Being bad with details..

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Hi everyone!

Recently, I've come to realize that I am quite careless regarding details.

Since childhood, I've never, ever really given a damn whether or not my socks matched or not. Whenever my peers (or even a few teachers) saw my mismatched socks, they would always tease jokingly saying, "Look at your socks! You never match them!" or "How come you don't match your socks?" It made absolutely no sense when I was a child, and I couldn't comprehend why they cared so much. Now, I can finally conclude that it could be a result of different type tendencies, or how some individuals were raised.

Recently, I've also landed a bookkeeping position which has further emphasized my weakness with details. My job consists mostly of data-entry, and I didn't realize that this type of task would be so difficult. Every single piece of data must be perfect, but I find myself messing up on a lot of aspects of this job. For example, instead of "2012" I'd accident put in "2013," or I'd enter things into wrong accounts without noticing, and I'd be mixing up my letters for a lot of the words.. (Purchsaes instead of purchases).

I feel that these mistakes are driving my Perfectionist with details, Sensor boss over the edge. He is quite perfectionistic with the tiniest of details. Details that I just don't see that are worth being perfectionistic for (such as having every single paper aligned perfectly in book binding). These tendencies make him perfect for this type of work.

He is not very strong in the area of writing, though. He doesn't care about spelling errors within emails, nor does he care about his writing style whatsoever. I may not be perfect, but I feel I have perfectionistic tendencies when it comes to writing (which is quite ironic due to my typing errors in data entry). Things that I am perfectionistic for, he isn't.

I'd love to hear your opinion on this. Is this weakness and carelessness in these sorts of details overall an "N" thing? Or is it just me being mildly dyslexic and careless?
 
I don`t care about details either. Give me the big picture and that is all i need :) even philosophy which is a big interest of mine I approach via secondary literature. Unlike you I dont care about my writing either:) bottom line is all i need. When envolved with a new job I always focus alot on the details in emails etc. but after a while i get into my owen careless mode and just dont give a dame.

ps. I am not a native english speaker so don`t be to harsh on my grammer mistakes :)
 
It's probably less about your type or anything else and more about how you were raised.

For example I match my socks because I was taught to match them when I'm putting them away. So there'd really be no way that my socks don't match unless I either did it on purpose, or didn't put them away and had some random sock pile. This causes annoyance when one sock disappears somehow in the laundry, making the other sock useless.
 
So it sounds like you don't match your socks because you don't give a shit about them. You don't take the time to verify your data entry for errors before submitting it because you don't give a shit about the quality of data you input. It's carelessness, it's not an "N" thing. Trying to equate your job performance with whether or not your socks matched when you were a kid is ridiculous. You're in the adult world now and there are expectations that you have to meet.

If you take your writing seriously then I cannot see how you can't do your data entry correctly. I wouldn't be so quick to judge my boss' spelling errors in emails if I couldn't get my spelling in order in my data entry. If you are TRULY dyslexic this is another story, but if you're like everyone else who fucks up and has to use the backspace button here and there then you need to be more careful. It's plain and simple.

If I was performing my job (international imports and exports) and decided it was just an "N" thing to not be more mindful of the data I am submitting to Customs then I'd be fired, fined or could end up in jail. Maybe your job isn't as stringent as mine is in terms of data entry but that doesn't mean it's an excuse to not exercise diligence in the integrity of the data you submit.

Now, a detail that DOESN'T matter quite as much is if all your papers line up perfectly in a binder, but presentation is presentation.

Outside of what I am being paid to do, I don't bother with any details that I can't automatically incorporate into my own frame of reference. I don't remember names or dates or anything superficial that doesn't matter to me personally so I let those details slide until such a time that I may need to know them (almost never do). And that's not an N thing. That's a SpecialEdition being a human being thing.
 
Part on that I think is because you being a INFJ are a "big picture" kind of person...this tendecy to skip details is most strong in INFJ, more than in any other type.

But I agree with [MENTION=7838]SpecialEdition[/MENTION]. Ultimately if you do have this tendency, you have more reasons to train yourself against it.
From my experience, I can say to you it can become really dangerous, when left carelessly. Details are as important as the fundamental. Sometimes a little detail can mess everything.
 
