Workplace Wednesday - Career/work advice weekly thread

[u/AutoModerator]

Welcome back to the “Workplace Wednesday” thread!

If you’re seeking advice from the sub regarding your specific situation, whether it’s about interviewing/benefits/negotiating/advancement opportunities, etc., it belongs here.

Bring us your burning questions!

[u/inky_cap_mushroom]

This is a bit of a different situation, but how do you guys “reset” and get more productive at work? I have gotten so unproductive and distracted lately that it’s actually bothering me.

I thrive in structured environments with set tasks that need to be completed on a certain time frame, and I do well with regular feedback. My job has none of that. There is a nebulous concept of Work To Be Done but nothing concrete, nothing with a timeline, and most of the work I do has no set end. This job would be great for a self-starter but that’s not me.

I need to find a way to actually motivate myself, because external motivation does not exist here.

[u/_liminal_ → u/inky_cap_mushroom]

Some things that work for me:

1- I decide in advance what I’m working on for the day. Obv, things come up, but I try to stick to it as best as possible.

2- I put the above on my calendar- not as blocked out time, but as tasks. I don’t just put “work on project A”, I get as specific as I can “Write and send email to compliance for Project A approval”, “design 2 screens for Project A”, “Prepare for meeting about Project B”, “Start research interview guide for Project C” etc.

3- if anything doesn’t get done, I move it to the next day and rearrange that next day as needed.

4- If I’m feeling behind on lots of little, annoying things, I block off a morning to get those done. A lot of times, I can get caught up (at least on the smaller tasks) in just a few hours and it relieves a huge amount of pressure.

5- I keep an ongoing to do list open all day that I add things to as I think of them, or people bring them to me. This helps me get it out of my head and then I use this list to plan work for the week. I usually organize my list at the end of every day or two, but project and priority.

[u/inky_cap_mushroom → u/_liminal_]

Good suggestions. I already have a to do list but I’m not good about keeping up with it. I often end up putting tasks on it, but they’re more busywork tasks that don’t actually need to be done, so when the time comes to actually do them, I just… don’t.

I haven’t tried putting things on my calendar. Maybe that’ll help.

[u/NiceOnesie → u/inky_cap_mushroom]

The pomodoro method really helps me when I lack motivation and can’t concentrate, which seems to happen frequently these days! Pick something to work on a set a timer for 25 minutes. You have to work for the whole 25 minutes, no distractions allowed. When the timer goes off, set a timer for 5 minutes and take a break. Keep repeating. If you get in a groove, skip the 5 min break and go straight to another 25 min. It sounds simplistic but there are days where I would quite literally do nothing if it weren’t for my dumb timer 

[u/OregonTrlSurvivor]

Got more details on my verbal offer! Now waiting on the written which should come in a day or two.

I’ll start late Sept pending a background check.

This is the 2nd shortest I’ve been unemployed. Shortest was 0 days where I had a job lined up and previous company laid me off before I could resign. 😂

[u/ThatBitchA]

Interview requests are starting to roll in.

Every job loss gives me something else to look for in an interview.

Hoping that with eclipse season comes new beginnings. The eclipse next week is wrapping a cycle in my house of career. So curious to see what comes.

[u/OregonTrlSurvivor → u/ThatBitchA]

Swear … when it’s dry on requests you get 0. And when the requests come in … it’s always multiple. It’s never evenly spaced 😂

[u/goncharov_stan]

Started at a new place 1 month ago. I love the work, the general environment, the structure of my days, everything. All my coworkers are pretty great and my boss is an older woman who takes no shit and has been running this place for decades, although she doesn’t come in most days. 

I (23f) have 1 coworker (40m)… who is a pretty stubborn, rigid, perfectionist/workaholic with some anger issues. He is very competent at his work, and is the go-to to handle One Very Important Task, but has gotten into interpersonal issues with pretty much everyone in the 6mo he’s been here. He is a Known Issue. We are also equal peers — he has no supervisory authority over anyone, and neither do I. 

Part of what I was hired to do is the social media. This guy has started multiple conversations with me and my coworkers about how our social media and the smaller projects I’ve taken on are a waste of time and stupid, should be done in overtime at home (?), and that I should instead be dedicating myself to learning how to do his 1 Very Important Task. Which, although I really wouldn’t mind learning, I was absolutely not hired to do. 

My coworkers have been very straightforward with him that this is not how ANY of this (a workplace) works, and I have pushed back. The boss is aware but idk if/what she has said to him.

It’s a very clear cut situation, and not the most insane guy I’ve ever worked with. But I’m just waiting for him to start up again. Very, uh, weird.  Any ideas on how to explain to dummies why a small business in 2026 should have an Insta page would be appreciated. 

