Do you ever think that complaining feels like work?  It can disguise itself as communication and for many people communicating is a key component of work.  Meetings, email, face to face conversation is a critical way we complete tasks and spend our workday.  Thus, when we complain to each other using these mechanisms, it feels the same.

However, complaining does not accomplish anything.  It especially doesn’t accomplish anything when it is repetitive of previous complaints.  The time spent complaining about something could be spent fixing the problem.  It could be spent researching or maybe in personal development.

What makes complaining even worse, it doesn’t just occupy your time, by our nature we complain to someone, often distracting them too.

This does not include the emotional toll.  Most of the time we think complaining or getting it off our chest makes us feel better.  The reality is that it spreads negativity.  It is no longer confined to one person, but to all who hear it.   Do this enough and a sense of defeatism sets in.  This gives us a new subject to complain about — morale.

What then is the opposite of complaining?

Silence? – If you don’t have something nice to say, don’t say anything at all.

Action? – Do something about it.  Identify the root cause, then implement the fix.

Positivity? – If complaining truly breeds negativity, then yes, positivity must be an antidote.

So shutting up and getting to work is a great way to make the world a better place.