I made a mistake today. I think it’s a pretty common one that I’ve had done to me and perpetuated in return so I wanted to call it out.
Here’s the scenario. At work, everything’s very busy, I’m trying to push things along (along with everyone else) before the holidays and the new year. An instrumental and wonderful coworker is back in the office after a well deserved week on PTO. And we definitely have things to talk about.
I am eager to download and keep moving so with the busy week of momentum behind me I bombard her nearly as soon as she returns in the office. And I wouldn’t say it was an organized download. I wasn’t frantic, but I was moving fast and probably brought a little too much pressure and energy to the conversation (that was coming from what I was putting on myself so I could just work a half-day and spend time with my mom. . . spoiler alert: I worked a full day).
I’ve been on the receiving end of this energy as well after coming back from vacation. The “oh good you’re back so here’s all the shit that went down and where we need help and who cares that you haven’t even powered up your computer yet…”
I wasn’t really conscious that was what I’d done at first but I definitely did it, contributing to a pretty overwhelming feeling for my coworker that didn’t need to be there. I was meeting her where I was, in full run, when she hadn’t even had the chance to stretch yet. It was a mistake and pretty inconsiderate. So I want to throw out a reminder to try to meet people where they are instead of where you are.
Sorry lovely coworker! You’re the best for rolling with it.
With Love,
Natalie