Dealing with Stress, Anxiety, and Hardship in the Workplace
Data Teams can be rough. How to overcome.
It’s probably been happening since some caveman was assigned the task of smashing rocks or gathering firewood. Workplace stress, anxiety, and general hardship. These problems do seem to be commonplace and even exaggerated on Data Teams, although everyone probably says that about their work.
With data comes ambiguity, unknowns, high expectations, alerts, on-call, complexity, disagreements and the like. All these problems devour Data Team members with an unrelenting fevor on a daily basis with no end in sight.
This a common in tech, who knows why? There is probably a myriad of reasons as varied and colorful as the people upon which these misfortunes fall.
Thanks to Delta for sponsoring this newsletter! I personally use Delta Lake on a daily basis, and I believe this technology represents the future of Data Engineering. Check out their website below.
I would like to think that over the last decade+ of working on Data Teams myself, I've learned a few things, in every situation from khaki pants in a glass highrise with a financial institution to a startup with beer on tap.
Surprisingly, it doesn’t really matter where you work on a Data Team, corporate, startup, and in between, the problems are the same, with only slight differences.
Setting Some Ground Rules.
We need to set the playing field a little bit. I’m not anti-work, far from it. I actually think most people probably don’t have a good enough and more positive view and relationship with their work. In our case Data Work. We should be proud of what we do, it’s unique and important, and data makes the world go round. We are part of that.
Humans are human.
We all get stressed.
We all overwork.
We all make mistakes and mess up.
Stress is very bad for us.
Mentally stress destroys us.
Physically stress destroys our bodies.
You're not special or immune to this.
Work can be good.
It can be fulfilling.
It can give us a sense of accomplishment and purpose.
It can be fun and exciting.
Stress and Anxiety in Data Teams.
I think stress, anxiety, and general workplace discomfort can come from multiple sources and some common patterns can be found in them. Some of these sources come from inside us, others from without.
Much like life, there are good times and bad times, times you are walking on clouds and feeling invincible, and other times want to be a hermit locked away in some cabin deep in the woods, nary to be seen again.
Also, some of these sources of frustration are because of actions, behaviors from ourselves, and others from other persons and cultures. It’s a big topic, and a hard one to solve, so let’s just jump in and find out the truth of the matter. Let’s define some of the major sources of stress and anxiety in data teams first, then talk about how to overcome them.
We need some sort of framework within which to have this conversation and bucket these ideas. So here is an imperfect start that will help us cover the wide range of topics we need to overview.
We will start at the 20,000-foot level, way up high, and work our way down to your very soul, and everything in between. Let’s get some of the obvious stuff out of the way.
Workplace Culture
It’s worth mentioning that no matter who you are and what kind of Data Team you work on, no matter how positive you can be, some things cannot be overcome. Workplace culture is one of those classic ideas and environments, that most likely, you have very little to no control over.
“This may not be a popular statement, but I have experienced this myself, there are some places and circumstances that you just need to leave.”
If you’re expected to work 60+ hours a week indefinitely and frowned on when you leave or clock out at 5 pm, or when don’t respond to Slack messages at 10 pm, but pay for it later … you simply need to leave.
You as a human have inherent worth and dignity.
Don’t trade your life and happiness for money, not a good trade.
You are going to die someday, is your misery now worth it from that point of view?
Culture is a big deal. If you’re in a bad culture, go find a different one.
Work Issues and Personal Issues.
As we start to chip away at the rock and delve our way down into the human soul, we come across a fork in the cavern. That is, workplace issues, and personal issues.
When talking about stress and anxiety in our work as Data folk, we have to be cognizant that these issues bubble up from the ground and spring forth from two different sources.
Workplace
Personal Life.
We can’t escape it. Often it’s the very intermingling of these two topics that boil and roil inside us like some very real supernatural Kraken brought up from the depths. We are human, we work, and the two are going to collide at some point.
Money and financial issues.
Health issues.
Family and kids.
School
Friends
Culture
These issues swirl about us and spill over into our workplace, and that workplace is filled with others who are dealing with the same issues.
In fact, the workplace is like a microcosm of the greater world around us.
Politics, dysfunctional family, raises, promotions, demotions, deadlines, failures, successes, culture. Work is life and life is work. We take it from both sides. Like a castle set on a hill, we don’t know from which direction the next attack will come.
How to stabilize the Personal side of the equation.
The truth is, we are going to be less stressed and have less anxiety at work if we can learn to address and deal with our personal life a little better.
When we look, feel, and function like a healthy human beings, it’s a fact that most likely our life in the workplace will probably blossom like the spring wildflowers, still blown and buffets by storms, but always springing back up into all our glory when the clouds pass.
I would like, if I may be so bold, to give some advice to you about things you can do at the personal level to ensure health and happiness that will by all means reduce stress and anxiety at work.
Also, I’m telling you things that I’m willing to do myself, and things I practice, so these aren’t empty ideas. ( I work full-time, have multiple side hustles, hobbies, raise a family, and have many close friends I spend a lot of time with. How? Read on.)
Get your finances and money under control.
Check out Dave Ramsey for paying off debt and setting a healthy budget.
Get physical exercise every single day.
Check out the Centr app. It’s cheap and makes exercise fun and easy.
Breathe the fresh air, and get outside every day.
Go for a walk outside you hobbit.
Control your news and social media intake.
Delete social media apps from your phone. You can use a web browser.
Make time for personal development.
Take classes and read books. (Udemy, FrontEnd Masters, Coursera, Educative.io, Kindle Store, blah, blah, blah)
Eat better. Cook your own food.
Stop going out to eat, you know what healthy food is, eat it.
