Does venting at work increase or decrease stress? Burnout? Productivity?
Today we’re going to talk about how you can blow off steam a work without getting burned out.
In today’s workplace, there’s a lot of work. Big goals, deadlines, change, and a lot of people.
And when you’re in that environment you can get frustrated, and that frustration can build to the point where you just got to get it out.
I mean, everybody needs to vent. But how you vent and where you vent are crucial to your ability to be successful under stress.
When is the Right Time to Vent?
Vent at the right times, and your stress and anxiety go down. Your positive energy goes up.
I mean, you can even deepen your connection with whom you’re venting to or with. Vent at the wrong time, however, and you’ll employ what many researchers believe is one of the top ways to demoralize yourself, to de-energize yourself, to reduce your vitality and the vitality of those around you.
Venting at work doesn’t work.
Defining Venting at Work
Let me define.
Venting, to me, is expressing frustration without the intention of finding a solution.
Now, when you express frustration with the intent of finding a solution, that’s just good communication.
But if you do it at work without the intention of finding a solution, that doesn’t work.
Venting for Less Stress
OK, so here’s how I want you to use this idea.
The next time frustration builds and you’ve got to get it out, I want you to use that as a trigger to stop and think, OK, is this just about me needing to blow off steam, or do I really need to push this and find a solution?
OK, if you just need to blow off steam, I want you to take that frustration and hold it until after work so you can do that with your friends, your loved ones, and get the positive benefits of venting.
But if at work you’re frustrated, and you just gotta push this to a solution, I want you to make that— have you stop as well, and think, OK, how can express my frustration so that everybody knows that I’m looking to find a solution?
I’m telling you, if you use that as a differentiator, you will definitely be way more successful under stress.
You don’t have to manage this alone! Andy is here to help with virtual and in-person presentations to improve communication in high stress situations.