Cubicle-Fu

Tim Ferris, author of “The Four Hour Workweek,” has some sage advice for those of us who want to see if we need a change.

He suggests that you do the following:

1. When you wake up, look in the mirror
2. Ask yourself, “Do I really want to do the thing I am about to do? Do I enjoy it? Is it fun?”
3. If the answer is “no” for a week or more, it’s time to do something else

We’re human, we rationalize, and we’ll find reasons to stay stuck. Reasons include: “this job pays well,” “it’s only for a few more months,” or “I don’t know how to do anything else.” In lots of cases, you’ll even want to say “yes, I’m fine” just so you don’t have to deal.

Tim, and I, suggest that if you’re miserable, and you know it, it’s time to be unreasonable. Ask for what you want, or quit if that’s what it takes, but do define a new path and take a step on it. That step could be as simple as talking to a coworker about what they think you might be good at, and go from there.

Try these questions:

1. What would I rather be doing?
2. What is one thing I can do today that will get me closer to doing it?

Read Tim’s book for lots of ideas on how to escape the rat race.
And if you don’t believe us, ask LifeReboot. They say to do what interests you.

You depend on you

Think about it this way: if you didn’t exist, you wouldn’t have issues. Put another way, when you have a communication breakdown at work, there is likely a shift or request you can make to change it, as opposed to depending on others to change for you.

But they said they’d change!

That’s all well and good, but if you’re counting on someone else to keep watch on your state of being, even if they’re Ghandi you’re going to be disappointed

So What do I do when someone at work keeps getting in my way?

Step 1: Find the real issue (hint: it’s usually a feeling). Every time I go to “I’m not happy because he… or she…” then I’m relying on my coworker to stop being them. Risky business at best. What I can do, is see what I can change so I don’t have to end up in situations that frustrate me. In my case, I recently noticed that I just don’t enjoy being in a role where I’m managing this particular team. In fact, when I realized that, I looked back and saw that I don’t really like middle managing in any corporate environment. Now I can not take jobs that require that, and I wouldn’t have figured it out if I kept pointing fingers.

Step 2: Redefine what success means. Find a solution that exists, or one that doesn’t. In my case, there really isn’t a role that is management-free on my team, so I looked at the available work and realized I’d be really happy if I could just do the doing and have other people plan. What?! That’s like asking to never be promoted. Well, I discovered that I feel successful and happy when I am doing fun stuff. Great! Now I know both what I don’t want, and what I do want.

Step 3: Ask for what you want! If you don’t ask for what you want, then you are guaranteed not to get it. I told my boss I feel extraneous and frustrated in meetings, and suggested that I let the team leads make decisions and give me creative work to keep me busy. Turns out, he thought it was a fine idea. “But what if he doesn’t?” Ask him if he has any solutions. Get him thinking for you.

Quitting is always an option. You can read Tim Ferris’ “The Four-Hour Workweek” to figure out how to quit.

Step 4: Follow through. If you asked for it, and you said it would be good, do your best to make it so. If you ask to telecommute and just take a vacation, then you deserve to lose your job. If you say you’ll do something, just do it. It will give you the best case to ask for more, now that your boss sees that you have creative ideas that work.