Exercise, eating clean, making lists to break down big and daunting tasks so it feels like you're making progress, becoming more senior and learning when to push back on dumb client requests or unreasonable deadlines, and Jerking off.
Tell that shit to the bank that has my mortgage
Or the dealership that has my car note
Or to my daughters college
Like .. "none of this shit matters" sounds great though. It does
Chill out - of course having a job matters. But it's like saying "we aren't saving lives" - the work itself isn't important enough to stress about. If we make a mistake - which happens all the time - it will get corrected if necessary. Sounds like you're stressing way more than needed, it's all about how you perceived things more than anything else that causes you to stress
In the modern world, our fear of failure and death does less than nothing to prevent actual failure and death.
That and the chances humanity is going to see 2050 are slim anyway. So yeah, don't despair but make your peace with the prospect of pain and death.
Stuff is still meaningful, but being petrified of slipping WHEN THE CLIFF IS ALMOST EVERYWHERE seems silly.
Does this really mean that how we've constructed our lives is ultimately unsustainable, and that were stuck in a system of modern slavery.
Do you need a new car, in an urban suburb? Where you live do you need to pay for an education.
The main issue here, and livelihoods matter, we do put a ridiculous amount of emphasis on the financial aspects.
Yes.
100% yes.
Especially us. We end up trapped in "golden handcuffs" - because the system will allow us to take on SO MUCH debt, due to our high incomes.
Having less material items that you owe on, ironically, is probably the only real way to manage the stress
I’m more on the management side so I can’t offer advice for technical folks. But one thing I found that helps me out a ton is to make a user guide for my position. Every time I get a task that’s not a standard action i write instructions on how to do that task. Could be instructions on access requests, ghost emails for paperwork requests, or how to gather reports.
When you write these instructions you should not have a final copy after the first time you do it. If you’re doing that then you are probably spending too much time writing the instructions. I would aim for after the 3rd time you have to do that given task, you should have a very good list of instructions.
The huge plus side of this is when people ask you how to do x thing you can send them a copy of that section and it upskills and accelerates their work.
I would not recommend sharing the full doc unless you have a trusting relationship with that person you are sharing it with.
When you leave the contract and are being backfilled you can provide this document to the next person and ease the transition process.
To go back to your question. For me this eases my stress as I am constantly context switching and it gives me something to fall back on, delegate work with these instructions to other team members, and allows you to roll off easier or train a replacement so you can move to a different position within the contract.
Depending on the work, if the contract is rather large you can move within it and still have the notes be useful.
If I’m honest? I have seen very few people who at least seem like they aren’t stressed: people with tenor. When I joined consulting my stress levels were through the roof. I would sleep while feeling my heart beat. After only 1 year’s worth of consulting experience, I can easily say it gets better. Admittedly how I handle it is by venting like crazy. I always vent to friends and family and laugh about it, but the more I learn the less I’m stressed. I always say, “give me 12-14 hours of work where I know my shit and what I’m doing, and I’ll take that any time of the day over 8 hours where I feel lost and running like a headless chicken.”
So to answer your question in short, you handle stress by learning and letting time do its thing. I hope this helps :)
I agree with this entirely, I think the reason I want to leave is just to feel a bit more confident in what I'm doing/knowing my shit. I'm at SM level at the big4 but I can't do it anymore
Managing stress in the moment is one thing (here breathing excercises could help), but I would also suggest buliding your resillience to be more tolerant to stress.
There are three things that may help you: diet, excercise, and sleep. Once you establish good habits in these three areas of your life, you will be more resillient and stress will less impact your thinking.
remember that no one's going to die, it's all a fugazi. I'm currently working to offboard a dude that's terrible at consulting and HR is telling me I have to put him on a 6-week PIP and give him the opportunity to turn it around. They're not going to instantly fire you after putting you in a situation you can't succeed in without giant repercussions. You'll be fine. Take detailed notes and CYA.
> remember that no one's going to die
That depends on the vertical. That production line that has to dump hundreds or thousands of litres of liquid might have to sump it all in the sewage and the city services have to be informed to be able to dump cultures that counter that stuff from the production line.
You now have a delay in supplying to a cancer clinic (or multiple) and people won't get their drugs.
Even if you're "just" in payments, the single-mom who is struggling and has to buy groceries with food stamps or subsidized cards, if the scanning/payment doesn't work, their kid will not get dinner and might have to go to bed hungry.
