Sometimes office life can cause a bit of personal strife as certain personalities just have a way of not mixing. There’s nothing you can do to solve this problem, but you must find a way to cope. When Susie from Sales is giving you a migraine, or Ben from Accounting makes you want to pop a pill, repeat these 6 affirmations.
Your mental state will quickly return to a balanced level, and you’ll stop caring so much about the minuscule irritations.
- “It’s not you, it’s not me, it’s just us.”
Stop looking for a way to place blame. Most of the time, neither one of you are the problem. It just boils down to a difference in personalities. As much as you don’t want your coworkers shaming you for your behaviors, don’t blame poor interaction on their shortcomings. If you can both come to terms with the problem being the two of you combined, you can easily work through any low-level conflict.
- “I can deal with this on my own.”
Do not, I repeat do not involve management in your coworker conflicts. Unless you want to get fired from your 9-5, this is honestly one of the worst things you can do. Now keep in mind, if there’s a serious problem or threat, then reporting this issue is completely appropriate. But, if you’re just annoyed by your Web Designer’s horse-like lip smacking, keep it to yourself.
- “Maybe he/she is normal outside of work.”
So you’re struggling with Jim Bob in development. You just don’t seem to connect, on a personal or professional level. He thinks your Woodstock, hippie ways are distasteful, and as a matter of fact, you’re pretty sure he’s incapable of smiling. Jim Bob has an upcoming tournament on the local debate team, so what do you do? Make an appearance. Although you may not fully understand Jim Bob and his stoic disposition, he will respect you more for taking an interest in his personal accomplishments.
- “I will not delight at the chance to witness your demise.”
I get it, Jane from HR drives you absolutely bonkers. She yammers on and on about her four grandchildren, insists on making you do the grunt work, and avoids any kind of productive conversation. So, when you overhear that Jane might be having an affair, what do you do? Well, I’ll let you in on a little secret – nothing. You do absolutely nothing.
In fact, as difficult as it may be, you must forget that juicy little piece of gossip. Perpetuating the story will only come back to haunt you, and damage your professional reputation.
- “When you speak, I will go to my happy place.”
Communicating with an irritating coworker can be less than desirable. But, don’t let it show. Keep your poker face. When this person speaks, picture a field full of beautiful butterflies, and not nails on a chalkboard. With any luck, the happy expression on your face will trick them into thinking your professional relationship is making progress.
- “I will not let my disdain for you affect the quality of my work.”
Maybe the last few affirmations have been a bit tongue in cheek, but I’m serious about this one. You cannot let an irritating coworker negatively affect the quality of your work. If your distractions are making you miss deadlines, you ruin your credibility, and your job could hang in jeopardy.
Don’t let people get the best of you. Instead, repeat these 6 affirmations, on a daily basis if you must. Do whatever it takes to make sure the quality of your work is not affected by trivial personality differences.
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