I have a job that is extremely complex; on the surface it seems simple because there's a set of outcomes the end-user/customer sees and experiences, however behind the scenes it's chaos, organised chaos, but chaos nonetheless. It's a systems thing and despite everyone knowing it needs addressing change isn't easy to affect in this case. The team, myself included, focuses on results and tries to make the journey towards those results as uncomplicated as possible, even if there's a grumble or two along the way.
I'm in a position where people come to me with problems that need fixing and often in short periods of time considering the nature of the organisation, what we do, and the customers we have - there's little margin for error and certainly no time to waste - and that's where my phrase 'work don't worry' comes into play.
I don't want to go into specifics because I'm disinclined to divulge much on the internet but I can say with full confidence that a person who is able to set aside worry and replace it with work is a person who will achieve a better result. I'm not suggesting there's not cause for worry or concern in the workplace, there definitely is, but there's a time for it (rarely) and when work is what will move things forward worry has no place; worry is a roadblock to progression, clear and logical thought, effective attitudes, actions and effort.
An example...A group of medical staff in an emergency room receive a patient with a blunt-force trauma to the chest after a workplace building site accident...do they worry? Not if they want to stabilise the patient, move them to the right location for treatment, gather information and the appropriate staff and prepare for surgery then get started with the process of saving the person's life. They work, they do not worry.
It's no different in other workplaces where things go wrong, pressures mount and deadlines close in; it's work that moves the result to a satisfactory conclusion, not worry.
I've seen people work through incredibly stressful, pressurised and even deadly situations and I've seen people unable to do so due to many factors including worry; humans are fallible and flawed after all. However with a focus on the three words in my title, work don't worry, and some other elements I think successful people all have, a situation can be moved forward more effectively; I'm pleased to say those in my organisation are the work don't worry types and that helps each lift their own personal game which in turn lifts others'.
This phrase and what it inspires one to do is something that could work as well in personal life as with business and the workplace. It's about taking ownership of oneself, finding focus and discipline, and I think those things work just as well in our personal lives bringing better results be it with relationships. sporting or learning endeavours and everything in between.
Have you ever been in a situation where it might have been easier to worry than it was to work? Do you have the work don't worry ethos yourself? Feel free to explain either way and give some examples if you feel it's appropriate for the internet.
Design and create your ideal life, tomorrow isn't promised - galenkp
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Image(s) in this post are my own
The chaos behind the scenes is something many can relate to, especially when there is a significant amount of pressure and little room for error. As an employee working with lots of stakeholders, they are not interested in these chaos but only the end results.
I do not have the work don't worry ethos but a get shit done mantra! 😅
A get shit done ethos can work for sure.
Hard to take the worry out of me but I won't let it stop me from progressing! 👊
Most say the same...while a person is using energy worrying though there's less to put towards achieving the mission. This isn't just in business but in personal lives, the military, first responders, everyone really. Work gets things done, not worry.
Then that is definitely something that I need to improve and work on in achieving better results! 😅
Don't get me wrong, I worry about things, but I try and remember to work but worry as often as I can and it gets better results.
There's nothing wrong with being concerned about a thing, that's normal, but worrying about it rather than working on it will rarely get shit done.
No I think you are absolutely right on this! That is exactly what I need to learn as well since I still spend too much energy worrying as you said. Not efficient for sure!
What a motivating read! Adopting the 'work don't worry' mindset sounds like it's been a game-changer for you. It’s easy to get overwhelmed by the pace and pressure of our jobs, but your post is a breath of fresh air, reminding us to zero in on what truly matters. Do you have a go-to method for shaking off the stress when it starts to creep in?
I have some stress mitigation strategies for sure, you?
Same with me. My hobby always stands in for me when I'm stressed.
Work as an occupation to move forward and prosper, work as an acceptance and a new starting point that also implies growth... in short, work is something we cannot stop doing and thinking about. The means, the methods, the motivations, the traps of the mind... will have to be sought and overcome. But you are right, nothing should stop us.
I think that in many cases it is easier to worry than to work, but it is only when you understand that in worrying there is no progress that you move forward.
Yep, I agree with all this and I think the same can apply to most of life's problems; worrying isn't often going to move them forward, working on them and determning solutions them acting will though.
