re: Stress Management Amongst Technical Writers

Subject: re: Stress Management Amongst Technical Writers
From: SIANNON -at- VISUS -dot- JNJ -dot- com
To: "TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com>
Date: Thu, 9 Aug 2001 9:25:37

Warren Singer writes:
1. If you were to list the five most stressful aspects
of being a technical writer (from most to least stressful),
what items would you list?
[snip]
2. Are there any specific strategies you use to cope with
work stress?
[snip]


1. -- Required telepathy (e.g., trying to document something before
it exists, while it is under constant change)
-- Required vertical learning curve with no pre-existing
documentation on what you are attempting to learn, and SMEs
who are too time-crunched to be available (e.g., "we need
you to do documentation for this project, because it never
had any; what kind? you'll have to determine what it needs;
who are the SMEs? well, so-and-so knows this one part, and
so-and-so came on board last month, and this other guy's been
here for three...; when's it due? well, the project's already
two years behind, so as soon as possible--we go live in a month")
-- Working within constrictive existing paradigms (e.g., "it
needs to be done this way because it has always been done this
way, even if another way is more effective, efficient and/or
economical")
-- Balancing the needs of other personalities (e.g., dealing
with fragile egos or defensiveness when wearing the "QA" hat)
-- Tools that develop destructive idiosyncrasies (e.g., "My PC is
possessed...it just ate my file, and Word has decided to
automatically correct all instances of the word 'carton' with
the word 'cartoon' even though I have all automatic spelling
and grammar functions disabled")

2. -- Silliness and humor. (e.g., the key for the secured
documentation cabinet is attached to a plastic pixie-stick)
The SMEs and I joke about unrealistic expectations and any
issues anyone is "sensitive" about, thereby defusing most
of the stress they can cause.
-- Fur therapy - I have five cats at home who are dedicated to
distracting me from the workday.
-- Taking the full lunch hour, and using it to read something
completely unrelated to work.
-- William Ernest Henley's poem "Invictus" is posted in my cube.
-- Have a life outside of work to escape to (re-enactment events,
coffeehouse discussions, gaming, etc.)



Shauna Iannone
--------------------------------------------
A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher
a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts,
build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders,
cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure,
program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly.
Specialization is for insects.
-- Lazarus Long

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