VIEWPOINTS

If The Sky Isn’t Falling, Why Does My Head Hurt?

By Laura B. Moore
AT&T, USA

Imagine the scene: After a long day of work, Sam gets in the elevator to go home. Before the doors shut, Sadie walks in. They smile at each other but maintain the “elevator silence” rule until Sam sighs heavily. Sadie says “long day?”, to which Sam says “Very”. “At least you’re heading home now” says Sadie, to which Sam replies “Yeah, but I still have all that work at my desk and going home doesn’t take away the stress from it still needing to get done.” Sadie then, trying to lighten the mood says “I’m sure it’s a lot, but go home and relax. Worry about it tomorrow.”

Sam then replies with “yeah, but I’m a certified [insert techie certification here – don’t want to single any out], my project is huge and do you know how many engineers would love to have my job?” At this point the elevator lands on the bottom floor and they start walking out to the fresh outside air.

“Well,” replies Sadie hesitantly, “sounds like you have a lot going on. But still, try to go home and have a good evening”, to which Sam just looks at Sadie like she’s insane, and they both walk their separate ways.

As Sam walks to his car he thinks “how can she expect me to just relax? She has no idea what I’m working on or how important it is.” As Sadie walks to her car she thinks “wow, no matter what he’s working on, it’s really stressing him out and he needs to relax or he’s going to explode.”

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About the Author Laura Bollinger-Moore Author Laura Bollinger-Moore, PMP, M.A. Social Psychology, MOM, has an eclectic background that includes not only her work in the Telecom industry in such fields as Project Management, Regulatory, Human Resources, Customer Service and Operations, but also outside of Telecom as a Clinical Psychology Researcher and a Social Worker. Currently, Laura is an analyst in Consumer Competitive Intelligence at AT&T, managing multiple simultaneous research projects and providing foresight into, and analysis on, trends and fads, as well as cutting edge upcoming technology. Laura lives in California with her husband Lorin, and their two amazing daughters Lily Faye and Layla Blue. Laura can be contacted at Laura.b.moore@att.com