TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
Uncertainty is stressful. Not having the right tools
(software, experience, knowledge) to do your job right
is stressful. Having no departmental direction because
your company has reorganized is stressful. The threat
of layoffs is stressful. Seeing a project fall apart
from lack of planning is stressful. Being told to consider
moving 2,000 miles to the corporate office or be stuck
in a dead-end job (after having just completed refinancing
your mortgage) is stressful.
Stress is situational. I have good days and bad days. We
all do. It is when bad days turn into bad months and bad
years that we want to quit.
Somebody mentioned air traffic controllers. My brother-in-law
is an FAA atc who benefitted from the ill-fated strike. His
job requires a lot of concentration, I'll grant that. But one
thing that he *never* has is a problem that lasts from one
day to the next. Most of us can worry all evening or all
weekend about a problem that we left at work and that we have
to face when we go back. He leaves work knowing that he helped
hundreds of people land safely, and some other atc is helping
the ones flying overhead.
(Rhetorical question): Who, then, has more day-to-day stress--the
atc or the writer?