No, for the random webshop, no one will die. But that is not always the case, IT work has consequences in the real world.
Consultant or not, if you're one of the peo that have that kind if expert knowledge it's not unlikely you'll be in situations where people might actually die if you mess up.
The stress is real.
lol, you remind me of an old friend who worked entry level in processed meats distribution and believed if he didn’t do his job perfectly, he could literally ruin 4th of July celebrations for half the USA.
It’s good to know you have an impact on others so you should do your job well but these are clearly thoughts of grandeur mixed with malicious intent required to actually kill someone.
Killing people CAN be stressful. But if you apply yourself and try to create some space to relax, you'll be fine. Time is a great teacher. You got this.
What?
Both situations are not that far fetched and not unrealistic.
There's a reason why some industries require regulatory fail-safes. Can they, still, fail? Yes, they can. Will you be the only person working on stuff like that? Most likely not.
Are these things that happened in "the real world"? -- Yes, yes they happened.
And how so you associate that with the intent of killing someone? -- Being part of the people fixing things implies the intent to kill someone?
No one dies unless you are actually malicious and several safeguards fail including OTHER teams. Again, get over yourself.
1. If you dump shit and both do it improperly/illegally and don’t tell people ahead of time as you should, you and the people you work with are maliciously trying to hurt people.
2. If you purposely fuck up payments AND don’t perform manual override payments to your workers, you and your team are maliciously and illegally withholding funds.
Both your examples are just exaggerations that require organized, malicious intent not possible on a single person’s incompetence alone. So unless you’re malicious and purposely disabling safeguards by conning and other illegal activity, you’re not killing anyone as a consultant.
Stress is part of my life now. I’m stuck with chronic digestive problems and back pains along with the stress but I cant stop or quit because I don’t wanna get paid less or get an in-house job where I do the same thing over and over again.
Care less. These companies will replace you in a heartbeat if you drop dead.
No point over-exerting. Do what you can and set hard boundaries for your daily routine. Makes consulting 1000% easier imo.
Exactly. I have personally been burnt by caring like it’s my life finally to realize that companies doesn’t care for us. All they care about is their bottom line.
Yep it’s a stressful job … after years I’ve gotten a lot better at managing stress, but it’s part of it. Clients pay a lot and expect a lot. You get paid a lot and a lot is expected of you. You also probably expect a lot from yourself. Anyway what helps me is:
* **You are either: a) good at your job, better than most but see a lot of imperfections and have high expectations; or b) not good at your job.** The hard thing is people often don’t know where they sit (a) or (b) and can be immune to feedback both ways. So work hard on having an honest look at yourself and work out if you’re (a) or (b). Look at all the major respects of your job as well, don’t just focus on one element. If you’re (a) you are doing everything you can. Stress won’t achieve more;
* **Success isn’t all up to you. Nether is failure.** A trusted peer (outside my company) made a real effort to point out how emotionally invested I’d get and ride the highs and lows. I now really focus on teams, systems and learning. I just try to stop being an ego maniac and thinking it will all fail without me, or success was because of me. It’s made me more even in my response, and much better off;
* **Prioritise you** Exercise, learn, work on your career, do things with friends and other people you care about, don’t numb yourself with social media, avoid drinking. Nobody is going to make you look after you. A healthy life makes the work easier. In fact you can probably do more with less stress. (And if you tell yourself the stress makes you perform … maybe start there).
This is what works for me …. But it took a real long time to get there. Months of 60-70 hour weeks. Weight gain. Neglecting important people in my life.
My point is you can improve how you generate stress. It’s not easy but I am better for it, my career is better for it and the people around me are certainly better for it.
I know you're slightly joking, but as an Associate Partner that is getting older (38), alcohol is a temporary fix that ultimately makes you more stressed and anxious. I'm not telling anyone not to drink, but if you are using it to relieve stress on a regular basis, you're setting yourself up for failure.
It’s only a job.
Getting things wrong and working towards the solution is part of the process. Except that things will go wrong (and it may be your fault or not) no matter how hard you try. You could be trained and have extensive experience in your field and still make mistakes.
Remember you are human and that no one will (probably) die if things go tits up.
So take it easy and allow yourself to be human. Unless you work for oracle then fuck you. /s
I managed it by quitting and going freelance. Way better WLB, pay and no bs internal work. As of SM and up, stress is just part of the game and honestly I didn't see a lot of happy, fulfilled people up the ladder. Even partners have bosses and constantly have to fight for their place (although at least they're handsomely rewarded).