I do work a lot to lessen my worry. I'm very sensitive, so busybody that when I'm idle, I think I forgot one of my responsibilities. There are stuff I can't do right away, for me to lessen my worry, I do stuff I could accomplish to divert my energy for good but it's inevitable to worry while working, just lessening worry with work is what's effective to me.
Great day! ☺️
I think lessening worry and increasing the more positive aspects that will bring better results is a good way to be.
It's pretty rare, but we occasionally have an outage that I have the direct ability to fix. Most outages are usually upstream and out of my hands. When they aren't though I spend quite a bit of time working on JT so my mind doesn't go crazy worrying about it.
Investing one's time in worrying about a problem rather than investing time into finding solutions and acting on them just doesn't seem like a good way to go right? So many do it though. The more worry a person has the less capacity they have to deal with the actual issues.
I totally agree. I'd rather just be able to work on something and figure it out.
I can't imagine anyone would get much of value from worrying rather than working on the problem. I mean, does anyone say things like, oh man, that felt so good to worry like that, all that worrying was so satisfying and I feel like a really productive and expert worrier.. Nope, no one thinks that.
No, I don't imagine they do!
It's fun taking care of business yourself every now and then! Keeps the skills fresh!
I agree, plus I don't like having to rely on others to get things done. We had an outage a while ago and I had to wait half a day to get it fixed because of some stuff we had off site. I now have everything in house so if it happens again we can be back up in half an hour or less.
I bet you're a huuuuuuuuge fan of cloud stuff, right? :D
I use it for some things. I have my own rack of servers though.
I’ve been in hundreds of situations where it was a work not worry situation in my line of work. A few of them with life threatening consequences if something went awry. It’s weird but I thrive in those environments and quite enjoy it, although I’ve advanced on beyond those trenches but I do enjoy and hope to get a little side hustle in some of that one day in the future.
That has helped me a lot in the current role I’m in and my boss actually comes from a similar background as I do and he functions very similar to me. It makes for getting things done, and being creative to get to the end result, the name of the game. There are certainly structures and formalities for doing these things but when you’re against the wall, time is important and if you get the result done in an acceptable format then you’re in good shape. I always strive to put something in place kind of like a brace of sorts, knowing that when the situation gets fixed you come back and take the brace off because that’s what it was meant to do. Get you going but not be there permanently.
This is part of why I enjoy my job very much - I get to do things related to what I used to but at the same time do them at a higher level but also get to use my creativity to get results. It’s fun! I’ve had a number of my coworkers comment on how I can keep my cool so well despite the odds against us. I actually like your phrase quite a bit - work, don’t worry.
Worrying takes up too much effort and removes the ability to work effectively on solutions to problems and ways of mitigating the risk of those problems arising again. Also, in a team environment, being that guy/girl who keeps one's head, focuses on the problem and begins the process of moving forward to a resolution can be good for one's future in the work place. I like being that dependable guy, it's good for my sense of value and worth (personally) and has also helped me progress through (upwards) within the organisations I've worked with.
There's also much to gain personally from having this ethos and the work don't worry phrase can apply to, and be of so much benefit in, most people's lives. It's not all that hard either...ok, it can be, but generally it just requires a little discipline to get started.
I do have a ‘ get on with it’ , ‘do what you can do’ attitude which is in a waysimilar. I find that sometimes what appears a mammoth or complex task can be mostly straightforward once you get stuck into it. Fear of failure can come into it if something is new or different so replace the fear with see what we can do. You always learn no matter what the outcome. I’ve just started a new role and I would be fibbing if I said I hadn’t worried about a lot of stuff but I have to take time to adjust that worry and fear of failure with better perspectives. I’m going to use your work don’t worry mantra now to get me to crack on with the mounting little stuff thatis bogging me down ( and in reality the cause of the worry )
Been a while mate I hope you are doing fantastic!
Yeah, that's the way it's done...sitting around crying about stuff, complaining, blaming, dodging and other such fuckassery is pretty negative and there's rarely much to gain from it but a momentary feeling of...of...whatever, I don't know I guess. You know what I mean though, standing around whining isn't my way and I'd not think it was yours either.
The hardest thing for some is making the move to get started but, as you say, momentum tends to gather as one does and that's where things get really cool because, surprise surprise, shit gets done and that feels good!
