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2016-05-05

w̶i̶e̶l̶d̶l̶i̶n̶u̶x̶.̶c̶o̶m̶

Proposing a Strategy to Overcome Personal/Professional Workplace Conversation Dichotomy

Here I propose a strategy designed to help me as a Software Development and Support Engineer learn to more quickly switch between personal and work personas, and to overcome my tendency to prefer personal conversations.

When I tend to prefer personal conversations and avoid professional conversations in the workplace, my colleagues realize it and start to disengage with me as a professional. Which of course is murder to my (to anyone’s) career.

I need a plan! And I’ve thought of one.

To train myself to be more professional, I’ll enact a 30-day period where, at work, I ignore chitchat as if the other person didn’t say anything, and I instead reply with a work- related topic.

Then depending on how it has gone, after the 30 days I can try to again start participating in chitchat.

This strategy is designed to help me as a Software Development and Support Engineer to more easily switch into work mode, and to train myself away from preferring personal conversations.


Edit: This post was previously published at: w̶i̶e̶l̶d̶l̶i̶n̶u̶x̶.̶c̶o̶m̶/2016-05-05-overcome-personal-professional-dichotomy.php
[2019 edit: Moved to: https://i̶n̶v̶e̶s̶t̶o̶r̶w̶o̶r̶k̶e̶r̶.̶c̶o̶m̶/2016/... .html.]