Work stress

[gooblax]

I was given a task last Friday morning and need answers by this Thursday. I think if I had more time I could have got something but this short of a time seems impossible when it's working off limited information and it's kind of pushing the limits of my abilities as it is. I spent half the weekend trying to make progress but didn't really get anywhere, asked for help yesterday to at least make up for the fact that I'm slow at making progress and got some validation that it's difficult to get a good answer in this short time period.

I've been feeling increasingly stressed about it. Yesterday I stayed at the office for 11hrs but a lot of it was wasted time that didn't result in any progress. Forgot to charge my bike lights over the weekend, forgot again yesterday until I was almost going to leave work in the dark. I gave the rear one a quick charge before I left work but the front one gave out halfway home - luckily I'd got past the completely non-lit areas of the ride by that point. Left the lights charging overnight so it won't be a problem today at least.

But yeah, haven't felt this stressed in ages. Also hard not to call myself an idiot for not being able to solve some of the easier stuff that I should be able to do. And hard to manage my bf's time when I have to tell him I don't have time to hang out. I'm not going to have a good answer on Thursday and have told the person that to manage expectations. But I'm still super stressed about it.

 

[David Baxter PhD]

The reality is that your boyfriend sometimes has to wait. He's an adult. He should be able to accept that.

Who do you need to get the additional information from?

 

[Daniel E.]

I'm not going to have a good answer on Thursday and have told the person that to manage expectations. But I'm still super stressed about it.

When stressed more than usual, it's usually easier to change your environment (like going for a walk outside or going to a favorite restaurant) rather than your thinking as a way to change/enhance your mindset.

There's also the idea that more breaks/pampering leads to more focus/quality, e.g. the massage chairs at Google. A similar idea is the 80/20 rule: Pareto principle - Wikipedia

But one cognitive strategy is that it helps to see things as a challenge rather than as a threat. e.g. "I get to" work on this problem vs. "I have to" work on this problem.

 

[gooblax]

The reality is that your boyfriend sometimes has to wait. He's an adult. He should be able to accept that.

Who do you need to get the additional information from?

Yeah he does accept it when I tell him, but he also gets very down on himself for not being able to help me (like if I'm struggling with something technical and mathematics related, those are things he's not good at so he gets upset with himself, calls himself stupid and useless. Then being long distance he can't help practically like making food etc so he's more upset about that too. Even if I'm not asking for help, I'm just saying I'm busy/stressed. So then he says he's "just a distraction" from what I need to do, which is kind of true at the time but he gets really upset with himself about it. And given his depression it just makes things worse.) So then I get stressed about my problem causing a problem for him.

We won't get the additional information with respect to the overall problem. The company that's creating the problem (by not doing their own analysis or at least not showing evidence of having done it) is the one who has the information to do the analysis. So there's a lot of reverse engineering and assumptions that are kind of difficult to come up with something reasonable.

When stressed more than usual, it's usually easier to change your environment (like going for a walk outside or going to a favorite restaurant) rather than your thinking as a way to change/enhance your mindset.

There's also the idea that more breaks/pampering leads to more focus/quality, e.g. the massage chairs at Google. A similar idea is the 80/20 rule: Pareto principle - Wikipedia

But one cognitive strategy is that it helps to see things as a challenge rather than as a threat. e.g. "I get to" work on this problem vs. "I have to" work on this problem.

Interestingly I have noticed that I am grateful for the problem. It's really interesting and engaging. But I'm not happy with the timeframe.

It's hard to even force myself to take a break at the moment because every moment of not solving the problem feels wasted even though I rationally know it's not true.

 

[Daniel E.]

 

[Daniel E.]

It's hard to even force myself to take a break at the moment because every moment of not solving the problem feels wasted even though I rationally know it's not true.

It reminds me again of loss aversion -- the extremely common human (and even primate) tendency to minimize losses rather than maximize gains.

 

[David Baxter PhD]

But I'm like that when faced with a technical problem. It's very difficult for me to step away from it until it's resolved, even though experience has shown me that when I do step away it's usually helpful — my brain's "background processing" often finds a solution, or at least a new direction to try.

 

[Daniel E.]

It's very difficult for me to step away from it until it's resolved

Hence the importance of eye strain, carpal tunnel syndrome, back pain, neck pain, and other discomforts to discourage computer use

 

[David Baxter PhD]

Yes. I do try to remember that on a day-to-day basis but when there's a bug or a glitch waiting to be fixed it's a lot more difficult.

 

[gooblax]

Incidentally my shoulder has been a lot more sore this week. Usually I use a ball to roll-massage it at my desk but even that's felt too time consuming. So the previous night the soreness made it hard to get to sleep but it wasn't as bad last night.

I got invited to the meeting where the info is required. I didn't get very far and just need to try to write everything up today (well, once 4am becomes today, for now I should be getting another hour's sleep) and have it ready to look at a couple of hours before the meeting. But I don't feel like I've done well enough to help anything so it's going to suck going in having disappointed people.

 

[David Baxter PhD]

You did your best with what you had to work with.

 

[gooblax]

The expert that I'd asked for help has come through with something really useful. It's not a final answer due to the limited time, and because he didn't realise that one of the values I gave him is not the max value. But it's at least something to go on, and I had a chat with the chief engineer who seems reasonably pleased that we confirmed original suspicions.
I'll be going to a virtual meeting about it this afternoon. If my boss gets off the phone in time I might tell him that I'm going to head home to do the meeting there. But unless I leave now I'm pretty stuffed. The concern is if I have to explain some analysis but don't have access to the software at home... So maybe I'll just stay since I'm prepared for another late arrival - I took last night off doing work stuff because I didn't fancy trying to come up with a good dinner based on what was in the fridge (plus I was pretty wiped) and bought an extra frozen meal for tonight just in case. And my bf knows about the meeting so I've got the night to myself already.

Incidentally, FYI the weight watchers frozen beef bolognese isn't very filling on its own - luckily I did have leftover salad to have with it (but I didn't want that salad with cold canned tuna, no matter how many times I tried to convince myself not to go to the shop).

 

[Daniel E.]

luckily I did have leftover salad to have with it

Vegemite-marinated cabbage steaks are another option

Grilled Cabbage “Steaks” Recipe

Skip the sirloin and head straight for the cabbage.

getpocket.com

 

[gooblax]

I assume it's a product of the past week, that I'm stuck in bed this morning feeling like everything is too hard and it's too exposing or whatever to uncurl and get up and do the things I needed to do this weekend.

 

[David Baxter PhD]

That's not necessarily a bad thing. We all need some down time every now and then, just to recharge.

 

[Daniel E.]

In other words, cats as zen masters:

 

[gooblax]

Sure, but it meant that I didn't go buy the dutch oven that I wanted to get. Which means tomorrow I have to choose between that or cleaning my bike chain, which I'd put off last weekend so obviously that has to take priority. Which then means that I won't have a good way to cook the dinner that I'd planned on making tomorrow, so that has to wait until next weekend. Etc etc.

 

[David Baxter PhD]

Why does the bike chain take priority?

 

[Daniel E.]

In the meantime, can you just spray it with WD-40?

WD-40 Bike 3002 Dry Chain Lubricant, 118ml : Amazon.ca: Sports & Outdoors

WD-40 Bike 3002 Dry Chain Lubricant, 118ml : Amazon.ca: Sports & Outdoors

www.amazon.ca

 

[gooblax]

I can't deal with another week of imagining how the grit and dirt on it is wearing the chain and gears.