An Hour a Day

46% of you (actually 46% of all workers according to Workworries.com ) spend more than an hour complaining or listening to others complain about difficult people in an average day.

An hour a day?

Ok... so you may not fit in the 46%, but if you spend more than a few moments a day in this behavior, read on.

Here are some questions for you:

How productive is this time spent in complaining?

How much of the other person's behavior is in our control? (ummm, not much - only our response to their behavior)

How productive is the time spent in listening to others talk about difficult people? (maybe a little in terms of building a relationship, but there are other ways to do that!)

How can we make this productive time?

... Understanding their side of the story
... Learning something about what you might do differently time?
... Learning about how you can avoid these situations? (what is in your control)
...Analyzing how many of the these difficult people are truly difficult
...Analyzing what people they are... co-workers? Customers/Clients?

I know sometimes we need to let off a bit of steam. I'm not saying you should never talk about or listen to others talk about difficult behaviors. What I am saying is that if you are going to spend that time, you can make it productive for you and others.

I guarantee if you use the questions above, you spend far less time and make the time you do spend, much more productive.

You'll feel better, you'll respond better (the next time), and you'll be better.

- and -

I just gave you back an hour a day.

Congratulations.

Oh, one more question - how are you going to spend that hour?