No nothing of this is rocket science. Yes, these are probably the hardest things you could ever decide to do with your life. They won't be easy at first, but once they've found their place in your life, you will be a totally different human, a much more happy and resilient human.
The truth is, these simple things like exercise, fresh air, and eating better, give us a goal, a purpose, and meaning, that is separate from our vocation. Acting upon these instincts, say running a mile, gives us a sort of freedom, a freedom of will to do as we please, and gives us a sense of ownership and control over a slice of our personal kingdom.
Being a measly peon chained to the overlord of Facebook, Instagram, the News, and their incessant pinging and beeping, glued to the dull glow of a screen, mindlessly for hours of precious time that will never return, well that is a sad fate indeed my friend.
Be different, turn the world into your oyster, and grasp the bull by the horns, even if it pokes you in return.
You will assuredly turn into a different person, and by default, a different and more resilient person at work.
How to stabilize the Work side of the equation.
Now that we've seen what we can do on the personal side of the equation to keep work and life stress at a minimum, let's talk about the elephant in the room, The Work demons that keep us enslaved to stress and anxiety.
Unfortunately, I have no secret sauce to sell you, no witch's brew of potions to *poof* your work life into some new bliss. That isn't going to happen, and that leads to the first piece of advice I have for those dealing with stress and anxiety at work.
Face the beast.
Seeing the Work Beast
You must face your fears, that standup, the meeting, that person, that boss, the deadlines, whatever. “Nothing has overtaken you but such that is common to man.” It is true.
There is comfort and ease to be found in the fact that many unknown millions have come before you and will come after, have also faced and struggled against the same work beast.
The work beast comes in several common forms.
Workload
Communication
Growth
If you can wrestle and master the work beast in these three forms, you will truly be like conquers of old, a knight in shining armor. These three are the crux of the matter and drive towards the heart of what gives us stress and anxiety.
Dealing with Workload
These topics are really as simple as the personal lifestyle choices we talked about before. But they are tricky, that's what makes them stress and anxiety inducers. How can you deal with overwhelming workloads that never seem to end?
Know that the work never ends.
Accept you are human with limits.
Speak up when overloaded.
Be better at task planning and estimation.
Do your best and let go of the rest.
Have laser focus when working.
Avoid the “side” pulls.
Say “no" more often.
It's not always the case, but many times our work-related stress and anxiety can be at least partially, if not wholly, due to ourselves and our human nature.
That nature is to please. We want to make others happy, we want to portray an image of smartness and genius. But, that comes at a price. You have to be able to say no. Understand there will always be the next urgent request, since when has there not been?
Practically speaking there are loads of things you can do to reduce your workload so you can do better and more productive things.
It's simple. Don't underestimate your work and its complexity. Know your own limits and stay within them. So no more and avoid the noise. Have a laser focus on the task at hand.
The reason so many people are stressed is that their work life is chaotic at best, a nightmare at worst. No direction or focus always fires to put out, and nothing gets done on time. Break the cycle, slow down, and get more done.
Communication
This one is short and sweet, you've probably become tired of hearing people talk about it. I'm going to take a different angle though. I'm not talking about conflict resolution. What I'm talking about is simply learning to speak your mind, within reason of course.
You will feel better when give your opinion.
People aren’t mind readers.
Your work relationships will improve the more you talk.
People will learn from you, and respect you.
You will become more comfortable with yourself.
In short, you are human, you were built for communication and relationship, you can’t be at your best with all your ideas and thoughts rattling around inside and never coming out. Speak!
Do you have a strong opinion about some technical direction? A concern about something going wrong? Then bring it up, and talk about it. Speaking something into existence is better than leaving that “thing” to grow and become something its not in silence.
You simply need to talk more to those around you at work, and your stress and anxiety will lessen. Once you realize you're all in the same boat and rowing in the same direction.
Professional Growth and Development
The last piece of the work puzzle that causes stress and anxiety is many times well founded or can be. At the very least some problems can be solved with a little elbow grease and work.
People have stress and anxiety about things they don’t understand, aren’t good at, and are new.
The hard truth is that working in Data Engineering or tech, in general, can be hard because there is always some new piece of software, idea, or whatever, there is always something popular that you don’t know about. But it doesn’t need to stay that way.
You have to learn. Grow. Develop yourself and your skills.
Take a class online.
Read a book.
Watch some YouTube.
Go to a conference or attend a virtual one.
Keep tabs on your industry.
It really isn’t that hard or rocket science at all. If you stagnate and don’t learn or grow, you will of course feel some stress and anxiety. As you well should.
Some people think it takes hours or all this time they don’t have. No, it doesn’t. I’m pretty sure you’re wasting hours on a phone or in front of a TV. I’m also certain you can read a blog post or two on your lunch break. Watch a video after work while you’re relaxing on the couch. Pick up a book.
Sometimes I think it takes more work to not care and not grow than it does to learn something new. There are a few benefits to learning and growing in your space.
You will feel better about yourself.
You will perform better at work.
You will be smarter.
It’s not like you have to be the smartest person around, that’s not the idea. It’s the idea of being “well-versed” in your profession. You know what’s going on in the industry, what tech is being talked about, how people are approaching and solving problems.
It will make your life easier in general, that is usually the case with learning more.
In Conclusion
That was probably a little long-winded, I think all in all it’s an important topic to cover though. I’ve met way too many stressed-out and therefore perpetually unhappy people in my work life. A little levity can go a long way.
Be happy, slow down, be healthy, and be wise in your personal life, have balance. Then apply those same principles to your work life.
Very good advice here.
Great post Daniel, I agree learning to say "no" makes a big difference. Otherwise there's an endless list of work to get to