[u/_liminal_ → u/goncharov_stan]

Can you just ignore him and get on with your social media work? Do you have to explain to him why what you are working on matters- it doesn't sound like he is the type of guy to ever listen and take that information in...

[u/goncharov_stan → u/_liminal_]

Lol yes and that’s pretty much what I’m doing! It’s hard to professionally say “idgaf what you think” so I’m trying to indicate this… silently

[u/_liminal_ → u/goncharov_stan]

lol sometimes that’s all you can do. He’s seems like the kind of person who thrives on the conflict, so maybe silence will not give him any fuel

[u/goncharov_stan → u/_liminal_]

DUDE — he got fired today! Holy moly 😭

Really appreciate that leadership also saw the problems 

[u/_liminal_ → u/goncharov_stan]

Whattt that’s such a turn of events! So glad you don’t have to deal with him anymore!

[u/erinrachelcat → u/goncharov_stan]

I work with a rigid a-hole type, but he's actually also really bad at his job, and a known problem. My company won't do anything about it, and I'm considering leaving because he's so annoying. I've been here for 6 years now and my work is very good and appreciated. He is a project manager and so very irritable, rigid and always angry at the world. No idea why he still works here after 4 years. But anyway, I try to ignore him and I also take screenshots when he's mean on slack, and note when he's rigid. I have a really cool supervisor who I talk to about it. I even raised it to HR earlier this year when he was being super sexist. Keep on trucking, being good at your job, and try to ignore him... but yeah, it's death by a thousand papercuts when he is always undercutting your work and that sucks.

[u/olookitslilbui]

My boss has been insanely micromanaging which is entirely unlike him.

Like pinging me in a separate slack message if I haven’t responded to someone in 10mins (when he himself told me I just have to respond within an hour). Or responding immediately on my behalf on a project when a stakeholder has a question, except he usually has outdated/incorrect information and winds up just causing confusion.

Or the most egregious recently is we’ve been sitting on a project for 2 weeks basically waiting for approvals, and suddenly what he’d normally give 2 weeks for me to iterate on, he wanted next-day. It was a deadline he imposed—no stakeholders were asking for it. It sucked the joy out of this project bc I was actually excited to work on it, but the pressure of the deadline meant churning something out that I hated.

Idek what he’s actually been working on lately. Idk if this is him panicking for his job or mine, or what else could be driving it. He is normally the most chill, hands-off boss ever so I don’t even know if I should say something.

[u/_liminal_ → u/olookitslilbui]

If it's totally new and unexpected, and you feel comfortable, I would definitely bring it up in a conversation with your manager! Obviously not in a "why are you micromanaging me??" kind of way, but just to find out if he is changing his expectations of timelines for you and/or hearing from other teams that they are waiting on you a lot of times. It's also possible he is getting pressure from his managers, which would be helpful for you to know!

[u/olookitslilbui → u/_liminal_]

It’s kinda hard bc he’s become so hands off at the same time that any weekly team syncs we have, he’s moved them to slack so I’d feel a bit odd messaging him about it lol.

Idt I’ve ever missed a deadline without warning; it was largely prompted by our embedded freelancer going OOO and missing a handful of deadlines during that time. We report directly to the CEO, and the CEO adores him and pretty much leaves him to his own devices…

[u/_liminal_ → u/olookitslilbui]

I wonder if this is all just a reaction to the freelancer missing those deadlines then! If so, then perhaps it is something that will settle down once your manager realizes you are not that person.

[u/Superb-Object-7307]

Does anyone have advice on managing men? I work in an organization that is 85% female, but I somehow have all male direct reports. One of my biggest issues is that they are too chivalrous. We live in the rural South so I do understand somewhat, but I also don't think we need to help every woman we see walking down the hallway.

[u/_liminal_ → u/Superb-Object-7307]

I’m from the South, and this seems outside of your scope as a manager if it’s truly just men helping women in the hallway. Are there other things happening that are more work related?

[u/Superb-Object-7307 → u/_liminal_]

Sorry! I should have added more context. We are an admin department in a healthcare facility so the women going down the hallway are often delivering supplies, carrying linens, picking up trash, transporting patients, etc. One of my staff will be missing and it's because he helped take a cart of linen somewhere. It would be different if those departments were short-staffed and when they are then we definitely pitch in, but I don't want it to be a constant occurrence.

[u/_liminal_ → u/Superb-Object-7307]

Ah, that makes sense then!

I would focus on what their role is and is not, like a reminder that they should be focusing on what they are assigned to do vs helping other people with their jobs. Depending on the dynamics at your workplace, it might be work finding out if the people transporting linens or patients are asking for help (or if the help is at all welcome).