Constantly Complaining Is Terrible For Your Health
Friday, June 21, 2019 IST
The ‘Complaint Restraint Project’ – Doesn’t it sound like something straight from a Kurt Vonnegut book? Well, it was an absurd project but with a kind purpose. In the project, the people involved had to stop complaining, whining, griping or any sort of a mood which could be irritating for others, especially in the workplace. Interestingly, this is also the primary focus of a very engrossing piece by Jessica Hullinger of Fast Company. In it, Hullinger discusses the human need to complain. We are supposedly predisposed towards it. Though, she accepts that we should lessen it.
The participants of the project had to go through the month of February without giving a whimper or a groan.
One good reason to not complain is simply that it messes up your nervous system. The more you complain, the brain secretes more stress hormones that lead to a disruption in your cognitive abilities.
Hullinger, in her piece, quotes Jon Gordon’s 2008 book The No Complaining Rule wherein the author compares the effect of complaining similar to secondhand smoking. And both of these are unacceptable in a workplace designed for efficiency. He writes that no employee should inhale the toxic fumes of complaint emanating from another employee.
Hullinger ends her piece by mentioning ways in which one can move away from such chronic complaints, and rethink their impulse to do the same. For, in the end, the only way a Negative Nancy would be satisfied is by taking down the overall mood in the workplace, that would hamper productivity and efficiency.
So, take a step forward – choose not to complain!
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