We Think a Lot
The other day, we were talking about being shy and telling stories in the context of self-promotion. I said something about the “ME” in self-conscious. I’ve always thought about it. RK came back and put to words in a pair of comments that said exactly what I always had wondered about . . . am I shy or am I egotistical?
Then, oh then, the killer sentence was this one.
I’d say the ME in the Self-Conscious could be very much due to hyper thinking and analysis. — Comment by RK
Guilty.
How Too Much Thinking Used to Screw Me Up
This is one of my best stories . . . ever.
The company had a feeling about people that was good. Some folks were larks and some were owls was how the president described it. So no one really watched what time anyone came in the door each morning. Everyone assumed we all knew what our role was and that we did our fair share.
Except well, it started to get noticed that my team was coming in later. Then later. Soon it was after 9:30 when the last ones were trailing in. Okay so maybe I was the only one who noticed . . . but I don’t think I was.
In any case, before anyone else said something I thought maybe I should.
We had a short meeting at 11 a.m. I explained that we were kind of pushing the envelope on the time we came in, that maybe we should be aware that other folks might misinterpret things. After some conversation, everyone went to lunch.
Two hours later, two people still weren’t back.
This is the part where I did too much thinking. . . . I had two completely different arguments going on in my head at the same time.
- They’re good people. This is a coincidence. I should handle this as I always would. Treat them as adults. Assume they have a reason. Move forward.
- We just had a meeting about taking advantage of time. If I don’t say something, I’m not doing my job.
I bet I had this argument going on for at least 20 minutes as I kept looking at the clock on my wall. I got absolutely nothing done during that time — talk about not doing my job.
As I’m in the middle of this argument, the two return. I hear their manager say to them, “Are you NUTS!?”
It was the perfect response for the two people and the situation.
–ME “Liz” Strauss
Check out the Work with Liz!! page in the sidebar. She’s much better now.
