I keep screwing up at work

[Bono's shades]

I'm a newspaper reporter who has been in the business for 20 years. In the past two or three weeks I've made something like five or six mistakes in stories (we've run corrections for all of them, as per company policy). Every time this happens, we have to fill out a form and turn it in to the editor so she can track how many errors reporters are making. If we make five in a six-month period or more, we have to sit down with the editor and help come up with a plan that will help reduce errors, which doesn't sound too bad, but I think if you have a plan in place and are still making too many errors, it could be a potential cause for dismissal.

I've got my annual performance review coming up really soon. I had a bad performance review last year for the first time ever at this particular job after being there 10 years, but that really wasn't so much about errors since I was doing so-so on them at that point - it was more about how I don't take criticism well and get defensive. I've worked on that since then, and the editor mentioned a few months back that I've definitely improved. Also, at that particular time I had gone months without any errors at all, so I was feeling really good about how things were going at work overall and wasn't dreading my upcoming performance review - but now I'm all freaked out about it because of this inexplicable rash of errors I'm having all of a sudden.

I can't even make the excuse that things are going on in my personal life that are distracting me from my job (there isn't anything stresing me out on that front) or that my workload is worse than usual (it's heavy, but it was also heavy when I had all those months without any errors at all, too).

It doesn't help that we've had several rounds of layoffs at my paper, like pretty much all papers everywhere, over the past few years and the management can't guarantee there won't be any more of them.

I don't even know what I want from you kind folks - except maybe for someone to talk me off the ledge?

 

[MsPurrl]

Everybody screws up, and sometimes it seems to screw-ups travel in packs or roll downhill. Come back insider, don't be so hard on yourself, and remember that "This, too, shall pass."

 

[purpleoscar]

You can't control what they do but you have to find a way to reduce your anxiety so you don't repeat similar mistakes. Don't bash yourself because that makes it worse. If you have negative internal commentaries & rehearsing scenarios in your mind you need to challenge those thoughts with reality and not let them get you carried away.

It's true that the worst scenario may happen (don't fool yourself), but it may not. Even if it does you'll have to move on like everyone else. You're not alone (especially with this economy). I work in accounting and it's quite similar. You get lots of closed-door meetings and performance reviews and sometimes even fired because perfection can be hard to achieve when you're dealing with complex tasks. All you can do is the best you can. No job is worth suicidal thoughts. I've had the same kind of thoughts in the past but I developed a habit of giving them up and focus on actions and choices because getting angry at myself didn't change my situation and made things worse for me. Negative internal commentary is the #1 enemy for most people.

Good luck on your review. I hope you break your record of months with no errors.

 

[vjacqb]

Come back inside, and turn up the volume in your ipod and play Stuck in a Moment (I Can't Get Out of).

I don't know if you want advice or not, take it from someone who has been in your similar situation. My only saving grace was that I was always the first one who found my own mistakes, and there was no monetary loss involved. If I didn't say anything, no one would probably notice it until much later. Since the layoff at our company last December, we're left with 40% of the staff we used to have. The jobs are still the same. So people are overworked, stretched thin, and stressed out. I think this caused us to make more mistakes, because really, what did they expect when we had to step into multiple roles, even some that are completely new that we're really just flying by the seat of our pants?

You've been on your job for so long, so I doubt incompetency is really the root of your mistakes. It may be anxiety over your job that's causing you to doubt yourself and potentially make these errors.

Relax, tell yourself you know how to do this, do the best that you can. Like PO said, there are some things you don't have control over (like if your employer decides to downsize) so stop worrying about them. Instead, make some contingency plans, so you don't feel like it would be the end of the world if they fired or downsized you. Once you have those plans in mind, you'll be a lot less anxious at your job, and you'll start turning in your best works yet.

Termporarily, is there a peer you trust to go over your work and check for errors before you submit it? I know it's easy to get protective of our works, and defensive about them that we often don't want other people's inputs in them. But you'd be surprised how sometimes a second set of eyes (or brains) can spot things that were missed. This way, hopefully the mistakes are caught at a point before they have to be corrected and tracked. Good luck! Know that a lot of people in the workforce right now are going through the same thing you are, and we're all pulling for each other.

 

[Bono's shades]

Thanks everyone! I didn't mean to come off like I was suicidal or anything like that.

My editor did ask to speak to me today about the errors and asked me to come up with some ways I can prevent similar errors in the future. I made up my list right away and e-mailed it to her. She said other than that I am doing fine, she just wanted to get me started on the prevention plan sooner rather than later, and that she realizes it was a whole bunch of stuff at once rather than a consistent problem I've been having all year, so I think I'm going to be OK.

 

[purpleoscar]

Thanks everyone! I didn't mean to come off like I was suicidal or anything like that.

My editor did ask to speak to me today about the errors and asked me to come up with some ways I can prevent similar errors in the future. I made up my list right away and e-mailed it to her. She said other than that I am doing fine, she just wanted to get me started on the prevention plan sooner rather than later, and that she realizes it was a whole bunch of stuff at once rather than a consistent problem I've been having all year, so I think I'm going to be OK.

Awesome!

 

[Purplereign]

I'm a little late but a few more never hurt anyone right? And I am just going to be lazy and say 'ditto' to all the good advice given here ~ stop, pause, reflect and breathe . . . you will be fabulous