How to Love Your Work, When You Can’t Stand Your Coworkers

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Feel like a loner at work? Can’t seem to connect with your boss? Coping with your relationships at work can make navigating your career more difficult than it needs to be. To set things right with coworkers and learn to start enjoying your job again, here are three tips you can try on for size.  

  1. Connect with Co-workers to Build Your Network

Your work friends are likely to be your best advocates and are a key part of growing your professional network. This is, in fact, one of the most valuable parts of working on a new job. The people you meet and the connections you make can last years beyond the job itself. Expanding your professional network is difficult when you are not working, but in even temporary positions, you are more likely to make many new acquaintances and hopefully leave them all with a good impression. You never know who you meet or how they will influence your career, so make sure to invest in those relationships, make a good impression with the people you work with, and stay in touch as much as possible.  

  1. Think Outside of the Work Box

Work friends are an excellent source of wellbeing outside of the projects you work on together. Having good co-worker relationships and a good work-life balance can do wonders to relieve feelings of loneliness. Many people in all industries, no matter their home situation, struggle with feelings of loneliness in their daily lives. Surveys have found that those who were new on a job were much more lonely than those who had been at the job for many years, likely reflecting relationships the employee had built over time.  

Loneliness can not only be detrimental to personal well-being but harmful to a worker’s productivity. Those who overlook the importance of work friendships or look down on those willing to invest the time or effort in building those relationships inevitably suffer from their lack. Work friendships are wonderful sources of fun and connectivity where we spend a large portion of our time. To build those relationships, connect with coworkers on shared interests. Express care and interest in their lives outside the office. Invest in those conversations, and you’ll have friends who are there for you when things are tough too.  

  1. Lean In to Friendships to Foster Better Work-Life Balance 

Strong work friendships help balance out the work-life balance. It turns out that eating lunch with a friend or grabbing coffee or a drink after work are great levers to pull to help establish a stronger work-life balance. There is the added benefit that our work friends can often be our greatest teammates or collaborators at work. So don’t overlook the value of those water-cooler moments, the inside jokes, or moments of comradery at work. They will make you happier, more productive at work, and more fulfilled in your life as well. Not everyone will be your friend, but there are sure to be a few connections to be built at work.  

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