How does shyness effect you at work?

[angelka]

How does your shyness effect you on the job? Does anyone feel that your shyness effects your ability to do your best at work? Does it ever seem that your shyness keeps you from advancing in the workplace? Do you feel that you would be more productive if it wasn't for your shyness causing you to shrink from certain job responsibilites?

This is becomming a really big problem for me right now and I'm not really sure how to handle it. It seems that I am dreading going to work more and more these days and I really hate feeling this way. How do you guys handle this or what are your experiances?
Thanks.

[Twice-Shy]

I have gone through periods were I found it hard to get out of bed in the mornings.

I don't think being shy stopped me from doing my job well. I was probably one of the hardest workers in there.

I'm not sure how shyness would have affected my chances of promotion because I mostly temped and so I was never in the same place long enough for promotion to be an option - or promotion was not open to temps.

One thing that did affect me was working in the same section during my last job with a fella who was shy. He was 43 and abviously a clever fella. He had been on the same botton level entry grade for 13 years. He had just given up. He used to turn up to work in a grubby teesshirt and he would sniff and splutter all day. It was like seing a ghost from Christmas future.

If you work hard and don't give up you will be able to acheive everything you want.

[Mildman1]

That's a little sad and scary about that bloke you used to work with.

[spitzig]

It's prevented me from getting a job.

[DAVE]

i find my shyness really shows in certain situations in work,i tend to be ok on the factory floor cause it's a big area and i feel more annonamous(cant spell sorry!),but anything like an office meeting and i really clam up along with feeling hot,uncomfortable,blushing and basicaly looking for the exit.It's so annoying as i know i have more to offer than a lot of work colleagues but it holds me back all the time .Shy people tend to have a more structured life than most i think we tend to be good timekeepers,hardworkers and basicaly stick at things more, probably cause of our fear of change

[Daisy]

Hi, I am a new member here but I have the same problem. My shyness seems to hold me back in everything I do. I was a teacher but I couldn't deal with all the interaction I had to do with large groups so I left a job I generally loved because of it. Now I have a new job in PR and Comunications but guess what.. yep the shyness is holding me back again. I dread some days when I have to meet new people or speak to groups but I am determined that this time I am not going to leave a job i love because of my shyness.
I am currently working on it, working through CBT techniques and they semm to be helping a bit, but it is really hard. Anyone else out there tried any CBT stuff?

Any tips?

Thanks
x

[Twice-Shy]

It really is amazing how much all the baggage that goes with a job rather than the job itself is so hard to deal with. I hated meetings, going out with members of staff for social nights and even simple things like answering the phone was unbelievably tough.

[Daisy]

I know, every day is a bit of a trial for me work wise as I know I have so much to offer but I just don't seem to be able to offer it. I get too scared and nervous.

[sweetness]

I have a job that requires talking a lot to strangers, and usually i m ok with that, coz people come with a reason, and i enjoy helping them, it s very different from like a person coming to me at let s say a party. In my job i know what to talk about and there s also a little chat but it s rather easy coz i doesnt take long.
I read about it once a woman that said that at work she was a bossy type but when they got together after work she was lost.

[sweetness]

he i dont mean that i m a bossy type at work with the last sentence. ;) Actually i should really be more assertive sometimes! :-/

[g3netix]

im good at right, no actually im great at work, just my shyness holds me back, if i wasnt so shy i would be a superviser now :/

[Daisy]

I know what you mean. Sometimes its OK if you are just talking about work related stuff but I get scared when it becomes more personal and I worry that I say the wrong thing.
But I do get worried at work when I have to talk to managers higher up than me. I worry about whether I will say the right thing.

[g3netix]

lol yeah i can talk about work related stuff, they reckon i should put my points accross more and make decisions, but i cant, i find it hard to tell people what to do or suggest new things, im scared they will laugh it off or think of me as something feeble or whatever, but i work with 3 other people my age and its not 2 bad, we have a laugh and that, i talk with em sometimes, not as much as i would like to, but u know what can ya do heh

[M1chael]

Trying to act like im not shy and interrupting negative thoughts is a full time job...
My real job and everything else is second. (single, age 20)
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I forget things sometime and make simple mistakes because im wrestling with one of the many shy problems i deal with everyday.
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[Daisy]

I know what you mean. I spend half my life at work worrying about what others are thinking of me so I don't have time to be thinking about what I should be doing.
I am OK with people my own age or level, on a small group basis although I absolutely hate giving presentations even to my peers.
I have a problem with anyone at a hogher level than me. i just seem to get all tongue tied and nervous.
Still, I guess I will just have to keep trying to work through those negative thoughts and one day they may get easier.