Hi,

I apologize if my post comes off in a way that I am comparing my job to something as silly as mmatching socks. The two are totally unrelated examples that I just wanted to share that both related to the topic of not caring about details. At my job, I know it is my duty to perform with efficiency and accuracy. I don't go out of my way tp make these mistakes. It's sort of odd, but sometimes I can just look at my work and I will see "2012" instead of "2013." I don't realize these mistakes until after. It's sounds foolish, but it frustrates me as well, because I just want to stop making these errors..

I'm not looking for sympathy because I know I must fix this issue. I find that in order to prevent these errors I have to work slower, but I must work fast + efficiently and I feel as if my brain goes into one big knot.

I know this is just something I should just work on on my own, and maybe with time things will hopefully get better.
 
I prefer to coordinate my clothes so that my socks match each other and the colors and pattern of my attire match as well. In that way I could be said to be into aesthetics. I don't hold such things to the highest esteem, but it is something I care about. I have trouble with details in a different way, like not hearing when someone is talking to me, not being able to find objects that are right in front of my face(very frustrating for me), and driving home from work but zoning out for much of the trip. Also, I often don't pay attention to my surroundings when I place objects in them, thereby forgetting where I put my keys or an important document.

With that said, I can focus on details when required for my job, sometimes too much. I can find it tedious, but the power of concentration does exist for details when I apply myself.
 
It's probably less about your type or anything else and more about how you were raised.

For example I match my socks because I was taught to match them when I'm putting them away. So there'd really be no way that my socks don't match unless I either did it on purpose, or didn't put them away and had some random sock pile. This causes annoyance when one sock disappears somehow in the laundry, making the other sock useless.

I've taken sock-matching to the next level.

I hate mismatched socks so much, that years ago I threw out all my socks and bought 10 matching pairs of business socks, 10 matching pairs of athletic socks...etc. I thought I had the problem stitched up. Wrong.

Even within a pile of identical socks, differences between the socks starts to emerge - the thread stock they were using, the kind of activity a particular pair of socks endured, etc. I still have to pair virtually identical socks according to slight colour variations and wear variations. This is all the harder because they are so similar otherwise. You would be surprised by how much the length of a sock is influenced by the first few times you wear it - if you are perspiring, if the weather is hot, or cold, etc.

*Sigh* I'm just grateful that my ocd is limited to socks... and that all other underwear doesn't come in pairs.
 
I don't think there is a need to apologise. I suppose that with time it will get better if you're willing to put in the effort into things like that, but I get how it would not come naturally to you. I also don't much care for details, and I have to focus my attention on them if I am to avoid errors like that.
 
I don't think there is a need to apologise. I suppose that with time it will get better if you're willing to put in the effort into things like that, but I get how it would not come naturally to you. I also don't much care for details, and I have to focus my attention on them if I am to avoid errors like that.

Thank you for understanding. I really do want to become better at my job. Making even one mistake just really disappoints me, and I want to change. I made this post in order to get advise from others through their perspective of the core reason of why I've been repeatedly making these annoying errors.

I probably sound as if I'm a careless, lazy slob. I really care about this job, and I want to be better. I try my hardest to not make a single error, and get confident when I submit my work to my boss; thinking I've finally did it right this time. Unfortunately, he calls me over to show me all of the stupid mistakes I've made. It drives me nuts. I'm not looking for any excuse to be careless, I just want to figure out why, no matter how hard I try, this repeatedly happens. It kills me, and it scares to death. I can't help but feel so stupid and slow at work.

Regarding SpecialEdition's reply, I didn't mean to come off as if I was judging my boss. I really respect and admire him. He's a successful guy, and he does his job perfectly. He just has weaknesses in some aspects, such as socializing. Examples of the types of emails he will send will be "Why did U" or "Wat the heck." I'm not judging him for it, it's just something that I've noticed that he does not care about (I'm not saying that he has to). My boss and I are just very different people. Also, I wasn't clear about how my perfectionistic tendencies regarding writing. For me, it's more about the writing style/voice that I'm perfectionistic for, rather than the technical things (such as grammar). So basically it's just so important to me whether or not it SOUNDS good or not. xD.

