Is there a conspiracy out there to make me paranoid? First I see this tidbit about what might be going on in my co-workers' nasty little minds:
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — Your co-workers are judging you. Beneath a veneer of professional collegiality, they’re taking note of the mess on your desk, how loudly you chew, even your word choices.
Obviously, serious misconduct such as discrimination and harassment can lead to a job loss. But small irritants can hurt productivity and build walls between co-workers.
“Those little annoyances, like having a really sloppy work area or being a disgusting desk eater, can loom large,” said Charles Purdy, senior editor at jobs site Monster.com.
Well, people are going to think what they will, so there's no point in worrying about it. I'll just be myself and let the chips fall where they may. Oh, wait, that won't work:
The next time you want to speak your mind at work, it’s best to keep your mouth shut. Research by the University of Houston in Texas and the University of Greenwich in London shows that while being yourself around family, friends, and loved ones benefits well-being, being yourself at work has no bearing on life satisfaction.
[. . .]
The study defines authenticity as vocalizing what you’re thinking and feeling, not making things up to impress people, and feeling confident enough to be honest and open, says Oliver Robinson, a senior lecturer at the University of Greenwich’s Department of Psychology and Counselling. “It’s not a problem to be authentic or inauthentic” at work, he says. “It just didn’t matter.”
[. . .]
“All I can say is, if you’re at work and you’re not expressing yourself—not authentic to yourself—you’re in jolly good company,” says Robinson. The bright side for all us phonies: “It’s really normal and doesn’t have an adverse relationship to quality of life,” he says.
The first article, titled "Why your co-workers don't like you," has some good advice (don't be a whining complainer), some bad advise (good luck on getting me to stop being messy) and some stuff so obvious it hardly needs saying (don't get a reputation as a suck-up). Based on the second article, I suppose we shouldn't go running off at the mouth about what smart office decisions we're making.
The office was sort of my last island of unreflective calm. If you know what the job involves, you just show up and do it and then go home, collecting that paycheck for your efforts. No heavy thinking required. Oh, well. Think I'll close my office door, turn out the lights and take a little nap. Don't tell the boss.
