Finding Ways to Interact with Others Without Getting Exhausted at Work [Column 2]

Do you ever feel exhausted at work?

Don't you find that sometimes the distance between people is more exhausting than the work itself?
Especially when you have to face someone whose values don't align with yours every single day, your mental fatigue often reaches its limit first.

I once had a sudden thought.
Wait, am I spending more energy on their words and actions than on my actual work?
What kind of training was this supposed to be, anyway?

When you keep working while carrying that kind of frustration, your mental well-being is slowly chipped away without you even realizing it.
But actually, just by changing how you maintain a little distance, the atmosphere at work can become surprisingly lighter.

If you are also feeling tired from human relationships...
Why not read the rest of this story?
I think you will find some hints that will make your heart feel a little lighter.

For some reason, you end up facing the people you don't get along with every single day.

As you work longer, the moments where it becomes difficult to maintain distance from others increase. You can't move forward with the same momentum you had when you were young, and yet, even as your experience grows, your worries don't disappear. In fact, they just keep increasing, don't they?

The exhaustion I felt was in my relationship with a colleague on the same team.
Our values and ways of thinking didn't match. Talking to that person made my heart feel unsettled.
That unique atmosphere where you think you're playing catch with conversation, but it turns into a competition before you know it. Doesn't that happen to you?

Drifting through the edges of their words is...
Look, I'm the one in charge here.
That scent of one-upmanship.

I have no intention of competing, but my heart automatically braces itself.
That is truly exhausting, isn't it?

The more you try to force yourself to compromise, the more your heart gets worn down for some reason.

At the time, I was desperate to try and understand each other.
I believed that if I spoke carefully, they would understand.

But the result was the opposite.
The more I tried to compromise, the more I was the one being drained.
I kept trying to read their mood, and before I knew it, my heart was worn thin.

Doesn't this happen to you too?
Trying to adapt to someone else, only to realize you were on the verge of a breakdown.

When people push themselves too hard, they eventually snap at some point.
I was no exception.

When I let go of the need to be in control, the world became a little quieter.

In the midst of those days, there was a moment when I suddenly realized.
Oh, I'm putting my effort into the wrong direction.

So, I took the plunge and changed how I interacted with them.
If they try to one-up me, I don't compete.
I don't take control, and I don't try to seize it.

Go ahead, do as you please.
I started interacting with them with that kind of mindset.

I only answer when asked for advice, and otherwise, I don't get involved more than necessary.
Once I made this a rule, my heart felt surprisingly lighter.

When you stop being swayed by other people's words and actions,
the world suddenly feels as if it has become quiet.

The heart that was so noisy settles down instantly.
I still remember that feeling well.

Keeping your distance is not running away; it is a skill for protecting yourself.

When you keep your distance, your vision becomes clear.
Has this person always acted like this?
Why was I so worried about this?

Such realizations increased, and I became less likely to be pulled in by my emotions.

I used to be too easily influenced by other people's moods and words.
But now, I have more time to work at my own pace.

If you are also feeling exhausted right now,
why not try changing your distance a little?

It is not running away, but a legitimate skill for valuing yourself.

May there be a future ahead where you can work even a little more easily.

Because you have worked for a long time, you don't have to keep pushing yourself.
There is no need to keep wearing yourself out for people you don't get along with.

You have surely done your best.
From now on, it is okay to choose a way of working that protects your heart.

By changing your distance just a little bit,
work becomes much easier than you think.

May your working days become lighter and calmer than before.
I wrote this piece with that wish in mind.