Call it a labor of love

Let’s talk about one of the most romanticized side effects of capitalism: the work crush.

Turns out more than half of American workers have been in a workplace romance. Tbh, I get it, if you’re there 8 hours a day…why not have someone who’s just a little more fun to Slack?

It’s great for their personal lore.

And while it is fun and flirty to exchange yearning glances from across the desk and strategically leave work happy hours exactly eight minutes apart… those are not the most powerful workplace relationships.

Because as much as I love when sparks fly in the office, I love it even more when you find people who become your mentors, allies, and lifelong collaborators & friends.

They're the people who:

• tell it to you straight

• introduce you to the right people

• share those unwritten rules

• bring you into the room

• give you a much needed outside perspective when things start to get a little shaky

This helps employee version of you and regular version of you go like this 📈📈📈📈📈

And these bonds don’t have to come from some formal mentor/mentee setup. Sometimes you just work with someone and instantly know: yeah, I gotta keep them around.

You don’t have to do the whole career thing alone, and you honestly shouldn’t.

The name of the game is collaboration & trust & mutual elevation!

It starts small: a quick reply to the “Hey, how are ya” email, shooting your shot to work on a project with someone new, or simply not swallowing a compliment when you could def say it out loud.

One of my favorite ways to cultivate these relationships is sending a handwritten note to bosses or people I worked closely with, especially when one of us is moving on to a new role. Try it out :)

In my experience, those mentor-type bonds last way longer than any “boy from work ❤️” contact name in your phone.

I’ve been lucky to build a few workplace friendships and mentor relationships that have lasted almost five-ish years now…

and I fully plan on keeping these people around forever (and that’s a threat) 🫵

One of the easiest ways to engage our senses, improve our memory, and become better learners is writing stuff by hand. Not just for kids, adults too!

The combo of holding a pen in our hands, pressing it down on the paper, and moving our hands to create letters/words is a complex cognitive motor skill that requires a lot of attention.

It’s almost like you should get out your personalized stationary and handwrite one of the work homies a note…😏

frying me: something is super funny and ridiculous OR something is super confusing and stressful (like frying your brain)

Example 1: Bro this video is frying me lmao

Example 2: This spreadsheet is frying me

Similar phrases: “this is sending me,” “this is taking me out,” etc.