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2nd Trimester
joeysmama0201
member
Handling stress on the job
joeysmama0201
member
Hi fellow Bumpies! Need a little help...or at least friendly advice.
Here's the situation--I am currently 17 1/2 weeks (18 weeks Thursday) and have really been feeling the strain at work. I'm having an issue with feeling overwhelmed. I'd go to HR, but I am HR...along with the 20+ other things I do on a daily, semi-daily or weekly basis...
Every day, it's "I need X report(s)." (Give me two minutes), "Can you look up this number for me?" (See previous answer), "My phone isn't working." (Unplug it and plug it back in to reset.) "Why doesn't the printer work/What's this flashing on the printer?" (It's out of paper/toner/there's a jam.) "Why doesn't the copier work?" (Because it turns off after so long to conserve power)...You get the idea.
Most of my coworkers understand that I do a lot and for the most part let me do things in my own time. However, there some days (like today) that are worse than others. My sanity and blood pressure seriously want to take flying leaps from one of our 6th floor windows to the street below. I've come home on more than one occasion sobbing because my day was that bad and as a result, I'm exhausted.
I try to get up at least once an hour and walk around our floor or go outside to the corner and back, but it almost does nothing because I know what's waiting for me on the other side of my 10-minute "me time".
Apologies for the long explanation. A short one would not have given you what I'm dealing with. Does anyone have any creative ideas on handling stress while at work?
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Handling stress on the job
Maybe you could send an email to the whole office covering the repetitive questions you get asked? Just list the most common ones and in the email request that people save it for future reference.
You could even put up signs next to each machine people have difficulty with, as to how to fix the problem themselves.
I think this would help prevent a good chunk of those asking for assistance, giving you more time for the stuff they actually need you for.
Just an idea.
I know how you feel I am also HR at my company. I work for a small company so I am a generalist that wears multiple hats.
In terms of the general office things like the copier being out of toner or printers not working, is there an admin that can help with things like that? Can you request they go to their managers with those types of questions? HR isn't really supposed to be handling those types of things.
Realize that you are one person and that you can only do so much. Prioritize your day on what you know you need to get done first then handle the questions that come at you after that. Things like insurance questions can be answered if the employee calls their insurance, PTO questions can wait until you have some down time, reports that need to be pulled - ask if they need is urgent or if they can wait until you are done with what you are working on. If you have a manager that constantly waits until the last minute to ask you for reports he/she needs for meetings communicate to them that the requests need to come in sooner or just tell them when you will give them the reports on a weekly basis.
I know as an HR you tend to want to go out of your way to help everyone else but you need to focus on what are the most important things for the day. When I feel overwhlemed I write a list for myself on what needs to get done, regroup, and cross things off when I am finished with them. It's OK to give more realistic timelines to people, so instead of saying in 10 minutes to appease them let them know that it might take a little longer than that.
Not sure if I helped any but honestly just remember that whatever is going on that day is not important enough for you to stress yourself and baby out.
Thank you, ladies, for the tips/advice. I'm multiple hat wearer as well. My technical position is Administration, but I handle most of HR (complaints, PTO, etc), 1/2 of payroll, 1/2 of accounts payable, among the other things I do. What makes my job particularly difficult is the fact that I'm also doing tasks for our London office (which houses the other halves of payroll and payables), something I failed to mention in my original post, and I have a limited amount of time in the morning to deal with everything and my CEO, who is in London, wants everything done now.
I think my best course of action would be to draft a simple letter stating any tasks that need to be done are done at my leisure. If something is urgent, that's fine (which is generally everything that comes out of London). I'll get it done as quickly as I can but I don't think it's too much to ask for them to not push me to the point of becoming overwhelmed.