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Spending Time With Your 'Work Bestie' Each Day Will Keep Your Career Blues At Bay

We all need someone to laugh at the HR dude's see-through linen pants with.
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When it comes to rating enjoyment at work, there is an unspoken rule that people lie. I am yet to meet a millionaire who works nine to five, five days per week, 48 weeks per year. If these millionaires exist, good for them. For the rest of us plebs, if you ever say you love working -- you are lying.

The age-old advice of 'follow your passion', 'do what you love and money will follow'... Is all well and good, but have these people actually seen the rising electricity costs?

A wise woman once told me that if I didn't love my job, but the environment was okay, to bide my time. If I loved my job, but the people were terrible, then get out. Unfortunately for me, I have never had great culture or a great job simultaneously. I now know what makes work worth going to.

The best people in your worst job makes working bearable, or if you're lucky, enjoyable. I've had some terrible jobs which have brought out the worst in me, but have brought the best people in to my life. I'd like to say thank you to all of my 'work wives' who not only made me 'lol' every day, but made me feel normal.

A work bestie will laugh and then tell you straight up how much you stuffed up and then how to fix it. They genuinely care about the repercussions.

This is my ode to my work wives, you know who you are.

Thank you for:

Making me realise I don't need six layers of make-up.

Your work best friend may sit on another floor, or you may sit within 30cm of each other. You can try to hide your shameful Thursday morning hangover, but they will know. And, you will tell them about it anyway. So why bother?

Listening to me whinge about my partner.

A work best friend has probably never met your partner, but they know all about them! The chewing with the mouth open, the 'one more' beer after footy, and sometimes even the non-sympathy 'just coz' flowers. They analyse every corner of your relationship, but they don't judge. They just listen.

Not making me look like an idiot.

There are meetings where you haven't said anything for a while. So, you do and, what you say is dumb. Then there's that awkward silence. Until... Your work bestie clears the air and runs with it, and makes you look like a genius.

Then, there are those times where you take notes of what you're meant to do, but forget what the notes mean. Or you don't know how to log in and apply for leave, or where the magical 'this holds the answers' spreadsheet is saved. But they do, and they will whisper you the answers.

For helping me when I'm incompetent.

People make mistakes. Most don't mean to, but it happens. A big work mistake can potentially make or break your self-confidence, or even your career. A work bestie will laugh and then tell you straight up how much you stuffed up and then how to fix it. They genuinely care about the repercussions.

Making me laugh.

Work best friends are walking the same path as you. Without them, it's all so serious, it's a 'career' and it's living within the lines. With them, you walk out of a restructure meeting, and have to go straight to the bathroom together with tears of laughter streaming down your faces about the HR dude's see-through linen pants.

Making me see the light.

At work, there are always mountains to climb, terrible bosses and deadlines to deal with. Your work bestie is living it too. Just having them there and knowing someone 'gets it', makes everything okay.

Making it real.

Work besties bring personality in to your life. You can be yelled at by your superiors, be frustrated by your assistant and then boom, they email you a cucumber meme which is probably awful, but the best thing you have ever seen, and your feet hit the ground again.

Being better than my real-world friends.

You know, that they know, that they know you better than you know yourself. They know what time you get up, and they know if you exercised that day. They know if you're fighting with your brother, and they know it's time you finally bought new pillows because your neck is sore again. Try telling all of these things to your 'real world' girlfriends on a Friday night pub catch up.

Just getting it.

Dear work wives of my life, thank you for listening, for laughing, for watching me make an idiot of myself when there is wine and opinions involved with colleagues. Thank you for giving me the courage to speak up, thank you for telling me I can do it, and for telling me I can do better.

Thank you for planning the get out plans, and thank you for counting down the minutes until five pm on a piece of paper with me.

Most of all thank you for laughing with me when I failed, and for laughing when things were just genuinely funny.

We are all going to be okay.

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