Tag Archives: work

OCD vs. Perfectionism Part 1

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According to Psychology Today, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is an anxiety disorder in which people have unwanted and repeated thoughts, feelings, ideas, sensations (obsessions), or behaviors that make them feel driven to do something (compulsions).

I work with someone who claims to be OCD about needing to have everything put away.  Most of the time he has nothing on his desk besides the telephone, keyboard and computer monitor.  Once in a while there are neat stacks of papers or files that need more than one days attention.

He hates clutter.

He probably cringes when he walks into my office as I have stuff on my desk.  Box of tissues.  A printer.  Rolodex.  Telephone.  Pencil cup.  Desk calculator.  A stack of paper towels and napkins.  Photos.  Candy dish.  A lamp.  A plant.  Some office supply catalogs.  A stack of note paper.  Two piles of miscellaneous stuff.

desk-office-1

I’ve never been to his house but he says he is constantly cleaning up after his wife and three kids.

If you want something neat, he will gladly neaten it.  Unfortunately it doesn’t matter if it’s organized or put away properly.  He wants it done and gets it done.  Fini.  Out of sight.

I, however, am not ODC when it comes to being neat.  Just ask Mr. Aitch.  No, don’t.  I consider myself to be creative and creative people have other issues.  When I create, I want it to be perfect.  I will redo somethingas many times as it takes to get it as perfect as I can.

My grandmother used to say “If it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing right.” “Right” to others might mean to the best of ones ability.  “Right” to me means perfect.

I view myself as a perfectionist.  It truly is a challenge to try to rid myself of this malady.

Mr. OCD and I work together a lot so I’m used to his work habits.  Occasionally I ask him to help me do some physical project for the office.  Like move something that’s too heavy for me.  Four hands are better than two and strength is better than none.

I recently recovered a desk chair for the office and I needed Mr. OCDs strength.  And my malady.  Because it has to be right, not just done.

It sounded like a shot

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I had wild moment at work on Thursday.

It was around 11:00 in the morning and I was sitting at my computer doing something when I saw a flash out of the corner of my eye then heard a loud bang.

It sounded like a shot.

Then the crackling started.*

Window-1

The window was broken.  But it didn’t fall.

Window-2

Everyone in the office heard the bang and came running when I said, “My window just broke!”

Window-3

We went outside to see if we could figure out what happened as there was nothing visible on the inside.

Window-9

The outside of the double pane window looked perfect.  Not a mark on it.

 

We looked on the ground and found nothing unusual.  No dead birds, no rocks, no bricks, and no bullets.

The building is six years old.  Could it still be settling?

 

It was very strange.

Window-5

 

I could hear crackling noises for the rest of the day as it someone had placed a huge bowl of Rice Krispies next to my ear.  Snap!  Crackle!!  Pop!!! All afternoon.

Window-7

 

A very thin layer of plastic material covers the glass so it’s not going to crumble onto the floor immediately.

 

The maintenance man came and looked at it, took a picture, and sent it to the head honcho.

 

I assumed (wrongly) that someone would at least cover it so the cracked glass wouldn’t fall into my office or onto my desk or me.

Window-8

It was still there Friday morning and I could see tiny shards of glass on the windowsill.

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I called the maintenance man again and asked if he knew when the window would be replaced.

Monday.

Or Tuesday.

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You know, it is kind of pretty.

*The pictures are in order.  You can see the progression of the crackling glass from the first to the last.

Purple and lavender sandals

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Two things about my feet today:

feet

1. I desperately need a pedicure.

2. I don’t usually wear these purple and lavender sandals out of the house but in my haste to leave for work this morning, I forgot the change into real shoes.

Oops!