you." at him! Dad couldn't help but say that to him cause this guy infuriated him.
Next we go inside Kroger's and this lady has her buggy in the middle of the damn aisle! She gets all pissed off cause she thinks we're gonna steal her spot in line and she huffily says: "are yall waiting in line?!" Dad says: "no ma'am, we're going over there to get in line over there." Then this lady starts banging around her buggy like it's nobody's business, pitching a hairy fit in the grocery store!!!!
The last one that really got to everyone was a lady in our checkout line..this older gentleman was checking her out and was nicely putting her stuff in the bag. Well, she had bought a frying pan and he put the bag of groceries IN her pan. She says something really rude to him like: "WHY DID YOU DO THAT? I CAN'T CARRY THAT DAMN THING OUT TO THE CAR LIKE THAT!!!" and precedes to literally RAM a buggy into a wall..FOR NO APPARANT REASON!!!!!!!! Everybody in her line of fire was like: geeesshh, woman, what crawled up your fungus today??? That time of the month again??
I really don't get irritable people=I know the economy is bad, but that's no excuse to act like a jackass in public!!! Take your attitude home..don't bring it out in the open for all the world to see!
I also got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning and regretted my somewhat bitchy attitude and demeanor towards Mom this morning. Some mornings for me are harder to get up to than others.