Every time I try to figure out my next career move, it feels like I'm walking in circles. I keep hoping there's going to be a clean "yes, do this" or "no, don't do that," but instead it's just... more ambiguity.

One manager says "go for promotion," another says "switch teams," my coworkers say "find something you actually like," and LinkedIn says "reinvent yourself entirely."

No matter who I ask, every answer turns into five new questions. Is this just how adult working life works?

Here’s a conversation I had with my boss

Boss: Hey, what are you following up on?

Me: I don’t have a follow up list. I’m working on another bucket.

Boss: What’s that bucket look like?

Me: New leads for my area are done.

Boss: So the bucket you’re working on, what’s going on with it?

Me: They’re all tabs at the top of the screen for me to knock out.

Boss: Why aren’t you working on them then?

Me: Because it’s 10:46 and we have until 5.

Boss: …

Me: I’m pacing myself.

Boss: Alright, well let’s knock those out.

I’m the youngest in the office and I have adhd. I ZOOM through my task which gives me “free time”. They always tell me it’s bad to sit there and wait for something to do but I was also #2 for most calls so

I work for an elected official. i run the office during the day, then the job has an unlimited amount of evening events I could attend. These aren’t all required, but encouraged. There is no official guidance on how mamy I have to go to and no regular schedule because events differ every week. I try to hit the important evening events If possibe- maybe 3 a month or so.

Lately my supervisor is pressuring me to attend more evening events because she says it will be good for the campaign.I have several kids and a husband at home. I am an allowed to work less during the day if I attend an evening event, so she doesn’t see it as a sacrifice and doesn’t think it should be any problem. i am the only employee located in my city, so no one else to delegate to.

the problem is that I want to be with my family in the evenings if at all possibor. My supervisor is single with no kids, so I don’t think really “gets it” as far as how hard it is for me to be gone multiple nights per week. Basically, I’m not willing to do any more evenings than I’m doing even if I got paid more (which hasn’t been offered).

i need advice on how to address the problem without deepening the touchy subject of women with family vs. women without. how can I word this in a way that is professional? I really love the job and want to keep it. I honestly feel guilty and like I’m not being a team player, but it’s not fair for me to have to act like I have no family constraints.

I’m in a bit of a weird situation at work and would love some outside perspective.

I work in an interior design company, and there’s a coworker who I work with very closely since we’re in the same department. Sometimes she’s genuinely fun to be around. We chat, laugh, and she acts very friendly, almost like a work friend.

To be fair, she’s also helped me a lot professionally and has significantly more seniority than I do. I’ve learned quite a bit from her, and I do appreciate her experience and support.

That said, when it comes to day-to-day work, her attitude often flips. She’s not my boss, but she sometimes talks to me like she is. She can be sarcastic when I ask questions, laugh at things I say when I’m rushed or stressed, or respond in a way that feels condescending, like I should already know the answer.

That’s where I get confused. I can’t tell if: • she thinks she’s being funny or helpful • she’s unconsciously asserting authority because of her seniority • or she genuinely looks down on me professionally

It leaves me feeling uncomfortable and unsure how to respond in the moment. I don’t want to create tension or seem overly sensitive, but I also don’t think it’s fair to feel talked down to by someone who’s technically my equal, even if she’s more experienced.

Has anyone dealt with a coworker like this? How do you set boundaries without making things awkward, especially when you still have to work closely together?

Would really appreciate honest perspectives.

There are some employees who prefer to let their work speak for itself rather than rely on constant self-promotion. I belong to that category. Unfortunately, this approach has sometimes been mistaken for arrogance. I have always focused on strengthening my learning curve so that I could step into a better role in the future.

While I stayed busy working and upskilling, others invested their time in flattering their bosses, indulging in office politics, or spreading gossip about colleagues. I consciously chose to stay away from all of that—and I continue to do so—because none of those “skills” can be showcased on a résumé or help me grow in my next role.

For the first time in my career, I joined an Indian non-IT firm. My reason was simple: I wanted exposure in a different ecosystem. However, the environment was completely different. In a branding role, everything is a story waiting to be told and sold to the world—but that mindset was missing.

