Stressed and proud? Frantic freelancers, you’re not impressing anyone

You know those emails and status updates we frantic freelancers love to write about how we’re so busy juggling 11 assignments that we don’t know how we’re going to make it to Friday? We’re not helping ourselves — or our freelance friends — by playing the stress kitty. After reading a Women’s Health article on the topic, I blogged about this Stressier Than Thou phenomenon on Nine to Thrive yesterday. Here’s a snippet, complete with takeaways:

Don’t gloat. Stop bragging about how stressed and busy you are. It’s not impressive. Instead, you’re likely to repel those who’ve found better ways to cope with their own taxing schedule. Exude too much frenetic energy at work and you risk looking like someone who simply can’t handle the pressures of the job.

Don’t enable. The next time a friend or colleague boasts about their bloated workload, resist the urge to reply with, “I know. You should see what I have on my plate today. Seven meetings, a presentation I need to finish for next week, and a report due tomorrow morning. It’s madness.” Instead of playing the one-up game, say something like, “Wow, sounds like a hectic week for you. Any plans to relax after work tonight or this coming weekend?” In other words, encourage your pal or colleague to chill the heck out.

[Read the rest of this post on Nine to Thrive.]

3 comments May 12th, 2011