Quote:
Originally Posted by justfloating
My job isn't stressful but I can't relax either, not knowing that at any minute my boss is going to come in and start TALKING and I'll have to put on my social face and pretend to be engaged in whatever it is she's saying. I know how terrible that sounds but I have a really hard time turning my sociability on and off, so going from spending hours all by myself to being ambushed by the most talkative person on the planet throws me for a loop.
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Oh my, I can identify with this! There's few things than turn on the stress tap faster than suddenly getting ambushed & having find and engage the social gears. Most folks have no idea of the sheer effort that goes into this (and in avoiding the immediate desire to scream "GO AWAY!"). My coworkers are good, though & have learned that it's generally best to leave me be when I've got headphones on - I don't even always have music playing, but it's a sign that I don't want my concentration disturbed without good reason. It doesn't sound like you'd be able to use that trick - all I can suggest is to take a deep breath before engaging gears & maybe find some escape routes when you need to exit the conversation (I've faked receiving cellphone calls, or
remembered that I need to call a customer back to extract myself in the past)...