The professional working world can be an interesting place. You don’t go into work with the intention to have fun, but, sometimes, you do. You don’t go in with intention to make friends, but, a lot of the time, you do. This consequence of human nature can blur the line between the conversation you have with your best friends and the conversation you have with the girl whose desk is right next to yours. Well, in case you didn’t know, there are things that are better left to be said at girl’s night in your apartment instead of the break room of your office. I know it can get get confusing, so here’s a quick cheat sheet of the top six things you should not be talking about at work.
1. Your sex life
First of all, there are some things about your sex life that no one wants to hear, not even your best friends. However, there are always some juicy little details that you’re dying to tell someone; make sure that person is not at work. Other than the fact that you never know who is listening in on your conversation, a sex dish session will never be comfortable when just five minutes before you were talking about projected long-term engagement.
2. Other co-workers
We all have that one annoying person in the office that no one can stand and nothing is more fulfilling than having a vent session about them to the other people that get just as irritated as you do. However, this type of chatting can lead to rumors spreading and hostility rising between people in the office. And no one wants a hostile work environment.
3. Your shenanigans from the night before
You’re hungover, everyone can tell. Though what is not professional is showing off all the random bruises you woke with that you can’t explain. Not only does this reduce your reliability and prestige as a coworker, it just makes everyone jealous. In addition, you don’t want to give your haters any ammo to use against you at the next personnel meeting.
4. The next job you’re trying to get
Odds are, the company you work for respects loyalty. If you’re looking at another company with better benefits and more opportunities, that’s awesome, but don’t talk about it while you’re still at your current job; especially, if you haven’t told your boss you’re leaving. Not only is this kind of mean to your current employer, it also lets all of your coworkers know about this awesome job you’re trying to get and could cause them to apply as well. No one needs unnecessary competition.
5. Your existential crisis
We all go through stuff. But this is much more of a conversation to be had with a good friend at home. Anxieties and worries are never something to be ashamed of, but talking about them at work could cause your coworkers to look at you differently. You don’t want the reason you were passed up for an opportunity to work on a big project to be because you overshared.
I hope this cleared up some of the blurry lines that create uncertainty in the workplace. We all are driven, professional women who want to succeed in our careers and no one wants to be the person in the office who constantly hears, “Whoa dude, TMI”.
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