do you shrug it off and not worry about it, or do you beat yourself up over it, replaying the mistake over and over again in your head, and obsessing about what you SHOULD have done? Of course, it probably varies, depending on the severity of the mistake, and the impact that it has.

I'm the type who beats myself up over mistakes that I make, even when I make them unintentionally. I really need to stop doing that, because I don't like it. Not only that, but I drive myself crazy in the process!

it haunts me for weeks

whistle said:

it haunts me for weeks

I'm the same way.

what about mistakes made outside of work? do you hold onto negative feelings them?

perhaps as a child you were severely scolded or punished for doing something wrong, and therefore you carry alot of anxiety if you make a mistake as an adult...

no one is mistake free. no one.

i still think about stupid things i did or said when i was a kid. my sig isn't pessimism, it's something i have to repeat to myself to help me let go of my failures

BlackAdder7 said:

what about mistakes made outside of work? do you hold onto negative feelings them?

perhaps as a child you were severely scolded or punished for doing something wrong, and therefore you carry alot of anxiety if you make a mistake as an adult...

no one is mistake free. no one.

Yes, if I make a mistake outside of work, I have the same negative feelings about it. I feel like a real head case admitting that, but it's true.

I think a lot of why I feel this way is because I was picked on and teased A LOT as a child. Weird how those feelings kind of stay with you, even when you're full grown.

I agree that no one is mistake free. I need to remind myself of that on a constant basis.

whistle said:

i still think about stupid things i did or said when i was a kid. my sig isn't pessimism, it's something i have to repeat to myself to help me let go of my failures

Aww.

just for clarification: i am not this pathetic sad sack i sometimes appear to be. i can be incredibly egotistical sometimes

I can generally let them go really quickly. In myself and with employees, or even employers. But I often work with figures that represent large sums of other peoples money, mistakes in that regard tend to bother me a bit more all the way around.

In the real world, bah, whatever. We all make mistakes. Just try not to make it repeatedly and I'm cool with it.

I'm a shrugger offer

I was partly responsible once for a big typo on a client's letterhead, 10,000 units printed. But I was like, you signed off, your problem

My boss, who licked this clients ass, was livid!

I hold on to it and run it over and over in my mind for a while, but I eventually let it go. I do try to learn a lesson from it if I can, so I get some benefit from it.

Blame someone else. Let them deal with it. It builds character.

I generally let it go-don't obsess about it. I pretend to show great concern, because it makes my coworkers happy. I learn from the issue and try not to repeat it.

I pour the drink out and make them another. Its pretty simple.

lazycrockett said:

I pour the drink out and make them another. Its pretty simple.

Since I work in law, a mistake can have SERIOUS consequences.....if I cannot undo it, I lose sleep

I wish its only on-the-job mistakes. In general.

(Last year) I unintentionally said something out of line to somebody, but it seemed like it went over their head, or so it seems. Yet to this DAY I beat myself over it, whether got it and kept a straight face or how unnecessary it was to bring it up, etc.

Depends on the severity of the mistake. I get angry with myself if it's something I should have caught and didn't. I pride myself on doing quality, professional work, especially writing and editing. If I mess up, I get angry, but I don't hang on to it. I let it go and try to be extra careful. It's funny though. iWhen editing and proofreading. I can catch a writer's mistake immediately, but when I type or write something myself, I tend to miss some things and have to ask someone else to proof my work!

I usually laugh and say, "My B, guys", and let that be it.

Shyra said:

Depends on the severity of the mistake. I get angry with myself if it's something I should have caught and didn't. I pride myself on doing quality, professional work, especially writing and editing. If I mess up, I get angry, but I don't hang on to it. I let it go and try to be extra careful. It's funny though. iWhen editing and proofreading. I can catch a writer's mistake immediately, but when I type or write something myself, I tend to miss some things and have to ask someone else to proof my work!

at work i have to be really careful, an error makeas a difference.

in general though, when i make a 'life' mistake, i battle my tendency to be hard on myself by remembering it's okay to screw up and learn from doing, since basically that's what life's about.

[Edited 12/31/10 9:15am]

StillGotIt said:

Since I work in law, a mistake can have SERIOUS consequences.....if I cannot undo it, I lose sleep

I was going to say something similar... except my mistakes could seriously affect a child's life.

I beat myself up for about an hour and then I shrug it off.

chocolate1 said:

Shyra said:

Depends on the severity of the mistake. I get angry with myself if it's something I should have caught and didn't. I pride myself on doing quality, professional work, especially writing and editing. If I mess up, I get angry, but I don't hang on to it. I let it go and try to be extra careful. It's funny though. iWhen editing and proofreading. I can catch a writer's mistake immediately, but when I type or write something myself, I tend to miss some things and have to ask someone else to proof my work!

Me, too. I think the reason you can spot other peoples' mistakes more easily is that, when you're looking at your own work, you know what you meant to write - so that's what you see.

If I have to proof my own work, I usually review each sentence from right to left, instead of left to right. That way, I can spot typos and punctuation errors more easily.

BklynBabe said:

chocolate1 said:

I was going to say something similar... except my mistakes could seriously affect a pet's life.

and people are worse about their pets than their children. Made my anxiety go wonky because yes I am only human....I try not to fuck up on the regular. Some people really do believe I got those jesus-like skills... I also habe OCD tendencies so I'm already neurotic about imperfection.

Well you better fix that typo fast, before you lose your mind.

Unless you were just showing off your German skills.

Genesia said:

Shyra said:

Depends on the severity of the mistake. I get angry with myself if it's something I should have caught and didn't. I pride myself on doing quality, professional work, especially writing and editing. If I mess up, I get angry, but I don't hang on to it. I let it go and try to be extra careful. It's funny though. iWhen editing and proofreading. I can catch a writer's mistake immediately, but when I type or write something myself, I tend to miss some things and have to ask someone else to proof my work!

Me, too. I think the reason you can spot other peoples' mistakes more easily is that, when you're looking at your own work, you know what you meant to write - so that's what you see.

If I have to proof my own work, I usually review each sentence from right to left, instead of left to right. That way, I can spot typos and punctuation errors more easily.

Somebody taught me that when I was still in high school and it's the only thing that comes close to working for me. I still often miss errors, though, because I've gotten used to reading my thoughts backwards so that "meant to write" problem still kicks in.

Cerebus said:

Genesia said:

Me, too. I think the reason you can spot other peoples' mistakes more easily is that, when you're looking at your own work, you know what you meant to write - so that's what you see.

If I have to proof my own work, I usually review each sentence from right to left, instead of left to right. That way, I can spot typos and punctuation errors more easily.

Somebody taught me that when I was still in high school and it's the only thing that comes close to working for me. I still often miss errors, though, because I've gotten used to reading my thoughts backwards so that "meant to write" problem still kicks in.

Yeah, it still doesn't work great for content - because of the "meant to write" thing. But for basic typos and whatnot, I can usually discipline myself to look pretty closely.

I've only been at my job for 4 months, so I'm still pretty much learning the ropes. The main problem with my job is the incompetent managers, who get in trouble for things they do/don't do, then when I make a mistake, they write one of us up, just to make it look like they're on top of things. It's SO unfair!! So far, I have 2 completely ridiculous write ups!!!

I'm a beater lol esp if the manager is strict and an a$$ and mull over it for a long time.

Now, I do a little bit but am gaining more confidence so not as much