Marie Claire
  • Celebrity
  • Fashion
  • Beauty
  • Culture
  • Power
  • Nice Talk
  • Style at Large
  • More
    • Politics
    • Career & Money
    • Health & Fitness
    • Power Play
    • Travel
    • Promo Codes
    • Food & Cocktails
    • About Us
    • Subscribe
    • Sex & Love
  • Newsletter SIGN UP TO OUR NEWSLETTER
  • Marie Claire
    Marie Claire Newsletter

    The ultimate daily digest for women of power, purpose, and style.


    By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.

    You are now subscribed

    Your newsletter sign-up was successful


    Want to add more newsletters?

    Marie Claire Daily

    Delivered daily

    Marie Claire Daily

    Get exclusive access to fashion and beauty trends, hot-off-the-press celebrity news, and more.

    Marie Claire Self Checkout

    Sent weekly on Saturday

    Marie Claire Self Checkout

    Exclusive access to expert shopping and styling advice from Nikki Ogunnaike, Marie Claire's editor-in-chief.

    Maire Claire Face Forward

    Once a week

    Maire Claire Face Forward

    Insider tips and recommendations for skin, hair, makeup, nails and more from Hannah Baxter, Marie Claire's beauty director.

    Livingetc

    Once a week

    Livingetc

    Your shortcut to the now and the next in contemporary home decoration, from designing a fashion-forward kitchen to decoding color schemes, and the latest interiors trends.

    Homes & Gardens

    Delivered Daily

    Homes & Gardens

    The ultimate interior design resource from the world's leading experts - discover inspiring decorating ideas, color scheming know-how, garden inspiration and shopping expertise.


    An account already exists for this email address, please log in.
    Trending
    • Winter Shoe Trends
    • Slick-Backed Buns
    • OleHenriksen
    • Holiday Candles
    • Statement Red Socks
    1. Career advice

    5 Workplace Epidemics We Need to Eradicate Next Year

    $^&# sad desk lunches.

    By Chelsea Peng
    Published 30 December 2015 In Features

    When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

    Hairstyle, Black hair, Eyelash, Plate, Coffee cup, Kitchen utensil, Cup, Baked goods, Bangs, Cake,
    (Image credit: Getty, design by Katja Cho)
    • Facebook
    • X
    • Pinterest
    Share this article
    Join the conversation
    Follow us
    Add us as a preferred source on Google
    Subscribe to our newsletter

    Is it such a crime to get up and ::gasp:: leave your roll-y chair or possibly the building (!!!) for 30 minutes so you can stare disdainfully at your sweaty salad in peace before getting Chipotle? IS IT??? I don't know how it happened, but in some offices, taking a lunch is like saying you like to club baby seals on the weekends but even worse because they expect you to feel remorse. (Whereas, in the presence of a baby seal clubber, your judgmental coworkers would just be like "Get away," because anyone who clubs baby seals is certainly beyond human emotion.)

    Starting now, you take that lunch. Go outside! Eat something that once photosynthesized! Because the alternative—it'll kill ya. Basically.

    If you're 1) sitting within a five-feet radius of my desk, 2) there aren't any walls separating us, and 3) what you're trying to tell me doesn't concern the results of a medical test, you should turn around instead of chatting me. I also accept calls.

    Latest Videos FromMarie Claire
    Watch full video here:

    Tone doesn't translate so well over text as it does in person, so if you're like "K" but you actually mean "I would rather lick the inside of a city bus than do that," I will register your discontent much more quickly. Which brings us to my next point.

    Holding down Shift while stabbing the "1" key repeatedly after every sentence is inefficient.

    You may like
    • an image of author and chef carla lalli eating a plate of pasta opposite the cover of her cookbook food is a feeling with an image of hands cutting fruit over a backdrop of chefs in a kitchen To Be Taken Seriously As a Line Cook, I Had to Shed My Femininity
    • Work shirts The Best Tops to Wear to Work
    • author stacey yu poses in a white shirt in her headshot opposite an image of the cover of her book kitten featuring a cat looking through a pearl bracelet The Girlboss Is Dead. But the "Girlbaby" Is Just As Bad

    Having to assure a colleague you're not mad at her because you forgot to type "xx" at the end of an email is inefficient.

    Adhering to the conventions of female agreeability when something you don't agree with has happened is inefficient.

