How To Be A Non-Toxic Workmate

HOW NOT TO BECOME THE TOXIC BEAST YOU HATE SEEING AROUND IN YOUR WORKPLACE

Ever since the pandemic started, everything has changed – from the way we socialize with other people to the way we do our stuff at work. Whether your current financial situation gives you stress or your challenging roles as a parent takes its toll in your head, this stretch of demanding situations we are saddled with really made a huge impact on our lives in all aspects, not only socially, emotionally, and physically, but also mentally. The pandemic that we have been trying our best to conquer is more than enough to break us emotionally and psychologically.

Being around a negative-thinker and positive vibe sucker at work will probably the last thing anyone could wish for. Nobody wants to be dragged into a workspace where negativity and toxicity can consume all the energy he gathered every single day just to be Buy NPP 150 productive at work. Hurdling the stress of the negative circumstances at your workplace can take a serious toll on your well- being, causing some sort of upheaval in your productivity and progress.

A toxic working environment refers to a workplace which is marked by negative circumstances or situations which are particularly challenging and unsettling that greatly affect the working atmosphere and the mood, motivation, and mindset of workers or staff. This type of working environment can consume every hint of positive thoughts and motivation that you carry with you every single workday. Working in this kind of workplace can hamper productivity, progress, and development.

In my last post https://chamberofthoughts.com/how-to-spot-a-toxic-workmate/, I have unveiled the types of energy and time suckers that you might have been working with for such a long time, but had no chance to identify them. As mentioned, identifying these type of workmate is of paramount importance to handling challenging situations involving them.

While we think of them as people to be avoided, we tend to overlook our own susceptibility to becoming a source of negativity and toxicity. How you handle such demanding situations can also tell whether you become a toxic person or not. This time, I have rounded up some tips on how you would not become the toxic beasts you hate seeing around your workplace.

Don’t be narcissistic.

Always be reminded that everyone has his own cross to carry and own battles to fight. You are not the only person who walks this earth and who has problems to solve. It is not always about you, for you, from you, to you, and through you. So, do not act as if the world in your workplace only revolves around you. Being self-centered can absolutely drag everyone away from your orbit. You don’t own the spotlight at work regardless of how many times you have had it lit and focused on you. You don’t always have to keep a heightened level of self-interest. You need not to showcase your own greatness to others just so you receive the affirmation you’ve been wanting to hear.

Don’t be inconsistent.

Have a sense of consistency in everything you do. I must say, consistency is one of the qualities that an employee must possess. And, to tell you, it’s also the hardest one to keep and maintain. It does not mean that you have to put what you do best in your daily routine. It is more of following through on your commitments or promises made. It is okay to break a promise sometimes, but doing it all the time makes it unhealthy.

Don’t be overly dramatic.

Try not to be caught up with your dramas. Everyone has his own ups and downs, stories of failure and breakdown moments. Sometimes, there are stories of failure that need no telling and sharing. It’s not because it may spoil the good vibe. But if you keep on telling the same failure stories over and over again, it’s not worth sharing anymore. Imagine yourself crying over an issue that is understandably challenging but you keep whining about it for the last eight hours at work, and you’ll be doing the same thing again the next day. That’s some sort of annoying piece of shitty drama you tell your audience at work.

Don’t be disrespectful of other people’s boundaries.

Learn how to set boundaries between work and personal issues. It’s not every time that you need to feel the urge of involving other people in your business and your shitty drama. Learn to own your feelings and emotions and handle them appropriately. You are disrespecting boundaries of your workmate if you tend to overlook their personal issues and emotions, and you get being focused on your own. Disrespecting their boundaries means you have a full grasp of what they are not comfortable with you doing but you still go on. It’s like dragging them into something you know they hate doing or something that unsettles them.

Don’t manipulate others to get what you want.

Accept that not everything falls into how you imagine it to be and how you expected it. It’s not all the time that you can get what you want. At work, you become toxic when you do not stop at the last resort you had to choose to resolve an issue or a problem and go to extreme measures just to get what you desire for. This happens when you manipulate other people at your workplace to get what you want. For instance, you make up lies at the expense of your plans and gossip it. Or perhaps you get to that point where you backstab someone just to cover up something you did.

Do not blame others for your problems.

Understanding the whole context of the problem and acknowledging your part from it can help you to not blame other people for your problems. It is not good to always put your fingers pointing at others just because you have been placed in such a challenging and unsettling situation. Remember, somehow you had a contribution to that. Learn not to put the blame on everyone. Take ownerships and accountability for something that you yourself know you had an involvement in.

Do not complain a lot.

We were born with a brain that has a negative bias. This directs us towards focusing on what’s not right around us rather than looking at the bright side of every situation. Learn how to step back and look at the bigger picture. More often than not, we complain a lot about what gives us burden. We complain when we were given additional tasks and duties. Learn how to practice gratitude in every unsettling situation. Do not take it as a burden but an opportunity for you to grow and develop. You can turn these into learning possibilities and opportunities to improve.

Do not dominate the conversation.
When you value your judgment and your point of view so much, you forget about the importance of listening to what others might have to say. Your opinions are not the only things that matter. You need to listen and rely on what others might say about a thing or an issue. Sometimes, a decision that is made from various judgments bring out the best outcomes. When you listen to other people, it means that you also take their sides into consideration. It’s like you’re balancing out the two sides.

Do not spread hate and negativity.

Be the source of hope and positivity in a workplace where negativity grows and fosters. Adding pressure and negativity on the table might be the last thing you want to do. Negativity is communicable and the moment you influence the positive breeze that circulates around the workplace, it will definitely ruin the atmosphere. You don’t drag others or your workmates into a whirlpool of negativity that you are in. Practice spreading love and not hate. Remember, everything that is made out of hate and negativity, sometimes do not bring forth positive and good outcomes.

We are all humans. We all have tendencies to have negative bias running through our mind. It is natural for us to be hardwired for negativity. However, when we allow this to happen, it’s not going to take us anywhere. When you let yourself succumb to negativity, it will just affect everything you do and everything around you.