This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.
The original was posted on /r/antiwork by /u/Climberquarterly on 2025-12-12 17:18:32+00:00.
What’s been wearing me down lately isn’t workload or long hours, it’s how everything at my job is treated like an emergency. Emails marked urgent that aren’t. Meetings called last minute that could’ve been a message. Deadlines that suddenly can’t move even though they magically do a week later.
It creates this background anxiety where you’re always bracing for something, even on normal days. You can’t fully relax because you’re waiting for the next ping that’s going to demand immediate attention for no real reason. I’ve noticed it follows me home too I’ll be off the clock but still feel tense, like I forgot something important.
The strange thing is, I recently realized I have some money saved up enough that I’m not in immediate danger if things go sideways and instead of feeling relieved it made me more aware of how unnecessary the stress culture is. The job isn’t saving lives. The urgency is mostly manufactured and yet it takes up so much mental space. I don’t hate working. I just hate working in an environment where panic is treated like productivity. I wish more workplaces understood that constant pressure doesn’t make people perform better it just makes them exhausted.
Does anyone else feel like the fake urgency is more draining than the actual work itself?