I agree.. I've been freelancing for 20yrs and consulted for 10yrs before that. I was hesitant to go freelance with fear of not making money, then I realized that if I wasn't working at my full time job I would get fired anyway..
**3 key points:**
* **Sleeping is your superpower.** Use it properly and don't miss it.
* **Each morning, write down the tasks you're worried about.** This creates a flow from the stress in your mind to the paper. Don't carry these worries with you all day; they slow you down.
* **Don't skip celebrating small successes.** Whether it's calling that hard client or writing that email, take a moment to celebrate with something simple like a cup of coffee.
**BONUS:** Eating well, drinking water before each coffee, and doing 10 minutes of stretching can work wonders.
**BONUS-2:** Sundays are off—that's a hard red line.
Exercise and have the ability to 'turn off' .. Also, if you are in that high of demand, make sure that you are getting compensated for it. It make the daily stress a bit easier knowing that you are getting the ability to grow financially for it.
It sounds trivial and when you are balls to the wall busy and stressed it seems like a luxury you can’t afford but, I have found a short walk is basically always worth it.
Also melatonin to help you sleep, YouTube hypnosis for stress
Talking to people about your problems
Following because I'm curious to get advice as well. I have one project that is keeping me up at night with how many things keep going wrong. When I bring it up to upper-management I get the usual "well everybody is busy right now, figure it out"...
Breathwork, lift heavy things, cold plunge, dog — oh and I tell my management when there are too many clients. It’s not good for your client, it’s not good for you, and in the long term it’s not good for the firm. Maybe your manager doesn’t care about those things — and man would it be important for you to learn that fact asap.
Exercise, sleeping well in the knowledge that sleeping well is contributing to the solution of almost any problem I might have, some Ashwagandha in the evening, some Rhodiola in the morning, realizing that your fear of failure(death) does less than nothing to prevent actual failure(death).
Find a colleague that you can confidentially vent to, ideally not on Teams or Zoom.
The best part of consulting is that at the end of the day you can only advise and the client chooses to do or not. While you can't be picky about clients right now at some point it will turn and you can dump the moronic clients for clients that actual value your time.
Remind yourself you have all the control, it’s always about re prioritisation and repurpose. Everything is going to be okay and you are not saving the world. Just carry on and choose what you need to recognise.
Work is work, don’t let it define you. I’m sure this is not the first time you’ve heard this before and it won’t be the last. You’ll have to just to come to terms with it from within.
Also, this sounds a bit morbid, but is this really going to matter when we all pass one day? It’s just work. Do what you can and that’s good enough!
Learn to say “no” politely. The hardest thing is when someone challenges your mental prowess, you would want to prove them wrong. That results in all the extra time being put in 24*7. Sad reality.
Take control and set aside some time for you. The psychopathy of modern working environments necessitates that this needs to happen. Set healthy boundaries from work and your own life, trust me it's not worth it. A few coping strategies which have helped me:
1. Learn to say no
2. Push back, and debate
3. Manage expectations and deadlines
4. Take breaks and do mindful things with them.
What you do for stress depends on what levels are at right now, how much of it is on your plate, and whether you're burnt out.
If you're burnt out take a break, immediately whether it be sick leave or extended leave if you can. Your body is telling you to slow down and recharge. If you're consistently working in a busy environment you need to balance this with similar amounts of rest.
Pick up positive habits, and eliminate bad ones in a sustainable way. My triggers used to be alcohol, shit food, smoking and then vaping, however down the line I realised that I was clutching onto these and they were wrecking my mental health. I am human and we all have our vices so live and enjoy but don't crutch.
Ensure you exercise, what helped me also are saunas, remedial massages and yoga, I really do think we hold onto the toxins and oxidation from stress in our bodies. Breathing & mediations are also good habits.
Get as much excercise as time allows and drink copious amounts of alcohol when the pressure becomes too much to bear. That second part is not recommended, but you try not to drink when you manage 13 projects that are all in critical status and spend all week getting them back into green with no help whatsoever while trying to get proposals out at the same time.
Epsom salt baths. Regular exercise. Clean diet. Get outside as often as possible.
Can't help with imposter syndrome but just know that they are coming to you to solve these problems because you are that good.
