Career & Education

How Avoiding Office Politics Helped Me Save Money And Protected My Mental Health

We can’t choose the type of office politics in our jobs. When we join a new company, we always hope it won’t be toxic and fingers crossed it has a conducive and supportive environment.   Throughout my career, I have changed a few jobs and have come to witness many versions of office politics. At one place I worked there were subordinates buying coffee for the boss in the morning, to get close. At another place, there were two leaders headbutting each other and gathering allies.   I have usually stepped away from the drama and choose to just do my job with minimal participation. Because of that, I am a little bit like an outcast in the office as I do not take sides, but that has helped as well as many do come to me for a fair voice.  I also managed to avoid all the small talk - lunch and after-work hang-out sessions that the teammates consider as team bonding. This helps me to save quite a bit of money as I do not need to “entertain” my colleagues and spend recreational money that I could have saved for other things.   However, not participating in office politics would mean that I must produce quality work, instead of those colleagues who like to play politics to get ahead. But I prefer my work to shine on its own rather than through favours.   Another good thing about avoiding office politics is that I can protect my mental health. Instead of getting caught up in the drama of people at work and letting them affect my job, I focus on myself and avoid conflicts. This article is part of TSS Confessions, a weekly column where we delve into personal finance topics that are unscripted and genuine real accounts from people.