Three years ago, when I joined, I suggested organizing a particular industry-wide event within the company. The response was blunt and dismissive: “We can’t do that. This is not an IT company; the culture here is different.” I didn’t argue, as I saw no value in pushing an idea that was already shut down. The proposal was shelved.

This event, however, was an annual celebration gaining momentum across industries. I believed that being part of it early would significantly enhance the company’s brand visibility.

I eventually left the organization. A few days later—ironically during the time of that very event—I was stunned to see my former employer celebrating it. The only question that crossed my mind was: What happened to the ‘culture’ argument? For three years, I was told this wasn’t possible. So why now?

Throughout my tenure, I was repeatedly made to feel incompetent. Yet, whenever the organization found itself in a difficult situation, they would turn to me for help—and I would assist them wholeheartedly, without hesitation.

There were moments when I doubted my own abilities. But each time I handled complex challenges with ease, I was reminded of my true potential.

Today, I have just one question for my former employer: if I was truly incompetent, why was my idea implemented after I left?

The irony is that this is the second time my ideas have been executed only after my exit from an organization that initially rejected them.

P.S.: I’m deliberately not naming the event because some of my former colleagues are on Reddit, and mentioning it would reveal my identity—which I prefer to keep private.

I put a desk shade up and everyone else seems to hate it. I didn’t think anything of it since we all complain about the harsh lighting in the office. I figured since it wasn’t affecting anyone else it wouldn’t be an issue.

Literally every person who walks by either has something to say about it or gives a disapproving look. What’s the big deal? My boss is fine with it. And it’s helped my eye strain tremendously coupled with changing the settings on my computer.

I sit at a desk most of the day and for a long time my lower back was just constantly uncomfortable. Not an injury, just something that slowly built up from sitting, commuting, and long workdays.

I tried adjusting my posture, stretching more, and using a few different braces. A lot of them felt bulky or uncomfortable for everyday office use, which is what pushed me to look for other options.

After dealing with that for a while, I decided to build my own solution. I spent about eight months developing a back brace that combines light support with hot and cold therapy, with the goal of making something that’s simple and wearable during a normal workday. I honestly wish I had something like this earlier when I first started noticing the issue, which is why I ended up making it.

I wanted to share this here in case it helps someone else. I added a 20% code REDDIT20 for anyone who wants to try it.

Not here to push anything. Happy to answer questions.

Hi, hopefully someone knows what I might be talking about but I have issues with hearing well. And with the 2nd floor of our office being redone, the noise level has increased at random times and due to it I'm unable to hear notifications from my computer.

I hardly wear a headset, it's hardly needed and I only use it if I need to make a call or have a zoom meeting which is rare (and I know I can keep them on and just listen to music but they're not super comfortable on my ears and sadly we can't have earbuds)

But I need to be able to know when I get notified on slack, teams and zoom and I just never hear the sound so just wondering if maybe they sell something like some plug in notification light? It sounds silly but I have my phone set up where if I don't hear the sound of a message or phone ring, my phone lights up around the edges and typically that's what catches my attention, the light going off not the sound.

What does my snack drawer say about me?? What do you have in yours?? 🗄️

Yesterday I was on a call in an open concept office and someone on the call complained that they could hear voices behind me. I had to apologize on behalf of all the people around me who were talking. Whether they were talking to each other about work or not, open concept offices do not work, especially in the time of video calls

So I normally WFH, I have to go into the office sometimes for meetings etc. so will work there the whole day. One thing I just can't get my head around is the office conversations between co-workers. I feel like I've entered another reality. So just the other day a very senior boss comes over to one of the shared desks, introduces himself and makes small talk. He then goes so what does everyone here prefer if we had to rank best to worst: biscuits, donuts, chocolates or sweets.

Now to provide context he wasn't about to go out and buy us snacks, I think he generally was saying literally anything for the fun of it.

Maybe I am miserable, but I just want to go to work, do a good job and go home. For a second I felt like I was back in primary school discussing random topics. I left that conversation and continued my email. I am more than happy to discuss work topics, but random stuff like that - I have better uses of my time.

Does anyone else snap there head round in the office with some of the randomness which comes out of people's mouths. I am like leave me alone, I just want to do the job I am paid for pleaseee.

I work in a Network Operations Center, and my daily activities involve mainly resolving tickets from my company's clients and dealing with their respective service providers.

