Do you ever have those days where everything seems to be an emergency and it takes you like 2 hours to write a two-sentence long email because everyone needs something from you right now? It is nice to feel needed but you have stuff that needs to get done too.

Annie Mueller advises, “don’t get sucked into drama… drama is a big waste of time. Drama creates a need when there might not be an actual need. Take yourself seriously and be objective and calm and figure out if there’s an actual need.”

Great advice! But sometimes it’s tough not to get wrapped up in the someone else’s emergency because I want to help my colleagues and friends succeed.

Craig Jarrow suggests, in his article called How to Avoid Doing Everyone Else’s Job, “strive to be the A-Team that people call when there is a tough job, not the Fire Department that they call when they failed to keep something under control.”

Jarrow goes on to say, “being known as the problem solver, is a good thing. But, when people start looking at you to put out their fires…that is different. They will keep coming back and you will soon be an expected service.”

Do you have any other suggestions about how you avoid drama at work? Leave me a comment and let me know.

Photo Credit – Blunt Card