In a cold sweat, you wake from your sleep, flailing wildly for your phone. Light is peaking through the edges of the curtains, and birds chirp pleasantly just on the other side of the window behind them. You feel rested—suspiciously, well-rested for the amount of sleep that you should have gotten. You must have slept through your alarms… but surely not. After all, you set five of them. Yet, all the indicators are there… and you should have been up long before the birds if you were going to make…

They say the best revenge is achieving personal success, but sometimes it's more than that… It's the pathway to it. After all, performing well above requirements isn't always going to win you friends and is more likely to put a target on your back for everyone who is just there to earn a paycheck and who you're making look bad in comparison. See, when you prove what's possible to an employer, they start wondering why everyone else isn't being as productive as you are and are bound to start aski…

Toxic managers have one thing in common: Their belief that their authority is absolute . It's almost as if they think it's impossible for anyone ever to leave them, acting like workers will continue to put up with the most dreadful working conditions and their abhorrent behavior for the rest of their careers. So, of course, they're completely blindsided when their most pivotal workers hand in their notice, with the news sending them scrambling to figure out how they're going to maintain the con…

If you like to procrastinate at work, definitely be sure to check who's looking over your shoulder. Look, we all have to be honest with each other, bosses and employees included. We all need to take breaks at work. It's literally impossible to always be working. If you dare to think otherwise, you obviously aren't capable of recognizing that the quality of your work has likely suffered as a result of going non-stop for over eight hours a day. Now, for those of you who are able to procrastinate…

There's a special satisfaction that comes with finding a successful loophole to get around a silly workplace policy. Especially when it comes to getting paid fairly for all the work you do. Now, you know that nurses have to put up with a ton of nonsense on the job that makes saving lives more challenging than it already must be. However, this bureaucratic silliness sounds like way too much. This Redditor shared their story via this thread on Reddit's r/MaliciousCompliance subreddit, which detai…

Some business leaders prioritize sales above all else, offering hefty incentives to their sales teams for acquiring new clients at unserviceable rates. These leaders and their cronies will then cash out once the numbers have been sufficiently plumped up like a stuffed pig with an apple in its mouth. The nightmare begins when it comes time to service these contracts. Inevitably, slowly, the organization will begin losing money but, by then, those responsible will already have their bonuses in ha…

It's often the case that an employer won't react well to an employee's departure, taking their act of leaving as an insult and personal affront. Even if the relationship was supposedly left on good terms, it won't be long before the departing worker's name brings nothing but derision. Should they return to the workplace, they'll find, that despite being a top performer at the company during their time there, they have been turned into a scapegoat with their name being used to lay blame on anyth…

The trouble with setting ultimatums is that you never know when someone is going to take you up on them. It's hard to know just how tired that person is of being under your thumb and whether they're just one strike away from reaching their limit. If you try and throw your weight around with an authoritative ultimatum, you just might find that it gets thrown back in your face and that your wish is granted. After suffering the insufferable for long enough, with long days being overworked and micr…

There will be times in the workplace when you'll really enjoy what you're doing, tasks seem effortless, time flows seamlessly, and results are rewarding. There will also be times when the exact opposite holds true, and every moment spent at work is excruciating. Sometimes, you'll relish the tasks your boss hands to you, whereas other tasks will make you want to gouge out your own eyes. But occasionally—rarely—throughout the course of your career, there will be tasks you'll be asked to complete…

Verbal reprimands are usually a sign of a toxic workplace… with screaming, yelling, or explosive tantrums from your boss being a sure sign that you should start looking for a new place to work. Now, that doesn't mean that every piece of feedback falls under this category. Sure, it might not feel great when your boss tells you you've made a mistake or that you need to up your game… even if the Chief Executive answers to someone and feedback is literally just a part of the job. It can get confusi…

Being a young and inexperienced worker entering the workforce for the first time is a harder experience than most of us are willing to admit—or even remember. For one thing, your lack of demonstratable experience and the lack of perceived skills that go with it will often leave you drawing the short stick when it comes to your tasks within the team, regardless of your actual capabilities. I can't help but feel that the biggest change that happens as you age is that other people perceive you dif…

Oftentimes, when starting a new role, it doesn't end up being quite what you'd imagined. Delusions of grand inspiration fade like a mirage in the desert in the face of the reality of menial tasks and repetitive labor. After all, as we're consistently proclaiming, an interview is a two-way street, and the company is trying to sell themselves to the most desirable candidate they can get—often for as low of a price as possible—just as much as the candidates are trying to sell themselves to the com…

Generally, your working life, including everything that comes with it, is reserved for—well, work—including your laptop, phone, and such that your employer has provided for you. By contrast, your personal stuff is for your own personal use, and that's why it's—well, personal. There are very obvious things you should and shouldn't use each device for, and those things should be kept separate. Sure, these lines can blur and often will—after all, not everything is black and white.

Before movie streaming was even a concept, you had to physically take yourself to a video store . Back in the day (the 1990s, in this case) when you wanted to watch a film, you had to visit a Blockbuster or a Hollywood Video location. These were glorious rooms full of video tapes , and later DVDs entered the mix. The place was full of people at any time of day. You would usually rent a few movies for under $5 a peice, and would return them within a week or so, just like you would with a library…

There is no shortage of stories online consisting of a misguided manager who establishes a blanket “No overtime” policy that ends up getting maliciously complied with by some worker or group of workers to the tune of disastrous results. It's probably wisest at this point to never implement any policy that strictly forbids workers from working overtime. Instead, set the expectation that any necessary overtime will be worked before forcing those overtime workers to jump through as many hoops as p…

There is a reason why you should avoid giving your boss your phone number if you can help it. Sometimes, you don't have a choice, but what you do have control over is when you choose to respond to your boss. The reality is that engaging with your boss is part of your paid employment. Therefore, you really only need to do it when you're on the clock. It can be hard to draw those boundaries, especially in this day and age when it's nearly impossible to unplug. However, if you do manage to establi…