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Told my therapist I fake being happy at work and she gave me one weird trick that actually helped
I work front desk at a dental office on Main Street. Every day I smile and say "have a great appointment" when inside I want to scream. My therapist said to try this thing where I keep a small notebook in my purse and write down one real feeling when I go to the bathroom. So like instead of saying "fine" when a coworker asks, I scribble "pissed off" or "tired" or "actually okay" in that notebook. Did that for 3 weeks now. It sounds stupid but it stopped me from feeling like I'm lying 24/7. Has anyone else found a weird little habit that helped with the fake happy thing?
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the_jennifer1mo ago
My old therapist told me to do mindfulness stuff and I thought the whole notebook idea was dumb. But I tried it for a week after reading this and yeah, it's weird how just writing "annoyed" in a little book makes the rest of the day easier.
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charlescraig1mo ago
My buddy worked at a call center and started keeping tally marks on his arm for every time he wanted to hang up on someone. He said after a month his forearm looked like a qr code but he felt way less crazy.
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@charlescraig yeah I get that. I worked phones for a bit and my coping mechanism was writing down everything customers said in the most literal way possible. Like if someone screamed "I'm talking to a brick wall" I'd write "customer states they are conversing with masonry." Kept a whole notebook full of it. By the end of each shift I had pages of nonsense but it helped me laugh instead of scream. Your buddy's tally system is actually pretty smart. Sometimes you just need a physical way to let the frustration out so it doesn't build up inside.
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