Category: Burnout
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Why I Felt Left Out After Opting Out of Culture Committees
It was framed as optional, but opting out didn’t feel neutral once I actually did it. When culture committees were first introduced, they were described as an opportunity. A way to shape the workplace.…
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How the Push for Authenticity Made Me More Guarded
When authenticity became a workplace expectation instead of a personal choice, I started paying closer attention to what felt safe to show. There was a time when I didn’t think much about how much…
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How Workplaces Quietly Expect You to Have the Same Beliefs
It wasn’t about being told what to think. It was about learning what not to question. I didn’t notice the expectation right away. At first, work just felt like work—projects, deadlines, meetings that blurred…
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What It’s Like Being Expected to Have a Personal Brand at Work
Somewhere between feedback cycles and social posts, I realized that the invitation to be myself at work came with an asterisk: as long as that self could be “branded.” When the phrase “personal brand”…
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Why I’m Tired of Pretending to Care About Company Morale
At some point, morale stopped feeling like a shared mood and started feeling like another expectation I had to manage. I remember when the word morale first entered my work life in a serious…
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Why I Feel Out of Place in a Workplace That Celebrates Everything
Somewhere along the way, constant celebration stopped feeling welcoming and started feeling like a performance I didn’t rehearse for. There is almost always something being celebrated now. A milestone. A month. A value. A…
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What It’s Like Being the Only One Who Doesn’t Post About Work Online
I didn’t opt out loudly. I just stayed quiet long enough for it to mean something. I didn’t notice it at first. People had always posted about work online—announcements, promotions, team photos, conference selfies.…
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How Company Values Started Feeling Like a Script I Had to Memorize
I didn’t wake up one day disagreeing with company values. I woke up realizing I had learned how to recite them. I can still remember the first time I heard our values read out…
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Why Psychological Safety at Work Still Feels Fragile
Why Psychological Safety at Work Still Feels Fragile Even when workplaces say it’s safe to speak, most of us know it still isn’t. I’ve worked in offices that put posters on the wall about…
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How Social Awareness Became Another Work Skill to Master
I don’t mean emotional intelligence as a buzzword. I mean the subtle sense that every expression must be calibrated before it’s released into a room. The Moment I Noticed the Shift There was no…