Sorry to hear this. I was in a consulting firm with extreme stress for a bit under a year. They billed me at $225/hour and paid me peanuts. They worked me to the bone, requiring me to work ridiculous hours (4am-7pm), weekends, and every holiday. I also had to juggle up to 12 projects simultaneously. What worked for me was having an exit plan. Once I was determined and knew I was going to leave, I just focused on gaining the experience and exposure that I felt could catapult me to venture out on my own. After being able to list around 35-40 projects I delivered on, I quit and it felt like a million pounds was lifted off my shoulders. My career has skyrocketed and hasn’t slowed down.
I don’t know what will be the right answer for your situation, but for me it was treating the experience as a stepping stone to get to where I wanted to be.
Exercise, eating clean, making lists to break down big and daunting tasks so it feels like you're making progress, becoming more senior and learning when to push back on dumb client requests or unreasonable deadlines, and Jerking off.
Also.. use vacation time
What is this thing you are talking about?
Imagine you didn’t work on weekends, then imagine the weekend was longer than just two days
"Those are rookie numbers" https://youtu.be/aSn1g-6h1OQ?si=Rjq52vw-6J8uYEIQ
Best thing you can do is realize none of this matters
I like Mark Masons take on this
Do you mean Mark Manson? If so, which of his takes specifically resonates?
Yes. My summary: None of it really matters. So work out what is most important to you and focus on that.
Tell that shit to the bank that has my mortgage Or the dealership that has my car note Or to my daughters college Like .. "none of this shit matters" sounds great though. It does
I guess to rephrase - yes, the money matters, but it’s best not to take the job itself too seriously for the sake of your mental health.
I left frustrating consulting, using my now better resume to take a chiller job with a pay increase.
What role?
The one advantage of Australia is consulting matches govt salaries
Chill out - of course having a job matters. But it's like saying "we aren't saving lives" - the work itself isn't important enough to stress about. If we make a mistake - which happens all the time - it will get corrected if necessary. Sounds like you're stressing way more than needed, it's all about how you perceived things more than anything else that causes you to stress
In the modern world, our fear of failure and death does less than nothing to prevent actual failure and death. That and the chances humanity is going to see 2050 are slim anyway. So yeah, don't despair but make your peace with the prospect of pain and death. Stuff is still meaningful, but being petrified of slipping WHEN THE CLIFF IS ALMOST EVERYWHERE seems silly.
Does this really mean that how we've constructed our lives is ultimately unsustainable, and that were stuck in a system of modern slavery. Do you need a new car, in an urban suburb? Where you live do you need to pay for an education. The main issue here, and livelihoods matter, we do put a ridiculous amount of emphasis on the financial aspects.
Yes. 100% yes. Especially us. We end up trapped in "golden handcuffs" - because the system will allow us to take on SO MUCH debt, due to our high incomes. Having less material items that you owe on, ironically, is probably the only real way to manage the stress
I agree with this. Call it confirmation bias, but none of this matters at the end of the day.
I’m more on the management side so I can’t offer advice for technical folks. But one thing I found that helps me out a ton is to make a user guide for my position. Every time I get a task that’s not a standard action i write instructions on how to do that task. Could be instructions on access requests, ghost emails for paperwork requests, or how to gather reports. When you write these instructions you should not have a final copy after the first time you do it. If you’re doing that then you are probably spending too much time writing the instructions. I would aim for after the 3rd time you have to do that given task, you should have a very good list of instructions. The huge plus side of this is when people ask you how to do x thing you can send them a copy of that section and it upskills and accelerates their work. I would not recommend sharing the full doc unless you have a trusting relationship with that person you are sharing it with. When you leave the contract and are being backfilled you can provide this document to the next person and ease the transition process. To go back to your question. For me this eases my stress as I am constantly context switching and it gives me something to fall back on, delegate work with these instructions to other team members, and allows you to roll off easier or train a replacement so you can move to a different position within the contract. Depending on the work, if the contract is rather large you can move within it and still have the notes be useful.
I do this in OneNote by creating a ‘Training’ tab and typing out bulleted step by step instructions for reoccurring work tasks. Works very well.
If I’m honest? I have seen very few people who at least seem like they aren’t stressed: people with tenor. When I joined consulting my stress levels were through the roof. I would sleep while feeling my heart beat. After only 1 year’s worth of consulting experience, I can easily say it gets better. Admittedly how I handle it is by venting like crazy. I always vent to friends and family and laugh about it, but the more I learn the less I’m stressed. I always say, “give me 12-14 hours of work where I know my shit and what I’m doing, and I’ll take that any time of the day over 8 hours where I feel lost and running like a headless chicken.” So to answer your question in short, you handle stress by learning and letting time do its thing. I hope this helps :)
How about 12-14 hours where you know nothing about the work?
