How to Get Through Work When The Worlds a Mess - The Muse

How to Get Through Work When The Worlds a Mess - The MuseHow to Get Through Work When The Worlds a Mess The sniper attack in Dallas, the death of an innocent man in MN, the suicide bombings in Turkey, the mass shooting in Orlando- I could go on, but you probably dont need me to remind you of all the terrible things going on in the world.This isnt an article about whats right or wrong, its not about airport security, guns, or gun laws and it certainly isnt about politics or which politician is tweeting what.Its about you.When the weight of what youve seen and heard threatens to tear your heart in two, how can you possibly muster the enthusiasm for your 10 AM meeting or be expected to wrap your head around finishing that report by the end of the day?Doesnt it seem silly to dive right into the minutia of your daily work following such a major tragedy? Those hundred tiny things on your to-do list suddenly seem a whole lot tinier when the shadow of something horrible looms large. But you cant just stop working. Youre not going to quit your job or abandon the career youve been building. So what do you do?Here are three thoughts to help you cope.1. Love Your ResponsibilitiesGuns. Crime. War. Disease. Terror. Drought. Refugees. And on, and on, and on.There are a lot of soul-stirring things happening out there. Theyre happening right now, they happened yesterday, and theyre probably going to happen tomorrow, too. Focusing on your day-to-day responsibilities when theres major loss and sadness around you is challenging.You may feel like you got bumped out of your groove. All you can see is a larger landscape, and with that point of view, its easy to feel like what youre doing doesnt really matter, or that if you do knuckle down and start ticking things off your to-do list, then youre somehow missing the point or doing people who are suffering a disservice.But having a job and a set of responsibilities isnt incompatible with being a caring human being.You have a 5 PM meeti ng to attend? Excellent. Love the fact that you get to turn up and do great work. Just been asked to take on a new project? Awesome. Now dive into it and relish the opportunity. Forced to hand-hold a colleague through a shared assignment? Perfect. How wonderful that you get to help someone and have an impact on their work.Feeling, caring, and remembering dont require that you stop everything else, and choosing to embrace and love your responsibilities rather than disconnect from them can be transformative.2. Feed the AngelsFear, pain, and dorfwiese are like locomotives barreling through you. Imposing and banging and crashing, these powerful emotions divert your attention away from the task at hand.Applying yourself at work when theres a steam train rolling through your head and over your heart isnt easy, and buckling down so you can finish the deck probably seems downright trivial. Soon, youre struggling to keep an even, calm demeanor.Maybe you snap at a co-worker who asks you a que stion you deem dumb. Maybe you think Fine, Ill do it myself, when something isnt completed as you expected. And maybe you roll your eyes and rail against the small talk you hear in the cubicles and corridors.But you dont have to feed those things. You dont have to stoke the furnace that drives bitterness, or misunderstanding, or judgment. What if, instead, you were at your best as a response to a terrible event?Think generosity with time or spirit over armor-donning. Empathy over division. Compassion over judgment. Your best experiences at work have been the times when you were at your best, and dont think for a moment that choosing to be this way now is an inappropriate response to something horrible.Feed the angels, not the demons.3. BreatheWhen all is said and done, you still have a job to do. I know, I know, moving numbers around in a spreadsheet or running a meeting about marketing strategy seems kind of ridiculous when compared with whats out there. But its something. And havi ng something solid to focus on in a world that seems to be shifting can help provide the balance that you so desperately seek.So, breathe...Take a breath, and realize how lucky you are to be employed, to be alive and well, sitting in an office, getting paid to do work you care about (or at least, hopefully, dont loathe). In the best case scenario, youre surrounded by people who are good, decent human beings, and in the worst, youve got a work bff or a partie to grab a cup of afternoon tea with. Take a look around, breath deeply, and consider how fortunate you are.Some days youll still struggle to care a lot about the work in front of you when theres so much else to think about. You may even (temporarily) view your job as insignificant based on whats happening in the world, and thats OK, too. Letting yourself feel things and process is a part of getting back on track. Remember this Youre allowed to slow down until youre ready to do more. And that doing your job isnt incompatible with being a caring person whos worried about whats happening in the world. Photo of distracted man courtesy of Yuri_Arcurs/Getty Images.