This whole experience at my new job has exposed to me many types of different people, and what I was trying to get at is whether or not different types have different tendencies and preferences for certain things. It's just nice to understand the people around you, figure out why they do things in certain ways, and pinpoint their strengths and weaknesses.
 
The way I see it, the boss has to take responsibility for the people that the boss hires. If the boss hires someone who is naturally disinclined to have attention to detail and gives them work that requires that attention, how can the boss be angry at their hire? It's their business, they should hire the person that they want. That said, you do care about your boss and about doing a good job, so you don't sound careless or lazy.

I was once hired as a manager for a social justice organisation. I was hired because I'm passionate, dedicated, and not afraid to take on tasks that are above what people should expect of me. It was a paid position, and I did take the work very seriously, but I am the kind of manager who cares about people and expects them to be self-motivated. That works as long as the people involved are self-motivated, but my workers were overwhelmingly interns with not much work experience. There were projects that didn't go as well as hoped, and the organisational structure was always a bit messy. My boss was furious at me two or three times, and then unceremoniously fired me via email after three months. Now, I'm not lazy or careless either, but I was placed in a situation where some of my core responsibilities did not come naturally to me and required some time to develop. In all likelihood I will never be a manager that does not also want to be a friend as well. I am grateful for the opportunities that the organisation gave me, but I probably should never have been hired in that role, and for that boss (I think you and I had similar bosses) in the first place.

I'm not saying that things always end like that. Even though it sounds like your boss makes you feel like you haven't improved, have you?
 
Hi [MENTION=9859]Mind Labyrinth[/MENTION]
I relate to your post lol. Who cares about mismatched socks! Im annoyingly picky about buying comfortable and quality socks- breathable, absorbent, right stretch, long wear etc- and i darn my socks if they get holes in them- but matching them seems pretty irelevant. Theres been a few comments and smirks about them here and there but most of the time no one really notices them. And i doubt that it would matter if anyone did.

In general, i have crap attention to detail. Theres a lot of things that i dont notice and have little interest in noticing. And i find it irritating when people bring up the past a lot, or are traditional. Not good with routines. It feels like some people are stuck in yesterday and insist on repeating it over and over. I rarely remember dates, precise order of events (yet i really like history for some reason), names, or how people and/or objects look like. I remember what things 'feel' like, but the details seem irrelevant. This is proabably because i space out a lot. Which is why i write something down straight away if i want to remember it for later.

With writing, its different. Ive done editing work before that i more or less enjoyed. But generally, as long as i can still understand it, it doesnt matter how it is written or spoken. Which can be a very handy skill when interacting with people from different cultures. Meaning, context, intention- these are the things that are important when communicating.

And about the data entry- i know how you feel! Ive done well enough at every job that ive worked at, and theres many many different ones, both paid and volunteer. Most things come easily enough. But not everything comes naturally or is enjoyable. Ive had to do book keeping and data entry for a couple of jobs and i detested it. It was so tedious, draining, and hard. Id keep double checking things over and over. The numbers and letters would blend together when i tried to focus on them. It would make my eyes sore and id get a headache. It felt so pointless. It made me cranky and snarky. It was a nightmarish and soulless experience for me. Yet it seemed so easy and different for others, even enjoyable. The only reason i kept those jobs is because i felt like i had to- really needed the money or had to help someone that desperately needed it. I stopped doing them as soon as possible.

I dont believe that life is supposed to be a struggle or something to be suffered though. Sometimes we have to do things that we dont have to do. In that case, perhaps tolerate it as best you can and focus on the goal of what we actually want to do. In this temporal existance, time is everything. In some ways, how we spend our time is the only choice we get to make while we are here. Spend as much of your time as you can doing things that bring you joy. If possible, make what you enjoy doing your job. Success is doing what you want to do. We cant all be good at everything. We dont all like doing the same things. And we dont need to.

Blessings. and best of luck with everything
 
Hi everyone!

Recently, I've come to realize that I am quite careless regarding details.

Since childhood, I've never, ever really given a damn whether or not my socks matched or not. Whenever my peers (or even a few teachers) saw my mismatched socks, they would always tease jokingly saying, "Look at your socks! You never match them!" or "How come you don't match your socks?" It made absolutely no sense when I was a child, and I couldn't comprehend why they cared so much. Now, I can finally conclude that it could be a result of different type tendencies, or how some individuals were raised.