    Marie Claire Newsletter

    The ultimate daily digest for women of power, purpose, and style.

    By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.

    Working with other people is never so great!!!! 😘🙏😎100 percent of the time, so you don't have to waste your time pretending it is.

    First, a moment of silence for all the women out there who have to deal with other women's passive aggressiveness while smiling because flipping a table would make them seem difficult. Minus the, uh, grabby adjective she used to describe Taylor Swift, Camille Paglia got it right: It's the girl-on-girl sh*t that's keeping us from getting sh*t done.

    Someone's mom once said that comparison is the source of unhappiness, and she was right—even though, you know, easier said by someone's mom than done. It's hard not to look at your neighbor and measure your skills and experience and less-senior job title against hers, but maybe we'd all be better off if we slapped on some blinders, put our heads down, and concentrated on making our own success. Keep your eyes on your own work and stay hydrated—that's what DJ Khaled would want you to do.

    Follow Marie Claire on Instagram for the latest celeb news, pretty pics, funny stuff, and an insider POV.

    Chelsea Peng
    Social Links Navigation
    Assistant Editor

    Chelsea Peng is a writer and editor who was formerly the assistant editor at Marie Claire. She's also worked for The Strategist and Refinery29, and is a graduate of Northwestern University. On her tombstone, she would like a GIF of herself that's better than the one that already exists on the Internet and a free fro-yo machine. Besides frozen dairy products, she's into pirates, carbs, Balzac, and snacking so hard she has to go lie down.

    Read more
    3 women women in workwear, including tailored blazers, wide-leg trousers, denim, and skirts, layered over photographs of city streets, offices, and interiors.
    Winter Fashion The Winter Workwear Rules Stylish Women Follow—and the Ones They Ignore
    By Sara Holzman
    a black woman in the middle of an art treatment with colorful and black and white graphics with white text that says "doing well"
    Wellness Ayan Broomfield Swears By a $1 a Day Hair Growth Supplement—Plus Words of Wisdom From Rihanna The tennis pro gets candid for Doing Well.
    By Samantha Holender
     
     
    collage of women wearing workwear
    Fashion I Want My Work Clothes to Look Expensive—These Amazon Deals Understood the Assignment
    By Lauren Tappan
    Three fall outfit ideas featuring a patchwork denim maxi skirt, a colorful floral skirt with a blue button-down, and striped wide-leg pants with a purple cardigan.
    Fashion 3 Two-Piece Outfit Formulas That Always Work
    By Julia Gall
     
     
    Latest in Career advice
    a collage of book covers of personal finance books including the psychology of money get good with money and more
    Books 7 Great Personal Finance Books That Actually Helped Me Figure Out Money
    Money Feelings graphic
    Career advice The Spectacular Collapse of My Six-Figure Life
     
     
    Stylized image of a woman at a desk holding papers, overlaid with pink, blue, and green tones.
    Money The Hidden Price Tag of Menopause
    Sarah Bond in a black leather jacket, smiling at the camera, with large text reading “EXIT INTERVIEW.”
    Career advice What Sarah Bond Learned About Power at the Top of Xbox
     
     
    Latest in Features
    fall nail collage blue french tips burgundy nails zebra print chestnut jelly manicure brown and green nail polishes bronze chrome polish
    Nails My November Manicure Is Embracing the Jelly Nails Trend for Fall
    yoonchae on a purple background and in the mood
    Beauty KATSEYE’s Yoonchae Swears This K-Beauty Blush Technique Gives Her the “Cutest” Flush
     
     
    a collage of three women with mocha balayage hair at the salon with blown our brunette hair
    Hair I Found the Rich Brunette Shade Every It Girl Is Requesting for Winter
    a collage of french bob hairstyles feature choppy bobs, textured bobs, short bobs, sleek bobs
    Hair Everyone Is Trading In Their Long Layers For a French Bob
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Marie Claire
    RSS
    • About us
    • Contact Future's experts
    • Contact us
    • Advertise Online
    • Newsletter
    • Terms and conditions
    • Privacy policy
    • Cookies policy
    • Careers
    Add as a preferred source on Google Add as a preferred source on Google

    Marie Claire is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.

    © Future US, Inc. Full 7th Floor, 130 West 42nd Street, New York, NY 10036.