The workplace

Ahh, a person came to mind right? That negative, down your throat, up your butt, always perfect, nauseating co-worker that thinks they are the height of the Burj Khalifa.

Most people start experiencing aggressive anxiety and depressive episodes due to the toxicity of their working environment. We all know the complainer, the cryer, the one that does the least yet talks the most, the dictator, the managers pet, the one that sucks up to the manager and the manager themselves that can drive us up the wall. You see there's no problem being all of the above however, it becomes a problem when these types of people rope you in to unnecessary drama and unnecessary conversations.

I was once accused of something that took me by complete surprise. Even though I hardly interacted with these people, they felt the need to drag me into their quest to be the better friend to someone who was at their most vulnerable state, readily believing everything. Needless to say, the person or people that started the rumor are timeless fools that will succumb to their own stupidity. In all honesty they should focus on coming out of the pink shiny closet they seem to be stuck in.

There are so many people that pray everyday for their dream job. They attend the interview, all excited and shiny and get the job and come out looking like car wax had been rubbed all over them. Poor things. We have all been there. We have all had days where we look like the wind knocked the crap out of us and bump into an old friend as they look at you with pity saying "What's wrong you look exhausted?" Like of course Susan I know, I am exhausted.

The toxicity really changes gear when the directors of a company have no cooking clue about what each employee does on a daily basis. You get these leaders that show up with wonderful, groundbreaking ideas with absolutely no plan on how to achieve them and the employees have to bare the repercussions of their shortfalls. There are some top guns that believe they are always right and don't listen to the ideas or opinions of people that can actually take business to the next level.

Just like normal employees, the big guys want to look like shining stars in front of their own bosses and use low end employees to do their work and bring their ridiculous vision to life. Some of them are all talk and like the government of South Africa, need to cut expenses before removing perks for their own staff.

I usually am an outspoken individual and when asked a question - I respond, I usually respond with an answer and not an excuse. Excuses are when you haven't tried, a response to a situation is the outcome you achieved.

Working closely with people every single day can be extremely difficult. One day, Naomi is fine and the next day she is moody or irritable. Nobody wants to work with a pulled up person so whatever you do, don't be a Naomi. That's just not cool. Let's not forget the tattle tales that run to the manager to tell on someone just for brownie points to get closer to their manager. It's crazy. It's ridiculous. It's so high school.

Work can really make a huge impact on your mental health and how you feel every single day. We spend most of our day and lives at work (believe it or not) and if the environment is not a safe space where you are free to do your work without fear of being watched like a hawk or reprimanded for silly things then you will be miserable.

This generation has absolutely no reason to hate their job because our parents sacrificed their lives working hard so that our dreams can come true... But here we are, a huge population of young people are just sailing everyday and come to work feeling miserable.

They said the world was our oyster, but you seem to be caught in a sardine net.

Listen, you are wasting your time and injuring your mental health for no reason. This time, this one is on you. Take accountability for it. If you are unhappy in a particular working environment - leave and find another job until your realistic dream job comes along.

People leave their workplaces nowadays not because of the company that they work for but the people they are surrounded by. Please don't give those people the satisfaction. Look at what you do and really critique your day - is your job really that bad or are there people that make you miserable? If you hate what you do, leave and go elsewhere however, if it's because of people you work with, I'm sorry honey, those turds exist everywhere you go.

How you feel on a Sunday evening says alot about your job. It says alot about where you work and what you do. If that anxiousness and irritation kicks in then you know, it's because it's work the next day. You have to break down what e

xactly makes you miserable at work to move on from it. You cant change another human but you can change how you react to them. You can change how you handle the interactions that are difficult. If someone is mean to me or screams at me, I just look at them, smile and nod and usually end it with saying something sarcastic. If management is upset with me I listen to what is being said and see it from their point of view and completely ignore everything I just heard, dude sometimes I zone out so bad it's crazy.

It's just work. That's all. It's nothing crazy like a Stephen King novel. Just take a breath and carry on. They could be frustrated in their own lives and it could have absolutely nothing to do with you. People also often complain about the work load. They work weekends (choking currently) and late nights (almost died there) which are two things I will not do unless I'm contractually bound to do. If you are working those extra hours, that's on you.

No matter where you work, a rest day is a rest day and if you don't use it, then this entire problem is your own doing. You must maintain a healthy work life balance and never compromise on that. Whatever you are doing on a Saturday is only going to be seen on a Monday, so why are you killing yourself by putting yourself in these situations.

If you don't maintain a work life balance, then you will most certainly burn out. I burn out even when I don't work weekends but that's a different story. That balance is the most important balance of your life and you need to learn how to shut down, restart and log in when you are supposed to. Some tough love is sometimes needed.

I also hear often that in workplaces there are so many types of divisions of staff. One group of people form a clique and make the others miserable and vice versa. That is so high school!!!! Guys, cliques? At this old age? Every single person in that room is your colleague irrespective of where they are on the floor with you. A team should include everyone that works in that department/floor and there should be no such thing as small little groups that want to do everything together, especially the notorious lunch breaks.

Ahhh, lunch breaks. This is the golden hour of complaints. "Did you see how lazy she was she couldn't even answer the phone" or what about "Did you hear what happened to Julian over the weekend?" Or "That lazy thing, she just sat there while I did most of the work". I'm not saying don't gossip. I'm just saying, if you want a healthy work environment - create one. Be the bigger person and step back from idle chit chat and gossip sessions about others.

The only way to a healthy environment is if everyone pulls their weight. If you feel like someone is not pulling their weight for instance if you see Craig just sitting doing nothing - be tactful and call him over to help you. If all of your tactful attempts have failed, don't go to another colleague and complain, go straight to your manager! Complaining to a colleague is not going to help you because it's not like they can do anything about it except listen to a great gossip session.

You workplace is supposed to be healthy, safe, peaceful and balanced. There can be a time to unwind and a time to be engrossed in your work. The problem is that people don't know how to find the balance. I would suggest, start only focusing on your work and if someone didn't do what they asked you to do or they have not done their work and if it impacts you - then openly go to the colleague and have that conversation. Remember guys, it's your team versus your manager, just kidding - but it should be a united front with all colleagues that you work with.

No job is worth losing sleep over, always remember you did the best you could. No job is also not worth stressing about or being worries about because of the people there. You cant provide for your family if you are dead - so make it a priority to keep work at work.

I hope this helps.

Till next time.