Recently, I've also landed a bookkeeping position which has further emphasized my weakness with details. My job consists mostly of data-entry, and I didn't realize that this type of task would be so difficult. Every single piece of data must be perfect, but I find myself messing up on a lot of aspects of this job. For example, instead of "2012" I'd accident put in "2013," or I'd enter things into wrong accounts without noticing, and I'd be mixing up my letters for a lot of the words.. (Purchsaes instead of purchases).

I feel that these mistakes are driving my Perfectionist with details, Sensor boss over the edge. He is quite perfectionistic with the tiniest of details. Details that I just don't see that are worth being perfectionistic for (such as having every single paper aligned perfectly in book binding). These tendencies make him perfect for this type of work.

He is not very strong in the area of writing, though. He doesn't care about spelling errors within emails, nor does he care about his writing style whatsoever. I may not be perfect, but I feel I have perfectionistic tendencies when it comes to writing (which is quite ironic due to my typing errors in data entry). Things that I am perfectionistic for, he isn't.

I'd love to hear your opinion on this. Is this weakness and carelessness in these sorts of details overall an "N" thing? Or is it just me being mildly dyslexic and careless?

Haha stuff like not matching your socks and not giving a damn what other people at school think -that's why I love infjs so much. I'm an intj and I did it a few times too. I couldn't find matching socks :P
I don't get why other people would care either. Even as an adult I think -there's nothing wrong with wearing mismatched clothes -call it a unique fashion statement. Or I'm just lazy :D

This intj has the same difficulty with data entry. But I'm a writer! I can't stand when people use text-talk excessively! Maybe we're both dyslexic, very N? I'm also perpetually sleep deprived...
 
I'm not saying that things always end like that. Even though it sounds like your boss makes you feel like you haven't improved, have you?

I think that organization made a huge mistake. I think they should have given you more time to grow and adjust to the position. Work is like the guitar, not many people are great at first, but slowly with time, there will be improvement.

At my position, warm, human interaction isn't really encouraged. For example, when my boss calls me to his office to explain something to me, when he is finished he will coldly say "Okay, get out of my office now." I know that he is just different in the way he socializes, but sometimes.. Ahh I don't know. :( We don't ever get a thank you (All of us employees at this position), or positive comments from our bosses. All we ever hear about is the negatives. So work can get draining.. I feel as if they think I'm a stupid, degenerate person, because I can't even get "simple" bookkeeping right.

BTW I didn't receive any training for this position, either. They just put a whole bunch of files in front of me and told me to enter it all in. This is my first time doing this sort of work.


I dont believe that life is supposed to be a struggle or something to be suffered though. Sometimes we have to do things that we dont have to do. In that case, perhaps tolerate it as best you can and focus on the goal of what we actually want to do. In this temporal existance, time is everything. In some ways, how we spend our time is the only choice we get to make while we are here. Spend as much of your time as you can doing things that bring you joy. If possible, make what you enjoy doing your job. Success is doing what you want to do. We cant all be good at everything. We dont all like doing the same things. And we dont need to.

Blessings. and best of luck with everything

Hi [MENTION=4956]charlene[/MENTION]! Thank you so much for your post. It really opened my eyes, and made me realize that I shouldn't be so hard on myself. People always assume bookkeeping is easy.. Even I did before I first started this position! For some people, this sort of work can come naturally to them, but your experience I can really relate to as well.. Even though they may just come across as simple numbers and data, sometimes the screen just appears as one big mess. Everyday I feel as if I'm trying to solve one huge puzzle with some of the wrong pieces (when invoices and receipts just don't match up). My boss sometimes makes comments which sort of give me this message "You're stupid.. How do you not know how to do this? It's so easy.."

I find myself just so frustrated with this work, my mind feels as if it's going to explode, and I just want to reconcile and finish everything right away.. In order to do it properly I must do it SLOWLY, but they want everything done FAST + WITH 100% ACCURACY. When my boss shows me all my silly mistakes, I can't help but feel like breaking down, and screaming "I'M ONLY HUMAN!!!" Lol.