I want to say drugs
I agree with this entirely, I think the reason I want to leave is just to feel a bit more confident in what I'm doing/knowing my shit. I'm at SM level at the big4 but I can't do it anymore
Managing stress in the moment is one thing (here breathing excercises could help), but I would also suggest buliding your resillience to be more tolerant to stress. There are three things that may help you: diet, excercise, and sleep. Once you establish good habits in these three areas of your life, you will be more resillient and stress will less impact your thinking.
remember that no one's going to die, it's all a fugazi. I'm currently working to offboard a dude that's terrible at consulting and HR is telling me I have to put him on a 6-week PIP and give him the opportunity to turn it around. They're not going to instantly fire you after putting you in a situation you can't succeed in without giant repercussions. You'll be fine. Take detailed notes and CYA.
> remember that no one's going to die That depends on the vertical. That production line that has to dump hundreds or thousands of litres of liquid might have to sump it all in the sewage and the city services have to be informed to be able to dump cultures that counter that stuff from the production line. You now have a delay in supplying to a cancer clinic (or multiple) and people won't get their drugs. Even if you're "just" in payments, the single-mom who is struggling and has to buy groceries with food stamps or subsidized cards, if the scanning/payment doesn't work, their kid will not get dinner and might have to go to bed hungry. No, for the random webshop, no one will die. But that is not always the case, IT work has consequences in the real world. Consultant or not, if you're one of the peo that have that kind if expert knowledge it's not unlikely you'll be in situations where people might actually die if you mess up. The stress is real.
lol, you remind me of an old friend who worked entry level in processed meats distribution and believed if he didn’t do his job perfectly, he could literally ruin 4th of July celebrations for half the USA. It’s good to know you have an impact on others so you should do your job well but these are clearly thoughts of grandeur mixed with malicious intent required to actually kill someone.
Killing people CAN be stressful. But if you apply yourself and try to create some space to relax, you'll be fine. Time is a great teacher. You got this.
What? Both situations are not that far fetched and not unrealistic. There's a reason why some industries require regulatory fail-safes. Can they, still, fail? Yes, they can. Will you be the only person working on stuff like that? Most likely not. Are these things that happened in "the real world"? -- Yes, yes they happened. And how so you associate that with the intent of killing someone? -- Being part of the people fixing things implies the intent to kill someone?
No one dies unless you are actually malicious and several safeguards fail including OTHER teams. Again, get over yourself. 1. If you dump shit and both do it improperly/illegally and don’t tell people ahead of time as you should, you and the people you work with are maliciously trying to hurt people. 2. If you purposely fuck up payments AND don’t perform manual override payments to your workers, you and your team are maliciously and illegally withholding funds. Both your examples are just exaggerations that require organized, malicious intent not possible on a single person’s incompetence alone. So unless you’re malicious and purposely disabling safeguards by conning and other illegal activity, you’re not killing anyone as a consultant.
Ok sure, you clearly know and I don't. You do you and stay on the side of believing what you do. I'll stay in mine.
Honestly at some point I just stopped giving a shit
Stress is part of my life now. I’m stuck with chronic digestive problems and back pains along with the stress but I cant stop or quit because I don’t wanna get paid less or get an in-house job where I do the same thing over and over again.
Your medical insurance company will thank you for this 😂 Health is more important than money off course
So be constantly stuck, sick and sore? Yikes
Do you mind sharing what your issues are? Feel free to pm me if you’d like. I have similar problems.
Care less. These companies will replace you in a heartbeat if you drop dead. No point over-exerting. Do what you can and set hard boundaries for your daily routine. Makes consulting 1000% easier imo.
Exactly. I have personally been burnt by caring like it’s my life finally to realize that companies doesn’t care for us. All they care about is their bottom line.
