I Talk to Myself

I talk to myself all the time; I am the only one who agrees with me...

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Unless you are talking to yourself about her (LOL) who cares!

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Dear C.-

I would not worry at all...unless you start hearing voices in your head answering you!!

Michele/cat

6 moms found this helpful

LOL I talk to myself too, usually when I have a complex problem. My co-workers learned to listen for me to say their name before answering me. :)

5 moms found this helpful

Well at least you have a nice person to talk to (yourself). I do that too, just remember to keep in a mental conversation, no moving of the lips.

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You had this meeting to air grievances. She was grasping at straws trying to defend herself by pointing out somthing about you, All she's got on you is that you mumble under your breath? Big Damn Deal. It doesn't affect your job performance.

You two are not a good match. It's difficult in a small work environment. You spend all day with just one other person. Little hangups and annoyances can really get magnified. One woman's endearing quirk can be another ones pet peave. It doesn't mean there's anything wrong with you. Maybe when you move to a new job you will get a better fit. I hope your supervisor will find a more suitable spot for you. In the meantime, is there anyone else you can ask questions of? For instance an outside helpdesk or IT department?

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I shared an office in a trailer with a woman, and we both talked to ourselves while working. The office space is bigger than a cubicle, so our chairs were probably about 10-12 feet apart. The "office" door to the hallway is always open, and there are other offices up and down the hall. Also people would occasionally congregate at one office or another while talking, so it wasn't a silent environment. Because we were used to hearing each other's voices, my office-mate and I would have to say each other's name to get the other person's attention if we were trying to talk to one another, otherwise we ignored whatever we were babbling to ourselves about.

As long as you are not speaking loudly or offensively, you have every right to talk to yourself, or to talk on your office phone, or to have a conversation with a coworker - the last is usually the loudest of the 3. Obviously, your office-mate has issues. The best solution would be to change desks, IF office space is available. If you are stuck in the office with her, either start wearing headphones so you don't have to hear her sniping, or buy her a pair so she doesn't have to hear you talk to yourself :) Of course, that won't work for all types of jobs.

It was unclear whether your group meeting with your supervisor was to address the hostile work environment she has created, whether people feel there is an overall hostile environment, or whether she feels your talking to yourself and, OMG, asking her questions has created the hostile environment. Depending on how good your manager is, and/or how big your company is, something does need to be done. Hopefully your supervisor is now aware of the hostile environment and will do something about it, otherwise, if you work for a big company, they probably have programs in place to address this kind of issue (in theory anyway). You may want to go up the management chain or talk to human resources if there is an overall hostile environment and your supervisor does nothing.

Good luck! No one should have to suffer such work place stress, but we all know it happens.

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your co-worker has the issues, not you. unless you are really loud in your conversational reveries, she should just chill out. does she insist that people can't converse with each other in her earshot? if you're not talking TO her, it's none of her damn business.
my husband murmurs to himself whenever he's engrossed in working on something (which is most of the time.) i like it.
khairete
S.

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I talk to myself in the bathroom while I'm getting ready in the mornings. I have worked through so many issues by doing this.

So glad I'm not alone!

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If she is not going to change, and you are going to be moving around, why should you change?????????????????

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When I don't want my thought to escape (LOL) I bite my bottom lip, just gently but enough to keep it from moving.

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talk to yourself in your mind...... not out loud. practice.

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You're thinking out loud. I do it ALL the time. I try to control it in public, but I notice I do it more in private. Your co-worker sounds like a weenie. For your own peace of mind, don't worry about it - see if you can control the volume so your co-worker isn't any more obnoxious than they already are. Otherwise it's no big thing.

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I do to...! No worries but be conscious of it while in public :)

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Stop talking while you work. Speak softly under your breath!

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so what?! you talk to yourself! your not hurting anyone. so maybe you mumble a few words here or there and it helps you stay focused, we all do it.
and if people have a problem with it, screw them.
tell them to mind their own business and but out of your conversations!

1 mom found this helpful

I talk to myself at work too and other places I am sure. Does it bother my co-workers? I don't know, I don't really care as long as I am not disrupting their work flow. Sometimes they answer me (when I am talking to myself), sometimes they ignore me and sometimes when they are unsure they ask if I am talking to them. We work in cubicles, so I guess sometimes I am louder than others. Not sure what your work environment is (and since you are moving jobs soon anyways), but would a radio turned down low help her? If she is crabby by nature anyways maybe this is just one of those things she likes to complain about. I am not normally crabby (though lately that has not been true) but I usually complain about bad drivers several times a week... I would just ignore her and do what works for you and if talking to yourself works for you then go for it.

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It sounds like your colleague has some issues that she needs to work on. You should be able to ask work related questions without her being bitter and nasty. That said, I do have to tell you that it can be annoying to work in an office with someone that talks, mumbles, hums or sings to themselves. Sorrry, I'm not trying to be ugly but it's true! I shared an office space with the sweetest woman who mumbled and hummed to herself all day. At first I thought it was endearing but it quickly became maddening. I never knew if she was mumbling to herself or talking to me and she would get perturbed when I didn't respond to her! That drove me nuts. Then the incessant humming - OMG, I couldn't have a coherent thought with that going on!!! But I never said anything - as I said, she is the sweetest person. Fortunately, I ended up getting my own office. The next person that worked in that space with her was not so tolerant and ended up yelling at her and complaining to the boss that the humming was making her crazy! We ALL do things out of habit that might rub others the wrong way. Just try to dial it down and see if her attitude changes at all.

I laughed when I read the title of your post, thinking I'd write to you "Well, just so you don't ANSWER yourself!" But I see this is a serious post instead of something fun.

Your co-worker is probably a pretty unhappy person and toxic to be around. But she evidently doesn't like hearing you talk to yourself, and maybe other people don't either, but aren't mean to you like she is. It is probably a good idea to stop doing it while you are at work - are you able to stop?

One thing I remember being told is that sometimes people who have habits they want to break wear a rubber band around their wrists. When they catch themselves doing the habit they want to break, they snap the rubber band enough to hurt. You might consider that if you want to try to break the habit.

Good luck,
D.

I talk to myself everywhere. I've always heard that it is ok, as long as you don't answer yourself. :)

Not sure how you can handle this co-worker as she seems to be the one with the problem.

Hang in there!!

LOL I carryon full conversations with myself.