Good luck with your new role, and yep it's going to make you feel things, fear, uncertainty, discomfort...and then it won't, you know? It'll take some time maybe, but eventually you'll own it and all will be well. So, work, don't worry and it'll go as well as it possibly can.
Thanks for commenting, it's been a while, I thought you'd left to be honest.
I worry when Hive price drops. But despite that I try to post a few times a day. I still hope that the future is brigth so I keep grinding. I still hope that the future is bright so I keep on doing my thing even if value drops.
Best not to worry about things you can't change, it's unproductive and takes away your capacity to focus on more important things. But yeah, it'd be nice for the price to go up a little.
Worry is a byline to never getting things done, brain freeze thinking you unable to complete task at hand.
Best to mentally dissect problem before you, as it presents itself.
Onboard filing system brain dictates over time, first signing into many welcoming places, later realizing they simply after your personal details. Now I refuse to use trackers via apps for insurance, be it vehicle, home, health makes no difference, there should have a less intrusive ways of communicating with people without knowing your exact location all the times.
Yeah, I agree completely, there's so much data theft, our whole lives really...bonkers huh?
Sorry for the late reply, this comment slipped through the net.
Watch everyone everywhere all the time! Have a great day.
I think the times where it is ok to worry before working is when time isn't too much of a factor. A good example is when planning for a project. Raising all the risks and worries regarding the process and timelines can be helpful in the correct planning of the project. Another that I have experienced personally is when doing something on the production database. When it needs to be shutdown for maintenance, or deleting tables or data, having that little bit of worry that I am not on the right DB actually helps. I have a coworker that accidentally deleted some files on the production instead of the test server since it is a weekly job, and it caused a lot of issue. After that, he is way more cautious and triple checks.
You mentioned worry in the medical field. I agree that in emergencies it can be fatal. But there are a lot of instances where they practice it. When an old person has a problem, and the problem's best solution is surgery, doctors are worried that the old person cannot handle the surgery. They can then try to fix it with medications first, or a change in lifestyle, and have the surgery as a last resort.
I think there's a distinct difference between worries and worrying and performing a SWOT analysis prior to embarking upon a project. One (the former) is emotional and unproductive and the other (the latter) focuses on what elements need to be considered and worked around.
It seems you're more inclined to worry and that's ok, we all do things differently...I'm more inclined to set worry aside and focus positively on determining solutions then implementing them in pursuit of the desired result.
Yeah. There's a lot of pressure when working with production data, and messing up means losing a lot of information, downtime, or both. But I don't really let it hinder my work. Like I said, I try to use it to make sure that I am in the right DB environment, and doing the right commands.
Turning worry, stress and pressure into motivation is an awesome way to go...allowing it to crush one's spirit is not. Well done.
Was just smiling all through reading this, it's just the simplest truth of reality spoken, you see I use to worry a whole lot things weren't just working right, despite so much effort I try throwing in, but I made a decision as part of my new year resolutions NEVER TO WORRY ABOUT ANYTHING, it's happenned there's nothing I can do about, I just forget not to think about,
Your post just reminds me of that, thanks.
As long as one can deflect pointless worry into productive work then one is on the right track in my opinion; well done to you.
ThankYou
After working for some time in the emergency room and essentially living as you described above, I have come to the conclusion that much depends on the job. For example, over time in medicine, you learn to leave problems and feelings outside the hospital; there's no other option. It's not easy, but it's the best, especially when you have lives in your hands. Of course, there are always things that will make us worry and break that rule; life is never perfectly aligned. On more than one occasion, it has happened to me, and many times, I've had to stop and take a minute to focus on work and not worry.
Btw, how was Australia's National Day?
Yep, I figured you'd relate to the medical example and I can imagine that there's times you cross over from work to worry, but also that your training brings you back to the right path, lives depend on that.
Australia Day was good, and sort of extended it all weekend and overall had a really nice weekend. It all seems like a distant memory now on Wednesday, but the weekend isn't far off and I've been sleeping better so I can't complain too much.
In the company where I work, there is an BZR service (abbreviation for "Care and health at work").
This is a whole sector of colleagues who are constantly "worrying" about something, so they often interfere with the rest of us to carry out regular daily activities.