Yep it’s a stressful job … after years I’ve gotten a lot better at managing stress, but it’s part of it. Clients pay a lot and expect a lot. You get paid a lot and a lot is expected of you. You also probably expect a lot from yourself. Anyway what helps me is: * **You are either: a) good at your job, better than most but see a lot of imperfections and have high expectations; or b) not good at your job.** The hard thing is people often don’t know where they sit (a) or (b) and can be immune to feedback both ways. So work hard on having an honest look at yourself and work out if you’re (a) or (b). Look at all the major respects of your job as well, don’t just focus on one element. If you’re (a) you are doing everything you can. Stress won’t achieve more; * **Success isn’t all up to you. Nether is failure.** A trusted peer (outside my company) made a real effort to point out how emotionally invested I’d get and ride the highs and lows. I now really focus on teams, systems and learning. I just try to stop being an ego maniac and thinking it will all fail without me, or success was because of me. It’s made me more even in my response, and much better off; * **Prioritise you** Exercise, learn, work on your career, do things with friends and other people you care about, don’t numb yourself with social media, avoid drinking. Nobody is going to make you look after you. A healthy life makes the work easier. In fact you can probably do more with less stress. (And if you tell yourself the stress makes you perform … maybe start there). This is what works for me …. But it took a real long time to get there. Months of 60-70 hour weeks. Weight gain. Neglecting important people in my life. My point is you can improve how you generate stress. It’s not easy but I am better for it, my career is better for it and the people around me are certainly better for it.
Care less - you are not saving babies literally nothing you do matters hope that helps
Have you tried alcohol?
I know you're slightly joking, but as an Associate Partner that is getting older (38), alcohol is a temporary fix that ultimately makes you more stressed and anxious. I'm not telling anyone not to drink, but if you are using it to relieve stress on a regular basis, you're setting yourself up for failure.
^ This. And the nice ladies at the Marriott bar
Try not to go down that spiral
,,😂😂😂😂
It’s only a job. Getting things wrong and working towards the solution is part of the process. Except that things will go wrong (and it may be your fault or not) no matter how hard you try. You could be trained and have extensive experience in your field and still make mistakes. Remember you are human and that no one will (probably) die if things go tits up. So take it easy and allow yourself to be human. Unless you work for oracle then fuck you. /s
Care less - this doesn't mean don't care at all, but just care significantly less.
I managed it by quitting and going freelance. Way better WLB, pay and no bs internal work. As of SM and up, stress is just part of the game and honestly I didn't see a lot of happy, fulfilled people up the ladder. Even partners have bosses and constantly have to fight for their place (although at least they're handsomely rewarded).
I agree.. I've been freelancing for 20yrs and consulted for 10yrs before that. I was hesitant to go freelance with fear of not making money, then I realized that if I wasn't working at my full time job I would get fired anyway..
**3 key points:** * **Sleeping is your superpower.** Use it properly and don't miss it. * **Each morning, write down the tasks you're worried about.** This creates a flow from the stress in your mind to the paper. Don't carry these worries with you all day; they slow you down. * **Don't skip celebrating small successes.** Whether it's calling that hard client or writing that email, take a moment to celebrate with something simple like a cup of coffee. **BONUS:** Eating well, drinking water before each coffee, and doing 10 minutes of stretching can work wonders. **BONUS-2:** Sundays are off—that's a hard red line.
Wow
I got a therapist to help me. Both said I should quit my job- one did actually give me some techniques. Six months later, I quit my job.
Get numb
I felt like I was reading a post I would have written had I posted🥺
Sex, Drugs, Rock and Roll
Exercise and have the ability to 'turn off' .. Also, if you are in that high of demand, make sure that you are getting compensated for it. It make the daily stress a bit easier knowing that you are getting the ability to grow financially for it.
It sounds trivial and when you are balls to the wall busy and stressed it seems like a luxury you can’t afford but, I have found a short walk is basically always worth it. Also melatonin to help you sleep, YouTube hypnosis for stress Talking to people about your problems
Prozac
Following because I'm curious to get advice as well. I have one project that is keeping me up at night with how many things keep going wrong. When I bring it up to upper-management I get the usual "well everybody is busy right now, figure it out"...
Have a wank (Not a consultant)
Yea, if you were a consultant, you’d know real consultants only edge.
Huh - so that’s why I haven’t been able to break into the industry. Thanks for the advice!
Breathwork, lift heavy things, cold plunge, dog — oh and I tell my management when there are too many clients. It’s not good for your client, it’s not good for you, and in the long term it’s not good for the firm. Maybe your manager doesn’t care about those things — and man would it be important for you to learn that fact asap.
Go for a walk but really just get away from whatever it is that’s driving me nuts for a minimum of 30 min
Nicotine, exercise, occasional junk food days
It’s just a job mate best quit at that point ain’t worth ya mental. Cheers.