Fortunately, this is just a temporary position for me. I only have it for the summer, then I have to go back to finish my second year of accounting. I got this position to also "dip my feet in the water" and see if I'd really enjoy accounting/bookkeeping as a career. It's not looking so bright right now, but I'm so thankful for this experience. It has taught me a great lesson. Thank you so much for your kind words, I can't express to you how much I appreciate it. I hope everything is going well for you as well!! Life is just too short!
 
Haha stuff like not matching your socks and not giving a damn what other people at school think -that's why I love infjs so much. I'm an intj and I did it a few times too. I couldn't find matching socks :P
I don't get why other people would care either. Even as an adult I think -there's nothing wrong with wearing mismatched clothes -call it a unique fashion statement. Or I'm just lazy :D

This intj has the same difficulty with data entry. But I'm a writer! I can't stand when people use text-talk excessively! Maybe we're both dyslexic, very N? I'm also perpetually sleep deprived...

Haha I love you INTJs too :P

Yeah! It's not that their opinion really matters, but I don't see it as something so important that needs to be pointed out. But, we're all different, and we all have different values! I wish I was better with my laundry.. To be honest, when it comes to laundry I am just the worst. I think just separating my undergarments + socks, and clothes is good enough LOL. I have a drawer for socks + undergarments, and when the laundry is done I just shove it all in that drawer. Matching them and putting them together doesn't matter to me at all. I'd rather get back to the documentary I'm watching, or the book I'm reading, haha.

Oh, ahh! I'm very sleep deprived as well.. Do you just find yourself researching things, watching things, or looking up really interesting things all night? I have this problem.. :P.

BTW, I'd love to read some of your stuff, [MENTION=11597]Keirouen[/MENTION]!
 
Hi everyone!

Recently, I've come to realize that I am quite careless regarding details.

Since childhood, I've never, ever really given a damn whether or not my socks matched or not. Whenever my peers (or even a few teachers) saw my mismatched socks, they would always tease jokingly saying, "Look at your socks! You never match them!" or "How come you don't match your socks?" It made absolutely no sense when I was a child, and I couldn't comprehend why they cared so much. Now, I can finally conclude that it could be a result of different type tendencies, or how some individuals were raised.

Recently, I've also landed a bookkeeping position which has further emphasized my weakness with details. My job consists mostly of data-entry, and I didn't realize that this type of task would be so difficult. Every single piece of data must be perfect, but I find myself messing up on a lot of aspects of this job. For example, instead of "2012" I'd accident put in "2013," or I'd enter things into wrong accounts without noticing, and I'd be mixing up my letters for a lot of the words.. (Purchsaes instead of purchases).

I feel that these mistakes are driving my Perfectionist with details, Sensor boss over the edge. He is quite perfectionistic with the tiniest of details. Details that I just don't see that are worth being perfectionistic for (such as having every single paper aligned perfectly in book binding). These tendencies make him perfect for this type of work.

He is not very strong in the area of writing, though. He doesn't care about spelling errors within emails, nor does he care about his writing style whatsoever. I may not be perfect, but I feel I have perfectionistic tendencies when it comes to writing (which is quite ironic due to my typing errors in data entry). Things that I am perfectionistic for, he isn't.

I'd love to hear your opinion on this. Is this weakness and carelessness in these sorts of details overall an "N" thing? Or is it just me being mildly dyslexic and careless?

I was completely the same way and had the same thoughts about socks and clothes and other things like that when I was a kid. Even now, a lot of things like this seem meaningless to me. We should create a society where people wearing mismatched socks can roam wild and free.

Nowadays I'm kinda anal because I received a lot of flack for my lack of attention to detail and cleanliness about certain things which others were attentive to when I was in middle school. A lot of people in the world care about crap like this, like it has an effect on their emotional state or something fucked up like that. I pray that this particular brand of neuroticism is bred out of the human genome.
 
Btw, everyone has different strengths and weaknesses, as some others have already pointed out. If you know you're good at something and want to pursue a position where your strengths will be put to good use, then you should do that. Some people are skilled at being mindless drones who can do things like enter data quickly and efficiently day in day out and who WANT a job like that forever. No offence, but I'm not impressed by anyone who can do that. We need lots of people who can do things like that well, just like we need lots of recyclable plastic in circulation and garbage and maintenance workers in the world, but I wouldn't feel bad for not being able to do that well. The thing is, you have to actually go out and find and DO something you are good at, as unfulfilled potential and zero output is even more meaningless than awkwardly misplaced potential.