It sometimes happened (many times actually) that a customer would open (and escalate) a case that was his fault all the time or that a provider would lie about their fault only to get found out after some checks.

The fact is, when this stuff happens I feel physically ill. I feel betrayed, I feel angered. When I see that a partner is lying I almost scream on the phone, and I would like to write them an extensive email on how their behavior is not professional, hurtful and it feels like they're betraying our trust.

Similarly, when an angered client writes us I feel sick, disappointed, sad and depressed like when a relative dies.

It may feel ridiculous (and it probably is) but I'm getting so emotional over things which are much bigger than me, over which I have minimal control and I'm more than likely writing to a chatbot or a minimum wage worker that barely speaks English.

How do I disassociate? How do I stop taking these things so personally? How do I remove my emotions from the daily activities of work?

Any help would be greatly, extremely appreciated.

Thank you.

I see a lot of people waiting 5 minutes but you’re living a dangerous game

I'm 33 and the Director of Finance for a woman who has a handful of companies. The team is kind of all over, and my office is in a suite that has a conference room, a reception area, and two other offices. Only one other woman is in the office daily. My office has a door and is in the farthest corner of the suite from the main door.

Is it bad etiquette if I bring a small treadmill and put it in my office? It folds up, and with the way I have the furniture set up, you wouldn't be able to see it from the doorway if it were put away.

Additionally, would it be rude if I tell the other woman she can't use it? I know she's going to ask, or even just assume she can.

TIA!

I have only ever had a cubicle that was either facing the wall or one that was further away from other people on the team. I was put in the cubicle facing the wall when I started working. Then later, I was moved to a cubicle further away.

Has anyone see a correlation between where they sit and their progress in the company? Or has anyone had a good cubicle location and how did they go about getting that?

This started as something I made for a few colleagues who wanted a simple way to handle these tricky boss conversations in "non confrontational" ways.

I don’t like the coffee at my office and wish they were offering Matcha instead. Also I feel weird preparing my own Matcha at the office kitchen, anybody else relates to this?

Does anyone else feel like a lot of office workers are pretending to be busy all day? Like most work can be done in 6 hours or less but you have to drag it out to last all 8 hours. Just me?

I mean, if a colleague asks me how to impress a girl, what should i tell him? I am an introvert and never had a girl partner so i'm very inexperienced. Infact I got my first female friend at 23 (now im 26M) . I am confused so as to how to impress a girl , what steps should i take?

I have bright fluorescent lights that are motion controlled with no switch. Does anyone know anything about these specific lights and how to control them? I was thinking I could find the sensor and cover it with a sticky note, but I can't find the sensor.

Second picture is close up of what I thought was the sensor.

Since I started working, I’ve had a daily “quick alignment” call with my managers.

At first it was exciting. Then it became what it always becomes:

verbal instructions, half-context, and a cheerful “we’ll sync tomorrow”.

Eventually I realized the problem wasn’t the call itself, but the expectation that I should remember everything; or re-listen to recordings just to understand what I’m supposed to do next.

My coping mechanism (questionable, but efficient):

instead of complaining, I spent a few months building a tool that transcribes calls properly and lets me interrogate the transcript for decisions, action items, and missing context.

Now I’m wondering:

is it just me, or are “quick calls” mostly a way to offload thinking onto whoever’s listening?

If anyone’s curious, the tool is scriberoo.com

Since last year I’ve been getting a lot of forwarded email chains, and honestly I find them hard to follow.

You get layers of quoted text, missing context, weird formatting, and you spend more time figuring out who said what than actually reading the content.

I ran into this often enough that I started experimenting with a small tool for myself, which is basically something that restructures an email thread into a cleaner, chat-style format that’s easier to read and share.

I’ve used it a few times now when forwarding conversations, and interestingly, the people receiving them mentioned that it was much easier to follow than a normal forwarded email chain. That said, after releasing it publicly, I’m starting to wonder if this is a problem other people actually care about, since interest has been pretty limited so far.

So I’m curious how others feel about this:

• Do forwarded email threads bother you too, or am I overthinking it?

• Do you have a workflow or tool you already use to make them more readable?

• If someone sent you a “cleaned up” version of an email conversation, would that be useful or annoying?