The Strange Way I Handle Extreme Stress

Surprisingly, I am easily stressed. Just that it's not the usual things that stress other people that stress me. I'm a workaholic, never stressed by work. I always skip meals to spend more time with work. And the most surprising part is that it's same for both the work I enjoy and the one I detest, once I know that I have to do it I make sure it's done. Second, I love taking risks. I sleep better with all my money in the stock market than having it in TBills or a high yield savings account. I'm naturally like that, and I'm constantly shocking my friends. When some of them heard that I had quit my job to start my own business they weren't surprised; to them Michael has always been the crazy risk-loving guy. And I enjoy reading manuals, I don't consider reading the manual of any device I buy as stressful.

image: linkedin.com

Now you'll be wondering, so what stresses me. Most of you already know the number one thing -- phone calls. I've got friends whose energy levels shoot high once they hear their phone ring, and I sometimes wish that will happen to me because I experience the opposite when my phone rings. The number two thing is lengthy discussions; I get headaches from what most people refer to as small talks. I don't know why. But I'm getting used to it, just that I avoid two lengthy discussions in quick succession. And finally, marketing/sales.

Extreme stress for me occurs on a day that I pick lots of phone calls, have many lengthy discussions and go out for marketing. And the way I handle that stress is to sleep for long hours. When I'm extremely stressed I simply shutdown and sleep. Instead of having a grumpy face, I have a sleepy face. And whether it's good or bad is secondary because the action itself is almost involuntary.

It's really amazing that I would rather volunteer to do 5 people's jobs rather than have a 2 hours discussion with those 5 people. Though I'm now good at forcing myself to choose the more reasonable and less instinctual option but it still doesn't make that option more enjoyable. I would rather read lengthy manuals than call a toll-free customer care line. I would rather walk alone than do small talks. But I'm now very good at faking small talks, just that the headache afterwards are not fake.

Luckily, people understand. They know the little I say are a lot and my infrequent communication is not because I don't care. And personally, I don't bother about standing out. When you are naturally different, you will be bothered more about fitting in than standing out.