Anxiety and IT? 347
An anonymous reader writes "During these long breaks from work, it's refreshing to not have to worry about your job. Unless you work in IT, in which case you're salaried and constantly on the clock. To all the server room monkeys and desktop admins, do you suffer from anxiety? How do you deal with it? Does the crushing worry of a businesses IT infrastructure (and the rest of the business) coming to a screeching halt make IT occupations prone to anxiety?"
27 years in IT and right on the nose (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Chill out... (Score:5, Informative)
My secret to avoid stress... Not Caring.
Re:Chill out... (Score:5, Informative)
Yes. He needs to chill, he sounds like a zoloft ad or something.
do you suffer from anxiety?
No, why would I? It's just like any job. Sure, I could get called at any moment, but the biggest reliever of anxiety is knowing how to say No, and not get jerked around. Me and my boss have a system - I may be 20 or 30 minutes late for work sometimes. I may stay late to make up for it, or come in early. I might need an afternoon off. He does not harp me to be here at 8:00 AM because he knows if he did, I would be out of here at 5:00pm on the dot and not bother coming in when the phone rings. I don't have to deal with the anxiety most other jobs do because I know the policies are a bit more lax, because if they want me in an emergency, they need some perk to keep you around.
And the only way you get around that is knowing your stuff. You don't want to be replaced by some other monkey who WILL take that abuse, so make sure you read up on new stuff you don't know, and make yourself valuable. I know a lot about computers and I know the ins and outs of fixing them, and I have a certificate in Programming. However, I don't have my A+, I don't have my Network+, I'm not a Microsoft Certified Desktop Technician - all things I know I have to work towards.
How do you deal with it?
Personally, when I'm stressed, I like to go Stargazing. Makes me feel small, which makes everything else seem smaller, which makes me worry less - about everything, including my job.
Does the crushing worry of a businesses IT infrastructure (and the rest of the business) coming to a screeching halt make IT occupations prone to anxiety?
It shouldn't. Lets face it, if the server goes down - the server does down. You don't have to worry about watching it - someone will let you know when it goes down. And then you can deal with it when it goes down. Take your time off like its your time.
Get a good On-call schedule going, and make sure there's at least 1 other person who knows the basics of your job. That way, if you go on vacation, get hit by a bus, or decide to run away to mexico, you don't have to worry about the IT world - because someone else will be there to pick up your slack. Crosstraining all your employees is never a bad idea.
Re:Weed (Score:0, Informative)
Weed agitates anxiety in a lot of people. I hear you just have to get past the curve of a chronic stoner. I look forward to the other side. This Four Loko isn't helping.
Re:Hell yes!!! (Score:2, Informative)
... yeah, until you start to fear the beer, because you realize that all that beer is slowly destroying you. Some people quit before that point, some do it at that point, and some do never quit. Which group do you belong to?
Re:Weed (Score:3, Informative)
That doesn't sound like the effects of Pot.
You didn't recently introduce acid into your diet, did you?