Following the challenge from the book A Complaint Free World, I have begun a quest to go 21 consecutive days in a row without complaining to another person. As these are modern days, I’m also including complaining on social media.
Today I have managed the trick, largely due to two things:
- I have always been sensitive to what I say, how it might be perceived and how it could (potentially) be used against me. I am a long-time advocate of less is more and only giving as much information as you need to (for example, in an interview)
- I worked on the service desk today, so I spent little time interacting with co-workers, which is a prime vector for complaining. Airing complaints to people you’re trying to help generally doesn’t go over well. The most I did today was observe that it was busy and that we did not have enough people and the latter is a statement of reality, not a complaint. We are officially short-staffed by one and also had someone out sick today. I believe, based on volume of requests, that we would need additional people brought in to provide what I would consider an adequate level of support. Again, it’s not a complaint, just my sizing up of the current situation.
Tomorrow I will be working alongside others and the urge and opportunity to complain will be much greater. I may have to channel my inner monk to get through successfully.
But for now, it feels kind of nice to not be seething after a very busy day. I am not happy, but I am also not stressed out. I am focused on making things work for me while doing the best I can with the resources I have.