They always worry and ask for written approvals and consents for anything and everything.
I remember one situation when their concern increased my stress to the maximum...
in the vicinity of the company, during some construction works, on Saturday morning (when 25% of colleagues work in the company), the optical cable through which our company receives internet services was interrupted. Services for which I am responsible.
I contacted the operator and urgently arranged an emergency repair.
The teams of the internet provider went to the field and repaired the damage during the evening, but...
They mixed up the optical fibers when continuing.
It was then agreed that the only team on duty would stop by our company on Sunday morning and find out what they did wrong and correct the mistake.
And on Sunday around noon, "worry" enters the scene... the team that is coming does not have proper documentation and my colleague, who is very "worrying" (that something would happen that would be his fault), decides not to allow the team to enter the company internet provider.
I found out about what happened only in the evening and I became aware that on Monday morning we would not have internet in the company...
Maximum stress... I say to my colleague in charge of "care": "Yeah, it's best that we all worry so much, that we don't do anything at all... that we stick to all procedures, rules and regulations, even in external situations, and tap forever in the place... it doesn't work... the work needs to be done. At the price of sometimes suppressing care...". He agreed with me on Monday around noon when his boss told him the same thing.
A good example of how worry instead of work isn't very productive. I don't mind concern, but when it turns to worry people tend to lose the capacity for logical though, or the motivation to do the work that moves towards resolutions and that's never going to work well.
Good leaders I served under in the military and after would never let you see them sweat things. They were always calm under pressure situations, and would by their very mannerisms, keep people calm around them, and lighten the stress of their team. I did my best in leadership positions to emulate that very example.
I can tell from your posts, you got the leadership chops. Keep up the great example Galen.
An excellent example and one I almost gave but went a different way. Worrying effects everyone on the team (unit) as does leading by (good) example; the former can destroy effectiveness (and motivation and attitude) and the latter increase it leading to outstanding results. I'm not surprised you get it.
I hope you're well.
I am doing well, and better each day. Thank you for asking. I know you have been struggling on the sleep front and hope that hasn't been impacting life too much.
Yeah man, sleep is not the restful place it's supposed to be; you know how it is.
For sure. Hope you find some relief soon.
Hi Galen, I subscribe to everything you say in the post. In cases like the hospital example, stopping is literally killing the patient. And, personally, if I have had occasions where a life has been in danger where worry has not stopped me, although it has required me to be resolute. A hug
I think people confuse concern and the motivation it can bring to move things forward through a thin with worry, blame, negativity and such things. Sometimes it's easier to worry than work and people give in to it. The really productive people work towards the end goal and the best results will come from it.
Hi Galen, motivation as you say is not the same as worry. I am 55 years old and I keep training and studying, I want to be better in my profession, I think that can be called motivation. In my life I have seen people fall by the wayside without even starting to practice because of their doubts, will I be good, will I be sufficiently prepared, am I an impostor, I think these are legitimate questions, but the only way to solve them is through action. I think we can agree on this. And I think there are also other types of concerns that mobilize and lead you to action, at least in my case, and this could be for another post. Best regards
I think we agree on many things and probably have very similar thoughts, expectations and overall ethos on many aspects.
You're likely, to have a great day
This was the part that caught my attention the most. Excellent phrasing.
I have had a job that caused me a lot of worries, too many I would say, because I had people depending on me, on how I did the job and how I managed it.
I managed a team, but at the same time I had a manager who.... as a leader he left something to be desired, as a detail I will say that he was going to work in a situation of having consumed something.... You know what I mean. That affected the environment, because it generated verbal violence. That's the detail I can give.
But I remembered a phrase, it is better to take care than to worry, to worry is to be ahead of the facts and to be bad about something, on the other hand to take care is to act to solve situations. And that's what I worked on to overcome the worry.
It's often difficult to overcome the worries certain situations can bring but it's best to work at it because worrying just makes a person less effective. It seems you were on the right track and I'm sure it went well for you.
I was afraid, I had my family depending on me, but I left it and it was for the better.
I always led my group well, always with the truth and helping them as much as I could.
When people are depending on you, worry is the last thing you want to be doing, it won't help.
That's what I learned with this work, it was on my way to show me just that.