For millions around the world, our day to day jobs mean heading into an office. In a strange way, we probably spend more time around our colleagues than our actual friends and loved ones, and perhaps more annoying, we can’t exactly choose the people we work with. The vast majority of us are well-behaved and respectful of others at an office, but there will always be those people who insist on making your working hours as painful as possible – whether knowingly or not.

Below, we have listed many of the problems an office worker will likely face from 9 to 5, Monday to Friday.

Colleagues coming into work when they’re clearly sick

When you’ve got a cold, you’re contagious – it’s as simple as that. This means that even though your dedication for coming to work and battling through a cold is to be respected on some levels, the people working close to you definitely don’t think the same. The ones who are coughing, sneezing, and blowing their nose all day are just increasing the chance for others to get sick. Either work at home or take a sick day, please.

Not understanding how to clean

Unless you’re in The Beauty and the Beast, then cups and plates don’t magically come to life to clean themselves and then fly back into the cupboard. The notion of “someone else will do it” unfortunately plagues many offices, and more often than not, someone else will, but they shouldn’t have to at all. Washing your cup or putting it in the dishwasher doesn’t seem so hard and we’re sure you can handle it as an adult.

Speaking loudly about things that really shouldn’t be spoken loudly about

A “TMI” alert should go off in the office when someone starts discussing a topic with their neighbour that is far too informative to be said in public. That’s what kitchen breaks or even messaging software like Skype or Slack is for. Noise-cancelling headphones are great most of the time, but you do get occasions when there are things that can never be unheard.

Not putting a phone on silent or checking it 100 times a day

Those dings and pings and beeps and boops surprisingly aren’t music to everyone’s ears. And if you’re the kind of person who has push notifications on every single app, then those noises are going to be heard all day. It’s really astonishing just how unaware people are about the noise they make. Just a few taps and your phone is on silent. Likewise, there are some folk who can’t go 5 seconds without looking at their phone, whether it’s for seeing how many likes their post got or checking the time. If it’s the latter, then just get a watch. Rolex, Omega, Breitling… it doesn’t really matter. They’re easy to find, so do yourself a favour.

Pep talks by the managers

Whilst it’s true that motivation can often wane in the office, particularly late in the day, but those aspirational talks usually don’t have the same effect as they would on a basketball team down by 10 points in the last quarter. The whole “give 110%” and “keep on track” thing has been done to death. Reminders of working hard are totally fine if the performance is slipping, but you don’t need to constantly tell people to go above and beyond if they are already trying hard.

Freaking out about being stressed

Okay, we get it, you’re stressed, and now you’re making everyone else stressed. Office life can be hard, no doubt about it, but it’s definitely not going to help when telling your colleagues how hard everything is when they’re all in the same boat. True, it can help to let off a bit of steam now and then to your colleagues, but there’s a big difference between that and erupting like a volcano every 45 minutes. Meditate, listen to some music, drink some tea, and you’re going to be okay.

Nail polish (and other horrific smells)

Doing your nails at work is just a straight up “no”. The smell is quite eye-watering for several people, but that’s just one of many bad smells that can be found in an office. Curries and fish never go down particularly well, neither do dishes with a strong garlic scent. Best to eat that stuff at home.

We all want an office that performs well and has no issues, so if we follow some simple rules, we can do it.