Why it is good for you to have an annoying colleague

Are you getting really annoyed behind your office chair and feel like crying out of misery because your colleague on the left is always late and no one ever says anything about it, or because your colleague on the right is always quite loud while talking to home for half an hour?

Irritations are everywhere, even in the workplace. But you might as well be happy about it. According to neuroscientist Erik Scherder, irritations at the office actually keep you sharp. As soon as you get annoyed by someone at work, it motivates you to work twice as hard. No way she’s going to steal your promotion. You’d rather do everything yourself than ask her for anything. And no way you are looking for a new job. You’re definitely not leaving before she does.

What you should want according to the scientist is a brain that gets triggered. An annoying colleague ensures that your brain keeps working hard because it receives an error. It’s stimulated. A day in which nothing special happens and you just drift through the work hours with coffee and silence and nice people around you… That’s boring and not good for your productivity. A little stress and a little irritation keep your brain fit and that’s how you blaze through the workweek. That’s how you get the best out of your working self. Ha.

So thank that unbearable colleague, quietly, secretly, from within.. Because of course you don’t say out loud what you think of her. And you have to keep finding her annoying to achieve effective results, so to speak. So be careful not to suddenly become each other’s best friends. You have to sacrifice something for your job.