Work worries- how to stop worrying?

[Panichound]

I made a bit of an error at work today - sent a version of a document to a client which contained some internal comments which it turns out weren’t supposed to be included 😬😬I’ve fessed up to my line manager who said not to worry too much but I’m feeling absolutely dreadful 😭I worry so much about every little mistake and I know I’m going to be thinking and worrying about it all night. Any tips on how to shake off this horrible feeling? I wish I could be the kind of person who thinks nobody died, move on!!

What kind of comments? If they're nothing detrimental to the client then - so what? This kind of thing happens all the time. A follow up email to the client with the correct version of the document plus an apology blaming administrative error and job done!

Thanks- not particularly detrimental, but still not great to have shared internal comments 😞 I do have a tendency to overthink things so I’m not sure if I’m worryingly unnecessarily! I know I’m just going to end up turning it over and over in my mind

I’ve done that before today. It happened a couple of times. Both when someone else gave me a document that I hadn’t worked on, to share externally, without warning me about tracked changes / comments being in there, or making sure it was the clean version. I now PDF everything, or if it must be a word doc, I double check that it’s clean before sending.

But it happens. Don’t beat yourself up. And don’t worry.

You are human, humans make mistakes! Your line manager has said it's fine - what is it that worries you ? Is it what they will think of you ?

Thank you 😊 I’m working at home today which I think exacerbates the worry as I have no one to share it with! I’ve been stewing on it for hours 😂

One time I made a major fuck up at work. Fessed up immediately. It was absolutely fine and forgotten about in no time.

It's the people that try and hide their mistakes that look bad. We're only human and mistakes are a part of life. It's how you deal with it that people take note of. You did the right thing, everything's ok and you've shown your trustworthy! So take the positives from it.

Yes definitely the fear of people thinking badly of me- both my manager and the client. I can’t bear making any kind of mistake (I know no one likes making a mistake, but I let it affect me so much). I even stress over minor mistakes I make when I’m driving, so it doesn’t even have to be work-related!

We are all human and ALL make mistakes, even if some don’t admit it. I know it’s hard not to worry but as you have confessed and manager has said it’s ok that sounds good to me.
Also, if document was that important to send to client then others (ie people higher up) could have made sure it was double checked before it went out.

So true- I’ve always been told the worst thing to do is try and cover it up. Although I don’t know how people can do that and then live with the stress of possibly being found out 😁

The number of times I've seen documents where track changes haven't been accepted and the document goes out .... generally where's it's not been checked.

It happens, the comments were unprofessional then it won't happen again will it.....

It's worth thinking through some strategies for managing this kind of stress. Mine tends to be versions of this too will pass. Basically tomorrow this will be old news. The important thing is that you told someone and dealt with it.

Mistakes happen, it doesn't mean you are bad at your job.

Also, what's the worst that could happen? Really.

I do definitely need some strategies. My thoughts spiral out of control until everything is a huge catastrophe in my head. I know on a logical level that it’s not the end of the world but I can’t seem to switch my mind off. I feel so sick and anxious and it’s such a massive waste of energy!