KEY POINTS:
You're working longer hours, the goals are harder to reach, you're dealing with stress from home and sometimes you think you're just about to snap.
Whether it's breaking pencils, slamming doors, pounding fists or shouting, desk rage is a modern phenomenon in the workplace.
But Lynlee Wilson, founder
of occupational psychologist firm, The People Group, says when New Zealand workers have absolutely had a guts full they tend to be less confrontational.
"Particularly in a lot of companies it's more of a passive aggressive type style. It's not so much of the banging the hands on the desk but more of the disdainful look or avoidance of work priorities."
Whether it's biting your tongue or kicking your computer, a bout of desk rage is a serious warning sign. Wilson says that being that stressed and frustrated at work can cause cardiovascular diseases such as a stroke or high blood pressure. Workers in this situation are often not exercising or eating properly. But Wilson says, it's no wonder some people experience desk rage given their work habits.
"I know many executives who come home, just plug the notebook straight in, they've got the mobile phones on and they're working sort of eight till midnight. They don't give themselves time to be healthy. They just keep working and working because they feel their environment demands it."
But despite the pressures of work, it's often the interpersonal problems which push people over the edge. In the dog-eat-dog business world, Wilson says some people are downright nasty.
"We had one individual who would actually go out of his way to think of how to make somebody have a really bad day and ideally try and make them work on the weekend. That was his actual intention."
If that wouldn't make you break your pencil, then think of what it would be like to work for a boss that was truly sinister.
"I know of some executives who will deliberately overload their team because they're generally feeling kind of miffed at the world so they just want to cause other people to feel stressed."
With real-world examples like these it's surprising that desk rage in New Zealand is not more common.
"It's not just one or two individuals. When we're coaching, we find the reason the person is getting coached is because a peer or their manager is doing exactly these things."
But even if your bosses see you being pushed to the brink, they're unlikely to do anything.
"A lot of managers won't deal with the behaviour because it puts them in a position of conflict and they don't like that."
If you feel you're reaching the breaking point, Wilson says it would be "ineffective politically" to raise the issue with management. If it's a particular person causing you grief, the situation will probably continue.
"You can hope someone is going to go on holiday and come back a new person but that's unlikely to happen."
If the company has an Employment Assistance Programme, EAP, programme, now would be a good time to look into it. But if it's reached the point where you think you might be about to have a bout of desk rage, then you're probably too stressed and unable to cope with confronting the person directly about their behaviour.
Wilson says if it's gotten that bad, the best option is to vote with your feet and resign.
"It's probably sending a good indication to the organisation in terms of turnover."
When people have a bout of desk rage, they act in one of two ways says Dr Rachel Morrison, lecturer in organisational behaviour at AUT. There is the long slow boil that erupts and lasts for a while. Then there is the type which erupts more quickly and then it goes away sooner. But when you experience either one, forget about working.
"If you become enraged then your cognitive processes start acting quite differently. You stop thinking in the same way that you do when you're not enraged."
Desk rage is also more common in people who are short on sleep.
"If you're tired, you're more likely to become enraged. So, people who are perhaps overworked and overstressed are more likely to get to that point."
Morrison is currently researching negative relationships at work and says there may be more to desk rage than just stress and conflict. She says we're more engaged in our work-life than in the past and therefore more affected by something that goes wrong in it.
"If you're expecting more from your workplace and you're expecting more from your career, when stuff does start going wrong, it is going to be much more salient."
As we work more and our careers become a larger part of our lives the more likely we are to be upset when it doesn't go our way.
"People have higher expectations about what they want from their workplace. They identify strongly as being whatever it is that they're doing. People are having expectations that their work will provide for them all their social needs as well as all their fulfilment needs, self actualisation and career needs."