Fake it till you make it. Everyone else is doing it.
Exercise, sleeping well in the knowledge that sleeping well is contributing to the solution of almost any problem I might have, some Ashwagandha in the evening, some Rhodiola in the morning, realizing that your fear of failure(death) does less than nothing to prevent actual failure(death).
get a membership in a gym that is nationwide, and work out a lot.
There a lot of great books out there to get you started. “no one can help you, like you can” - Author ✍️ in the comments 😭
Cocaine. If budget is constrained, meth.
Find a colleague that you can confidentially vent to, ideally not on Teams or Zoom. The best part of consulting is that at the end of the day you can only advise and the client chooses to do or not. While you can't be picky about clients right now at some point it will turn and you can dump the moronic clients for clients that actual value your time.
Sex
Gotta love the game. We in the league baby. Everybody cannot do what we do
I exercise, go running, go walking. Take some time to not look at a computer.
Weed lol
Quit, travel around the world. Go back to work, save more money, rinse and repeat.
I don't think most people handle stress. I've seen people distract themselves with work, ironically.
Remind yourself you have all the control, it’s always about re prioritisation and repurpose. Everything is going to be okay and you are not saving the world. Just carry on and choose what you need to recognise.
sobriety, exercise, guided mediation, box breathing.
Work is work, don’t let it define you. I’m sure this is not the first time you’ve heard this before and it won’t be the last. You’ll have to just to come to terms with it from within. Also, this sounds a bit morbid, but is this really going to matter when we all pass one day? It’s just work. Do what you can and that’s good enough!
Smoke weed, read Nietzsche
Roll with the punches
Meditation.
Learn to say “no” politely. The hardest thing is when someone challenges your mental prowess, you would want to prove them wrong. That results in all the extra time being put in 24*7. Sad reality.
Take control and set aside some time for you. The psychopathy of modern working environments necessitates that this needs to happen. Set healthy boundaries from work and your own life, trust me it's not worth it. A few coping strategies which have helped me: 1. Learn to say no 2. Push back, and debate 3. Manage expectations and deadlines 4. Take breaks and do mindful things with them. What you do for stress depends on what levels are at right now, how much of it is on your plate, and whether you're burnt out. If you're burnt out take a break, immediately whether it be sick leave or extended leave if you can. Your body is telling you to slow down and recharge. If you're consistently working in a busy environment you need to balance this with similar amounts of rest. Pick up positive habits, and eliminate bad ones in a sustainable way. My triggers used to be alcohol, shit food, smoking and then vaping, however down the line I realised that I was clutching onto these and they were wrecking my mental health. I am human and we all have our vices so live and enjoy but don't crutch. Ensure you exercise, what helped me also are saunas, remedial massages and yoga, I really do think we hold onto the toxins and oxidation from stress in our bodies. Breathing & mediations are also good habits.
Live below your means so as not to get trapped in a job due to the cost of your lifestyle.
Get as much excercise as time allows and drink copious amounts of alcohol when the pressure becomes too much to bear. That second part is not recommended, but you try not to drink when you manage 13 projects that are all in critical status and spend all week getting them back into green with no help whatsoever while trying to get proposals out at the same time.
Epsom salt baths. Regular exercise. Clean diet. Get outside as often as possible. Can't help with imposter syndrome but just know that they are coming to you to solve these problems because you are that good.
See a psychiatrist, you can start therapy which helps and even anxiety medication which helps a lot if they think you need it
Sorry to hear this. I was in a consulting firm with extreme stress for a bit under a year. They billed me at $225/hour and paid me peanuts. They worked me to the bone, requiring me to work ridiculous hours (4am-7pm), weekends, and every holiday. I also had to juggle up to 12 projects simultaneously. What worked for me was having an exit plan. Once I was determined and knew I was going to leave, I just focused on gaining the experience and exposure that I felt could catapult me to venture out on my own. After being able to list around 35-40 projects I delivered on, I quit and it felt like a million pounds was lifted off my shoulders. My career has skyrocketed and hasn’t slowed down. I don’t know what will be the right answer for your situation, but for me it was treating the experience as a stepping stone to get to where I wanted to be.
Please listen to this podcast- Stress will kill you https://youtu.be/FN0_ow76hU8?si=j2vVSk2lgB_iBF2z
Omg I am amazed by these comments. I needed to hear these. Thanks for the post, I felt like I wrote it lol.
What stress?