At the moment if you want to improve your jorb pr0fr0mance, maybe you could try slowing it down and reading what you write one more time before submitting it. Then speed up once you get used to it. I think it's more important to be accurate and professional with this job than it is to be quick, especially at first. Also the content of what ur boss sends you and what he says to you isn't really important since it's not like customers will see it, right? You can always try to understand the motivation behind certain things. For instance, with book binding, if every paper is aligned perfectly and every book looks perfect, it's because that's how a standard of professional-looking books is maintained where you work, which is maybe important because it elicits a certain call to work integrity from the employees or gives off that impression. People probably made matching socks a standard because it's more aesthetically pleasing to most people.
 
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Btw, everyone has different strengths and weaknesses, as some others have already pointed out. If you know you're good at something and want to pursue a position where your strengths will be put to good use, then you should do that. Some people are skilled at being mindless drones who can do things like enter data quickly and efficiently day in day out and who WANT a job like that forever. No offence, but I'm not impressed by anyone who can do that. We need lots of people who can do things like that well, just like we need lots of recyclable plastic in circulation and garbage and maintenance workers in the world, but I wouldn't feel bad for not being able to do that well. The thing is, you have to actually go out and find and DO something you are good at, as unfulfilled potential and zero output is even more meaningless than awkwardly misplaced potential.

At the moment if you want to improve your jorb pr0fr0mance, maybe you could try slowing it down and reading what you write one more time before submitting it. Then speed up once you get used to it. I think it's more important to be accurate and professional with this job than it is to be quick, especially at first. Also the content of what ur boss sends you and what he says to you isn't really important since it's not like customers will see it, right? You can always try to understand the motivation behind certain things. For instance, with book binding, if every paper is aligned perfectly and every book looks perfect, it's because that's how a standard of professional-looking books is maintained where you work, which is maybe important because it elicits a certain call to work integrity from the employees or gives off that impression. People probably made matching socks a standard because it's more aesthetically pleasing to most people.

I'm great at being a drone at work lol and I actually really enjoy it. To me, work is work. I am getting paid to do a job and do it well. On the other side of that having a drone like job makes me want to do things I like and want more after work. It's like... having a mindless 8 hours puts me in a kind of zen so after the job is done for the day I'm relaxed and ready to seize the day as opposed to putting my all into my work only to come home and veg out in front of the TV. Both are a balance, I'd just rather have the former.

To me it's a question of -would you rather be stressed at work or in life? Work you have to follow more than a few strict rules or 'guidelines' and life, well you can pretty well do whatever you'd like so long as it falls in line with the law. So to me being stressed in life would already be a million times less stressful than being stressed at work.
 
I'm great at being a drone at work lol and I actually really enjoy it. To me, work is work. I am getting paid to do a job and do it well. On the other side of that having a drone like job makes me want to do things I like and want more after work. It's like... having a mindless 8 hours puts me in a kind of zen so after the job is done for the day I'm relaxed and ready to seize the day as opposed to putting my all into my work only to come home and veg out in front of the TV. Both are a balance, I'd just rather have the former.

To me it's a question of -would you rather be stressed at work or in life? Work you have to follow more than a few strict rules or 'guidelines' and life, well you can pretty well do whatever you'd like so long as it falls in line with the law. So to me being stressed in life would already be a million times less stressful than being stressed at work.

Why are they a balance? I don't understand why you are constructing that question you asked yourself. Some people are stressed both in work and in life, and some people are stressed in neither areas of their life. Furthermore, different people find different things stressful.
 
Why are they a balance? I don't understand why you are constructing that question you asked yourself. Some people are stressed both in work and in life, and some people are stressed in neither areas of their life. Furthermore, different people find different things stressful.

It's a balance between vegging at work and working/functioning at home or working at work and vegging at home. Either or is a balance because you have that down time.

And I'm not saying my method would work for everyone, different people will find different things stressful which is why my method works for me. Lol I'm not telling you you should be like me, I'm just giving you my perspective. Drone work works for me and it's nothing I'd ever be ashamed about *shrug*
 
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