Without Becoming the Office Enemy
Working with people every day means you will meet different personalities. Some colleagues will become your friends, some will mind their business, and others will want to know everything happening in your life. Before you know it, the entire office knows about your relationship problems, your finances, and what you ate for dinner last night.
This is why setting boundaries at work is important. You can be friendly without becoming everybody’s bestie, and you can be a team player without allowing people to take you for granted. If you want to protect your peace and maintain a healthy relationship with your colleagues, here are five ways to create boundaries at work.
1. Don’t Overshare
It’s not everything about you that your colleagues should know. Learn to keep certain details of your life to yourself. You can gist, laugh, and have fun with your colleagues without giving them a full documentary about your personal life.
Murife, don’t open your mouth and start telling them how your ex made you pound yam for his entire family to prove you were wife material. Before you know it, the story has entered the office group chat, and somebody is using it as a reference during lunch break.
Remember, you can be friendly without making your entire life public knowledge.
2. Don’t Feel Obligated to Share Your Food
You see that Nigerian courtesy of saying, “Come and eat,” even when you don’t mean it? Abeg, let it rest.
Don’t make a habit of inviting everybody to share your food if you are not comfortable doing so. Today, it’s one person taking a piece of your chicken. Tomorrow, everybody is waiting for you to open your flask like the office caterer.
If you want to share your food, that’s fine. But if you brought just enough for yourself, eat your food in peace. You are an employee, not the company’s cafeteria chef.
3. Don’t Put Your Mouth Where They Didn’t Call You
Not every conversation needs your contribution. If your colleagues are discussing something that doesn’t concern you, sometimes the best thing to do is mind your business.
You might think you’re helping by adding your opinion, but before you know it, somebody has misunderstood your words, another person has added their own version, and suddenly, you’re being accused of saying things you never said.
Please, learn to face your work. You don’t have to attend every argument or join every office gist. Sometimes, silence is the best way to protect your peace.
4. After Work, Go Home
Once the day’s work is done, please go home. You have spent hours working, attending meetings, answering emails, and interacting with people. You deserve to rest.
Don’t make a habit of staying back every day just because your colleagues are still around and the gist is interesting. Before you know it, you’re spending two extra hours at the office discussing somebody else’s relationship while your own life is waiting for you at home.
Of course, there will be days when you need to stay late or socialise with your colleagues. But don’t let it become an obligation. Your personal time is valuable, and you should treat it that way.
5. Learn to Say No Without Feeling Guilty
Your colleague wants you to cover their shift, handle their unfinished task, or help them meet a deadline they have known about since last week. Suddenly, you’re doing your work and somebody else’s because you don’t want to look unhelpful.
Please, learn to say no when you need to.
You can be a supportive colleague without becoming the person everybody dumps their responsibilities on. If you have your own tasks to complete or simply don’t have the capacity to take on more work, communicate that politely.
You don’t need to write a full essay explaining why you cannot help. A simple, “I’m sorry, I can’t take this on right now because I need to finish my own tasks,” is enough.
Remember, being helpful is a good thing, but allowing people to take advantage of your kindness is not.
Use This and Hold Body
You can be friendly without oversharing, helpful without doing everybody’s work, and sociable without spending every evening at the office. The goal is to build healthy working relationships while maintaining a life outside your job.
At the end of the day, you’re at work to do your job, earn your money, and grow professionally. You’re not there to run a free restaurant, become the office therapist, or feature in everybody’s personal drama.
Please, protect your peace!
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